President Trump told Israeli and Arab leaders today that he plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. According to the New York Times this will upset efforts to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
My reaction is that I thank God that I have lived long enough to see this event. For some 5,000 years Jews have cherished the Holy Land (A land promised to us by God) and for some 3,000 years Jerusalem has been a focal point of our religion. Why did Jesus die in Jerusalem? In ancient times, Jews for the High Holidays and Passover went to Jerusalem to pray to God. Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv, is the heart and soul of Judaism.
I find it disgraceful that the NY Times would argue that the “right thing should not be done” because it might disrupt the peace process. My retort what peace process? Since Israel’s creation in 1948 the Arabs have tried to undermine Israel, a state that was recognized by the United Nation. Only a handful of Arab leaders, Anwar Sadat and King Hussein, have had the courage to recognize the State of Israel. Negotiating with the Palestinians is impossible because they deliberately demand from Israel concessions that would undermine the Jewish State.
King Abdullah II, king of Jordon, strongly cautioned against recognizing Jerusalem, “stressing that Jerusalem is the key to achieving peace and stability in the region and the world.” According to a statement from the royal palace in Amman. King Abdullah also spoke with Mr. Abbas, assuring him of Jordan’s support for the Palestinians “in preserving their historic rights in Jerusalem and the need to work together to confront the consequences of this decision,” It is the Big Lie that making Jerusalem Israel’s capital in any way undermines Palestinian’s aspirations.
It is hypocritical that the Palestinians hope to make East Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state, but Israel cannot make Jerusalem the capital of their state. The Irish historian, Paul Johnson, said that the “creation of a Jewish state” is a miracle. For thousands of years, Jews have been subject to horrific discrimination, the inquisition, and Nazi death camps. Cannot this beleaguered people have a land the size of the State of New Jersey? By contrast the land occupied by Arabs is 1000 times the state of Israel. That said, Arabs believe that Jews have “too much and they have too little.”
While I admire King Abdullah, I disagree with his assessment. By contrast, I reject the notion that achieving peace and stability is a possibility. Instead, I believe that peace in the region is illusory given that the Palestinians encourage terrorist activity, even using payments from our government to reimburse killers.
Unfortunately from the beginning of my life, until the end I have been attacked by anti –Semites. On my childhood block, at the University of Texas, religious discrimination proliferated. Even at so-called Jewish firms such as Lehman Brothers, Jew haters proliferated. This summer a woman called me when I was dying and said that I was dating above my station and that I was tight-fisted. Instead of confronting the fact that her mother psychologically abandoned her, that her father was a womanizer, and her step-father was a drunkard, she blames the Jews for her problems.
While I disagree with much of the Trump agenda, I admire that Trump recognizes the centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people. Trump has given our dreams legitimacy. I can now meet my Maker knowing that justice has finally been done to my people. I bless today with the bottom of my heart!
