While Israel has stood strong against the reopening of a US diplomatic mission to the Palestinian Authority, the State Department has sneaked in a new position that promotes US-PA relations – and could undermine Israeli sovereignty in its own capital.

Hady Amr, leaving his post as deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, will become the new special representative for Palestinian affairs – the first time the US has created such a position.

Abu Mazen (now in his 18^th year as PA president, though he was elected for a four-year term) originally objected to the new position. He demanded that the US reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, which would essentially serve as an embassy to the PA.

However, “as the President reiterated in Israel and the West Bank,” a State Department official said, “we remain committed to re-opening our Consulate General in Jerusalem and to the vision of a two-state solution.”

The correlation, then, that this position has with Jerusalem raises very critical questions: “Does the new post include purview over eastern Jerusalem? Are Arab residents of Israel in eastern Jerusalem supposed to engage with his office, or with the US Embassy to Israel?”

We referred precisely these questions to the US Office of Palestinian Affairs, which then referred us to its press office in Washington. No answer has yet been forthcoming, which is not surprising – because the issues are potentially explosive. For if in fact Arab citizens of Israel need not turn to the US Embassy in Israel but rather to a “stand-in” for a PA consulate/embassy, this would be nothing less than what Israel has called all along the undermining of Israeli sovereignty in its own capital.

Can it even be imagined that France, let’s say, would open an office in Washington for Native Indian affairs? This would be as if saying, “The Indians deserve their own identity, independent of the United States.” The only difference is that the Indians are no longer fighting for their independence and land, while the Arabs of the Palestinian Authority most definitely are.

Over a year ago, when the issue of reopening the American consulate for the PA first arose, former Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said that it “means recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine … a red line that cannot be crossed.” Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Aryeh King called the initiative “a spiteful move that seeks to undermine Israel’s absolute sovereignty over Jerusalem” – sovereignty that continues to be under fire from those who wish to see Jerusalem become the capital of a new Arab state.

Furthermore, the very initiative of establishing a high-level position to upgrade the PA’s US relations and standing in Washington encourages it not to make concessions and thus perpetuates the state of non-peace – or worse.

KeepJerusalem calls upon the Israeli government to ensure that Hady Amr’s job remains only to encourage the PA to “undertake serious reforms” – one of the challenges that former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk reportedly said Amr would face in his new post.

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Municipality published the zoning description for the future US Embassy to Israel earlier this month – and PA figures have begun to accuse Israel of stealing the land on which it is to be built.

PA prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh demands that the US cancel its plans to build the new embassy complex. He told his cabinet ministers that the designated land – smack in the middle of western Jerusalem – was “illegally confiscated” by Israeli authorities in 1950.

The facts are, however, that the confiscation was not only legal, but in keeping with a just, moral, and duly-passed Knesset law: the 1950 Absentee Property Law, which transferred the property of absentee Arab land-owners into the possession of the State of Israel.

Who were these land-owners? On the whole, they were Arabs who had run away from the battlefront before and during the 1948 War of Independence, with encouragement and promises from the attacking Arab countries that they would soon be able to return in victory over the Jewish entity. *They were thus accomplices in the Arab war effort to destroy Israel.*

On June 8, 1951, for instance, the Secretary-General of the Arab League wrote that during the war, the League “assured the Arab peoples that [victory over the Jews] would be as simple as a military promenade…” This  underscored that which a Jordanian daily wrote on February 19, 1949: “The Arab states… encouraged the Palestinian Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the way of the Arab invasion armies.”

Thus, the homes and lands were abandoned specifically in order to facilitate Israel’s destruction. Just like it is well understood that Israel need not accept Arab Palestinian “refugees” into its population, the Absentee Property Law has the same justification: Israel need not allow people to return to their homes so that they might finish off, from within, that which they sought in 1948, namely, the destruction of Israel.

The new US Embassy is to be built just off Derech Hebron,  in an area known by its British Mandate-era name as “Camp Allenby.”

