Defending Jerusalem

For 3,000 years, the Jews have protected Jerusalem

  • 6/11/2019
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    On the occasion of Jerusalem Day, Palestinian representative to the UN, Riyad Mansour, sent a letter of complaint against Israel to the Security Council, saying that "this 52-year, illegal occupation has caused immense suffering and misery for the Palestinian people." Mansour called on the members of the Security Council to advance efforts for the independence of the people in the State of Palestine, whose capital is East Jerusalem: "We imp​lore the international community to act before we have reached a point of no return."

    In response, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, sent a letter to Kuwait's UN ambassador, Mansour Al-Otaibi (who currently holds the presidency of the Security Council for the month of June), explaining the eternal connection between Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, which contradicts Riyad Mansour's remarks. "Since King David made Jerusalem the capital of the Kingdom of Israel 3,000 years ago, the Jews have always lived in, built and defended the Holy City. Even after the Jews lost their sovereignty in the Land of Israel to the Roman sword, they still maintained a presence in Jerusalem, generation after generation. When the Arabs rejected UN resolution 181 in 1947, the local Arab population attacked the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and expelled its Jewish population. For nineteen years, Jerusalem's Old City was separated from its western neighborhoods by mines and barbed wire. It was not until 1967, when Israel overcame yet another Arab attempt to destroy the Jewish state, that Israel succeeded in reuniting and liberating Jerusalem.

    Danon added: "For the last 52 years, Jerusalem has been a city that champions and protects religious freedom and the right of all worshipers to pray in peace. This reality, unique in our region, exists only in the Jewish and democratic Israel. It is time the international community recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel."