Today, once again, the Muslim world has taken to claiming Jerusalem as a pinnacle of its religious aspirations. But what are its real interests this time? Nothing other than to rid the Middle East of Israel. As recently as 1964, when the PLO was founded, its original charter did not even mention Jerusalem. Yet now, Hamas and Fatah spokesmen highlight the city’s “sanctity” and deny our holy Temples ever stood there – despite historical knowledge and evidence to the contrary.
The Hamas charter, in Article 15, states its strategy clearly: “It must be established in the minds of all the Muslim generations that the Palestinian issue is a religious issue, and that it must be dealt with as such…”
To counter this approach, the international community must relate to the secular Palestinian Authority’s claims to Jerusalem as nothing more than the desire to do away with Israel. As Dr. Kedar wrote several years ago: “Should UN forces be sent to the Middle East just because [the PLO] has decided to recycle the political problems of the Umayyads 1,250 years after the curtain came down on their role in history?”
In short, nothing can justify forcing the Jewish people to “share” its holy city with an opportunistic usurper. Yes, Israel is “Judaizing” Jerusalem – and it must continue, proudly, to do so.
For more information on how to participate in keeping Jerusalem Jewish, via updates, bus tours of critical parts of Jerusalem, and more, send an e-mail to [email protected] or visit Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech’s website at www.keepjerusalem.org.
Chaim Silberstein is president of Keep Jerusalem-Im Eshkachech and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. He was formerly a senior adviser to Israel’s minister of tourism. Hillel Fendel, past senior editor at Israel National News/Arutz-7, is a veteran writer on Jerusalem affairs. Both have lived in Jerusalem and now live in Beit El.