Despite what are expected to be increasing claims of illegality by left-wing organizations, the law in question has even been upheld by Israel’s Supreme Court, which takes international law into significant account.

These two dangerous developments – the upgrade of Washington’s relations with the PA, and the outrageous claims against Israeli law – present potentially great challenges to Israeli sovereignty in its united and historic capital. If and when we overcome them, the national rewards will be historic. 

The Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage has launched the “Culture at Mt. of Olives Festival” with a gala performance by famed Jerusalem singer Yehoram Gaon. Over 1,000 people came to take part, followed a few days later by nearly the same amount at a concert by Hassidic-music singing star Avraham Fried. The visitors were also treated to unique tours of the mountain and a spectacular view of the Old City and the Temple Mount just across the Kidron Valley.

Dozens of events are scheduled at Mt. of Olives (Har HaZeitim, Israel’s 11^th-highest mountain) for this month of Elul preceding the High Holidays, from Sep. 15 to Oct. 3. The Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage is investing millions of shekels in the project, carried out under the auspices of the East Jerusalem Development Company (Pami).

Visitors will pay a nominal fee to take part in tours and lectures, focusing on the people and events that have shaped Jerusalem over the past 3,000 years. A particular focus will be placed on some of the illustrious Jews buried in the Mt. of Olives cemetery, including Rav Kook, Menachem Begin, Rav Shlomo Goren, Nobel Prize winner Shai Agnon, the martyrs of the 1929 Hebron massacre, Pinchas Kehati, Henrietta Szold, and 100,000 more beginning at least during the First Temple period.

Under Jordanian rule, between 1948 and 1967, Jewish access to the mount was illegally and strong-handedly prohibited, despite Jordan’s commitment in the Israeli-Jordanian Armistice Agreement. In addition, the Jordanians smashed to pieces or otherwise desecrated some 38,000 tombstones and gravesites there. Since Jerusalem’s reunification in the Six Day War, burial ceremonies have been renewed at the site and large sections of the cemetery rehabilitated. A dozen burial societies are currently active there.

This is not to say that Arab attempts to damage the cemetery or attack victors have totally abated. The past two weeks alone saw at least four such attacks, after a relatively quiet period. Nevertheless, it is clear that Israeli security efforts have had a positive effect.

Jewish Presence Increasing

Most importantly, the Jewish presence in the area of the Mt. of Olives, and throughout eastern Jerusalem, has grown significantly in recent years. Among the new neighborhoods are Beit Orot (24 families), HaChoshen (two adjacent buildings atop Har HaZeitim), the City of David (nearly 90 families), Kidmat Tzion, the Yemenite Quarter in Silwan (35 families, with six more soon to move in), and more – but the largest of all is Maaleh HaZeitim, with close to 150 families.

It is important to remember the mountain’s critical importance in Judaism: The Red Heifer ceremony was performed there, King David earmarked it for prayer, and it was a Jewish pilgrimage site for long after the Second Temple was destroyed. Not only that, the oil from Mt. of Olives’ olive trees was used for the Menorah in the Holy Temple across the valley, and the torch-lightings signaling that a New Moon (new month) had been declared began there.

Perhaps most importantly, the last prophecy of Zecharia speaks of the day when G-d will fight on behalf of Jerusalem and the Mt. of Olives will split open from north to south.

The objective of the Mt. of Olives Festival is to enhance the area and solidify its standing as a preeminent and safe cultural and tourist center. A state-of-the-art Visitors’ Center will soon be built, and many security and environmental measures have been upgraded.

“Our goal is to solidify Mt. of Olives as a place of history, Judaism, and culture,” says Netanel Izak, Director of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage, “and to thus strengthen Israeli sovereignty and authority throughout Jerusalem.”

“Har HaZeitim is among the most important Jewish sites in Yerushalayim,” says Jerusalem Minister Elkin, “and it also has significant strategic importance. We wish to instill this special site in the hearts of the entire population. I invite the general public to come to the tours and events at Har HaZeitim and enjoy a unique and safe experience.”

