Neither George W. Bush nor Bill Clinton moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, in testimony to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Nor did any American president before them. Nor did President Obama.
However, both Bush and Clinton and other presidents went on record as officially, if theoretically, affirming Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
The Democratic platform omitted reference to Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — until an outcry that led, as of press time, to an amendment reasserting Jeru-salem as the capital of Israel. The omission was inexplicable, given that this affirmation has not obligated either Democratic or Republican presidents to act on this reference; and given that the final status of Jerusalem is a matter for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, or perhaps Israel and other Arab nations.
Symbols, however, do matter. Apparently, it is necessary to remind many why Jerusalem is the central symbol of Judaism and the Jewish people.
Jerusalem is the symbol of the Jewish people’s presence in and right to the Land of Israel.
Jerusalem is the cynosure of Jewish hopes, dreams and prayers for 3,000 years.
Jerusalem is the location of the two ancient Holy Temples of Judaism — an indisputable fact that is particularly important given the current Palestinian Authority leaders’ denial of it.
Jerusalem is the locale of countless Jewish archaeological digs and finds.
Jerusalem as a Jewish capital predates Christianity and Islam.
Jerusalem is the object of countless Jewish poetic inspirations, going back to the Biblical book of Psalms itself.
Jerusalem is the seat of the government of the modern State of Israel — the location of its parliament (Knesset) and its Supreme Court. Jerusalem is never going to be relinquished by the modern State of Israel as its capital.
Jerusalem is the location of the holiest relic in Judaism, the Western Wall, a fact attested to by the personal visit there of literally every single world figure who comes to Israel, from presidents and prime ministers to rock stars and the Pope.
Jerusalem is Israel’s largest city.
The Old City of Jerusalem was closed to Jews, 1949-1967, only by an act of war, not by any voluntary relinquishment or redefinition by Jewish religious or political spokespeople in or out of Israel.
Jerusalem is home to modern Israel’s first and most important university, and to countless Jewish seminaries (yeshivot).
Jerusalem is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-racial, multi-linguistic city that has functioned freely as such, with equal rights for all, and government-sponsored aid for both Jews and Arabs, only under Jewish sovereignty.
Why, then, was Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel, originally omitted from the Democratic Party platform?
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
