Jerusalem Has Always Been The Jewish Homeland

Contributed by Lawrence Lease

President Trump declared the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to the holy city.

If anyone were to dispute that Jerusalem should be acknowledged for the Palestinians, they must first acknowledge that Jerusalem has been the holiest city amongst Judaism, and the ancestral and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people since the 10th century BCE.

Even Muslims believe the legends of the Quran that tell of Moses, the most important prophet and central author of the Torah in Judaism, to be one of Islam’s most important prophets. In addition, the Exodus of the Israelites out of Egypt is often regarded as the most imperative texts in the Old Testament of the Bible.

It is also central to the Jewish faith because God appears to Moses on Mount Sinai giving the Ten Commandments for him to write on stone, which are the most important laws in Judaism and a central message of the teachings of Jesus when he arrived in Jerusalem to preach and debate followers and fellow Jews on how to best follow God. In Jerusalem, the Jews were already there having established the temple which Jesus promised to have destroyed and rebuilt in three days following Christ’s Crucifixion.

We often hear arguments about who arrived in Jerusalem first. The answer has always been the Jews. Long before the Christian faith and Islam were manifested following the death of Christ and the conquest of Muhammad, the Jews established this ground to be their holy site in BCE (or Before the Common Era).

The Palestinians, for so long, have wanted to be recognized as a place rather than a people. Israel is not just a sovereign state, but a home to the Jewish people. Trump’s decision to recognize Israel as home to Jerusalem (a campaign promise unfulfilled by Clinton, Bush and Obama) was an act of endearment - not to the State of Israel, but to the Jewish faith.

Now, responsive uprising has been brought on by terrorist groups and Hamas; and politically-charged rallies have taken form in Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran, Syria and the United States. The PLO states that they believe Trump’s decision will only weaken relations between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians are scattered throughout the ancient holy sites and along the Gaza Strip. To meet their demands of liberation and recognition would be more complicated and dangerous than imagined because of its population being so scattered and a likely impending conflict of having to organize a non-secularist society when there is a variation of Muslims and Christians amongst Palestinians. As history has proven, assimilation of the two faiths presents dangerous conflicts within government and civility.

The day of rage from activists has nothing to do with Jerusalem, but particularly because of the horrid disdain of Trump and Netanyahu brought on by the toxic news environment and far left social groups that point out indigenous members of a society and labels them as inferior. Israel and the United States have the strongest militaries in the world. It seems that efforts to expand defense and running on platforms of strength create ardent opposition from far leftist groups.

And the media will continue to stand by, play witness and rejoice over the burnings and riotous behavior of violent extremism to counter the Trump decision in order to propagate their coverage with the goal of directing animosity towards Israel.

Jerusalem is often regarded as one of the oldest cities in the world. Its findings were built on the Hebrew establishment and its centers and laws were built on the Torah “written by God”. Even Islam recognizes Moses achievements.

During the Israelite period, significant construction activity in Jerusalem began in the 9th century BCE (Iron Age II); and in the 8th century, the city developed into the religious and administrative center of the Kingdom of Judah.

The canonical Gospels say more about the Lord Jesus than just how he is the Messiah. They make an extraordinary claim about his essential identity. Not only is he the fulfillment of Israel’s messianic expectations, but in him, God has done something remarkable: He has become himself Israel’s Messiah.

World War II had a significant response to shaping the map in the Middle East and much of Europe. Israel was established as a state in 1948, conducted by mostly Jews fleeing persecution by Nazi Germany. The Left always seems to embrace politics against fascism and framing Trump as a Hitler uprising reborn (see Obama climate address), but when it comes to standing up against the groups most victimized from fascism, they seem to turn a blind eye to the Israelites.

Trump’s move to officially recognize Israel as Jerusalem’s home and in moving the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv, this was one of the bravest decisions of his administration. It was a move that none of his last three predecessors had the guts to do out of fear of offending the opposition. This gives the world’s most ancient religion peace within the world’s most ancient city. Years without peace proclamations required an unpopular decision to be made. A move like this can perhaps finally facilitate the peace resolutions along the Gaza Strip, or possibly lead to Palestine joining an alliance within the State of Israel.

The most divisive quality of Trump’s decision is the response by the Left and Muslim extremist groups that reek of a vile hatred towards this administration that seems to dictate the way people choose to think and feel. A lack of personal responsibility and irrational responses to Trump’s decision making will only benefit his campaign and fuel his base for the 2020 presidential campaign.