Its Role in Maintaining Sovereignty

In order to ensure continued future Israeli sovereignty over the entire city of Jerusalem, certain facts on the ground must be guaranteed. In the case of the all-important Mt. of Olives – and can we even conceive of a Jewish Jerusalem without the Mt. of Olives?! – Israel must make sure to guarantee and facilitate Jewish access and presence there. Jews must feel safe there, and must feel free to frequent the site, not only for funerals and to visit gravesites, but to visit friends, enjoy the view, stop off at the Visitors’ Center, remember its history, and more. The current Culture Festival should do much to attain this goal.

As our sad commemorations of the double-destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temples intensify with the approach of the fast of Tisha B’Av this Sunday, we have no choice but to find the parallels between then and now, enabling us to avoid our fateful mistakes of yore.

Indeed, it is critical for anyone who wishes to have a say or impact on what Jerusalem will look like in the coming years to know the basics of what happened nearly 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, respectively. Our Sages of the Talmud, who lived just before, during, and after the Roman destruction of the Second Temple and the gradual loss of Jewish near-sovereignty in the Holy Land, had a very clear take on the matter: Baseless hatred among the Jews, in its various manifestations, led to the sacking of Jerusalem, as did the committing of the cardinal sins of murder, incest, and idol worship specifically towards the end of the First Temple period.  

In addition, the Sages instituted fasts for the various milestones along the way. They decreed a fast for the siege placed upon Jerusalem by the Babylonians (10^th of Tevet), one for the breaching of the city walls (17^th of Tammuz), and one for the actual burning of the Temple (9^th of Av). Lastly, they instituted the Fast of Gedaliah (3^rd of Tishrei) for the assassination of the erstwhile leader of the surviving remnants of the Jewish community, and the dashing of all hopes for Jewish sovereignty for several decades to come.

Each of these has its parallels in our contemporary situation.

Over the past 30+ years, there has been a massive wave of illegal building in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, for the express purpose of creating geographic contiguity from Ramallah in the north to Bethlehem in the south. The goal is not merely to facilitate Arab travel and strengthen the Arab presence, but even more, to divide Jerusalem de facto and create, on the ground, the capital of a Palestinian state. 

This creeping Arab expansion is definitely having an effect, strangling the city’s urban development – very much like the Babylonian siege forcefully imposed upon Jerusalem long ago. This stifling siege of illegal Arab construction, unhindered by the enforcement of zoning laws, combined with the double whammy of a lack of housing solutions and employment opportunities for Jews, has long been closing in on us. For years, it has cost Jerusalem an average net loss of some 8,000 Jews a year.

In some places, most unfortunately, the enemy has “breached” the walls – and right within our city limits, two huge Arab neighborhoods have sprouted and continue to grow wildly, unblocked by the security barrier. The two – Kafr Aqeb and Ras Hamis/Shuafat – have become Hamas strongholds that block Jewish growth, with high crime rates and almost no Israeli governance. 

The growing Arab population in Jerusalem now stands at 40% of the total population – and in eastern Jerusalem, where the Palestinian Authority wishes to establish its “capital,” it holds a commanding lead of nearly 60%. Will we wake up one day soon to a Hamas-backed mayor in Jerusalem!?

But possibly these problems are just the symptoms of deeper issues, as they were in the days of the Holy Temple. We must ask ourselves: Are we sufficiently attached to each other? To Jerusalem? To our nationhood and sovereignty? To our age-old teachings and values??

Though those who live here are perpetually witness to countless acts of kindness on the individual, communal and even national levels, the headlines read both here and abroad paint a different picture. How can it be that the personal rancor of certain party leaders can prevent us from electing a solid, unified government that holds the values of a Jewish State as its most precious asset?  What happened to our historic love of Jerusalem, that which we have vowed for millennia to verily pay for with our right arm? What happened to Zion – all of it – at the memory of which we simply sat and wept?

Is now, just before the Fast of the Ninth of Av, not the time to remember to come together in love and commitment to each other and to everything the Holy Temples stood for?

And from thoughts and intentions to practical acts: What can we do to secure our capital, keep it unified, and develop it with a large Jewish majority?

Clearly, dividing the city and handing over the Arab neighborhoods to Palestinian Authority control will only aggravate the problems. Geographically and demographically speaking, an Israeli withdrawal will strangle the city, leading not only to increased Jewish emigration [as happened when the city was divided in 1949] but also to heightened immigration by Arabs to the Israeli side where they can continue to enjoy the full political rights that Israel grants them. Security-wise, the void formed by an Israeli withdrawal would quickly be filled by Islamic terror forces, deployed just across streets or valleys from Jewish neighborhoods – while Israel’s ability to respond would be limited. Dividing the city would also place the holy sites at the mercy of Islamic extremists, who have proven that freedom of access and worship is not on their to-do list.

The Jewish People and State must do everything today to prevent the modern destruction of our eternal capital. As Tisha B’Av approaches, KeepJerusalem’s Jerusalem Shield Program appears to be the only practical, democratic and safe answer for the urgent challenges we face. It involves a massive increase in Jewish housing, especially where it can create wedges in the Arab corridor between Ramallah and Bethlehem. In addition, employment opportunities must be enhanced – as will possibly soon be taking place at the rapidly-developing western entrance to Jerusalem.

But perhaps most important of all is the Jerusalem Shield proposal to expand Jerusalem’s municipal borders in order to increase the city’s Jewish population. Satellite communities outside the current city borders, such Givat Ze’ev, Mevaseret Zion, Beitar Illit, Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim will become part of a greater Jerusalem municipality, according to the plan. At the same time, Kafr Aqeb and the Shuafat refugee camp would be detracted from Jerusalem – not to become part of the Palestinian Authority, but rather as separate, new Israeli municipalities. This would change the 60-40 Jewish/Arab demographic ratio to 85-15. The impact will be for generations!

When we mourn today for the destruction of Jerusalem, it’s not for the brick-and-stone structures that were destroyed, but rather for the loss of our Temples, our capital, and what they stood for. Today, when we are on the fast track in rebuilding Jerusalem and sensing the footsteps of the Mashiach, it is incumbent upon us to make sure we preserve our gains – and to continue to work together with brotherly, causeless love for even greater progress towards a united, secure and Jewish Jerusalem. With this, Tisha B’Av will truly turn from a day of mourning to one of joy and celebration.

With unity and togetherness, it will come sooner than we think. 

For more information on how to win the PR battle for Jewish Jerusalem, or to participate in geopolitical strategic tours of Jerusalem, send email to info@keepjerusalem.org, and visit <www.KeepJerusalem.org>.

 Hanspeter Beuchi

*After suppressing Jewish uprisings in 135 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian had changed the name of the land from Judea to Palestine. The name Palestine remained until 1948, the founding year of the State of Israel (previously called national Home for the Jewish people). Palestine had been the geographical name for the Holy Land. But there was neither a state of Palestine nor a people of that name.

What was the purpose and meaning of the Mandate of the League of Nations of 1922?

It represents under international law the basis of the State of Israel (until 1948 called national Home). The Mandate entrusted Great Britain with the implementation of the Balfour Declaration, i.e. the establishment of a national Home for the Jewish People in Palestine, namely on the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea (including the whole of Jerusalem). This was preceded in 1897 by the Basle Zionist Congress under Theodor Herzl and in 1917 by the Balfour Declaration, in which the British committed themselves to support the establishment of a national Home for the Jews as mentioned before. At the San Remo Conference in 1920, the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers approved the Balfour Declaration, making it valid under international law. Subsequently, the League of Nations (forerunner of the UN) adopted the above-mentioned mandate on 24 July 1922. In its preamble, it says: «Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country .

The civil and religious rights of the non-Jewish communities were to be respected, which posed no problems. However, from 1920 onwards – and until 1948 – the resistance of the Arab side, which was associated with terror and violence, became apparent. For according to Islamic doctrine, a territory that was under Islamic rule could never be dominated by non-Muslims. There would have been room for everyone. About 80% was state land. According to the 1921 administrative report, Palestine was undeveloped and underpopulated. But what did the British do as a mandate power? They illegally restricted Jewish immigration, but allowed numerous Arabs to immigrate (illegally) into the Mandate territory until 1948. That is why the majority of the “Palestinian people” are immigrants or their descendants.

The League of Nations mandate – key argument against the Nations delegitimizing Israel!

Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has been facing  waves of attempts from many sides – the UN, Nations, Palestinians – to curtail the territory legally fixed in 1922 as the national Home for the Jewish people. However, there has been no change to it, neither by the UN partition plan of 1947, which failed because the Arabs said no, nor by the illegal Jordanian occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem 1948-67. The Oslo Accords did not change anything either. Only certain areas were placed under Palestinian self-administration. Neither “Palestinian territory” nor a Palestinian state came into being, nor did the Palestinians get the right to East Jerusalem with the Old City and the Temple Mount. Despite all this, the UN and many nations are fixated on a Palestinian state, even though it has no legal basis and no prospect of peace. For the valid charter of the PLO/Fatah aims at the destruction of Israel. There is also no “1967 border”. Settlements are legal, if not on private Palestinian land. For they are basically situated on the territory that was set aside in 1922 for the national Jewish Home. The UN may have the power to violate Israel’s rights, but it is not entitled to do so, because these are protected by Art. 80 of the UN Charter. The fact that every year 70-80% of UN resolutions are against Israel alone is just one exemple of how much the anti-Semitism has developed into anti-Israelism.

Because the question « Who owns the land » has been answered in the binding Mandate for Palestine, Israel should refer to it when defending its position. Therefore the now 100 years old League of Nations mandate granting the said territory to the Jewish People cannot be emphasised enough. The UN and its members ignore it, criticise Israel unjustly – and grant the Palestinians non-existent territorial rights. This makes the UN and others to accomplices of those who want to wipe out Israel. Terror and agitation against Israel are hadly noticed. The critical opinion of many people in the world about Israel is mainly due to the often one-sided reporting in the media and the activities of anti-israel NGOs – some are based in Israel.  

 The writer is a retired Swiss banker and an international board member of Keep Jerusalem 

In a statement that seems to not have been reviewed before being issued, the EU declared without qualification that Israeli evictions of illegal Arab squatters on Jewish-owned property and demolitions of illegal structures on public land are “illegal under international law.” It could be that the EU is unduly distracted by the possibility of a Russian invasion into Ukraine, placing it on the borders of major European nations. But this is no excuse for making unfounded declarations regarding one of the most incendiary hot spots in the world: the holy city of Jerusalem.

The subject of the EU announcement was the execution of a five-year-old court-approved confiscation order of land, widely and violently protested by local Arabs. The land has been designated for the construction of six child-care centers and a special-needs school for the local Arab population. Could it be that Israel cares more for its Arab residents than they themselves do?

In condemning the eviction, the European Union issued a statement similar to one it issued a year ago when Israel evicted a long-squatting Arab family from Jewish-owned property. The previous statement claimed that Israel is an “occupying power” in Jerusalem, and termed Israel’s settlement policy “illegal under international law.”

In what is possibly the only truism in the statement, the EU said that the continuation of Israel’s settlement policy “undermines the viability of the two-state solution… and seriously jeopardizes the possibility of Jerusalem serving as the future capital of both States.” This evaluation, seemingly meant as a warning, is welcomed by the majority of Israelis and even, according to polls, many Arabs in Jerusalem.

The Jewish People’s inalienable right to the Land of Israel is not only Biblical, but is rooted in internationally recognized legal treaties and documents beginning a century ago. In July 1922, the League of Nations, predecessor of today’s United Nations, voted unanimously to approve for a Jewish state the territory outlined for this purpose at the San Remo Conference of 1920. The document begins: “Whereas recognition has been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country…”

It laid down the Jewish legal right under international law to settle anywhere in western Palestine, i.e., the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. This includes what some today call the West Bank (of the Jordan River), but is widely known as Judea and Samaria.

Article 6 actually encouraged “close settlement by Jews on the land, including state lands and waste lands not required for public use.” This clearly indicates, as author and expert Eli E. Hertz has written, that not only is Israeli control over these areas not illegal, but that international pressure on Israel to withdraw from them is illegal!

The United Nations, after taking over the authorities of the League of Nations upon its formation, then reaffirmed these terms.

International law expert Dr. Jacques P. Gauthier of Canada wrote his doctoral thesis on the legal status of Jerusalem. His conclusion, after 1,300 pages and 3,200 footnotes is that the world community of nations granted the Jewish People irrevocable legal rights to Jerusalem, and to the entire area west of the Jordan River, in a non-broken series of treaties and resolutions beginning with the Balfour Declaration and the San Remo Conference, as well as affirmations by the League of Nations and the UN.

As such, all claims that the Arabs deserve a state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are groundless. For, as Dr. Gauthier often repeats, the legal principle of “la chose jugée” (judged issue) means that once the issue was decided, as it was in the above councils, it becomes irreversible and forever binding in a “sacred trust.”

After the UN was formed, seven Arab armies invaded the land, seeking not only to wipe out the Jewish presence there, but also to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state, in opposition to the UN’s stated intention. “Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 was considered lawful and in self-defense,” writes Hertz, “as may be reflected in UN resolutions naming Israel a ‘peace-loving State’ when it applied for membership at the United Nations,” by both the UN Security Council and General Assembly.

No changes in the legal status of the land were made by the time, less than 20 years later, that Arab armies tried again to destroy Israel. This became the Six Day War, which finally left Israel in control of, inter alia, Judea and Samaria – and able to implement its aforementioned rights to settle it.

Even if San Remo and the UN are ignored, Prof. Hon. Stephen M. Schwebel, former President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), makes very clear that Israel’s military activity during this war was purely defensive, and that “a state acting in lawful exercise of its right of self-defense may seize and occupy foreign territory, as long as such seizure and occupation are necessary to its self-defense.”

Judea and Samaria was administered by Jordan (recognized as sovereign there only by Great Britain and possibly Pakistan) between 1948 and 1967, during which period it was populated by Arabs with no recognized national entity [nor could there have been, as their national rights to the area were purposely left unrecognized]. In light of all the above, Schwebel and other experts agree: Israel has the best legal title and claim to Judea and Samaria.

Perhaps the European Union would like to consider no longer repeating the canard that Jewish settlement of the Land of Israel is illegal under international law. One hundred years of history say the EU is wrong.

The world has entered a very challenging period due to various factors that enhance pre-existent undercurrents and allow them to boil over.

The perceived weakness of the current United States government on the global stage has allowed rogue nations to push their agendas without fear. The botched execution of the U.S. military disengagement from Afghanistan, the compromised security on its southern border, local inflation and economic instability, a self-inflicted dependence on foreign oil and social unrest are all factors in the rise of international instability due to the absence of a strong United States.

The Iranian regime, which sponsors terror, continues to threaten the free world. It exploits the weakness of Western governments and international dependence on oil and gas in order to negotiate a nuclear deal in bad faith. A deal that will allow it to become a nuclear power with sophisticated long-range delivery systems. The insanity of the “Iran deal” became even more evident when it was revealed that the primary negotiators on behalf of the U.S. are the Russians, who have a conflict of interest, given that they will directly benefit from helping the Iranians build a $10 billion nuclear reactor.

The Iranians are also involved in the destabilization of Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Gaza, Venezuela and the Gulf states. As these societies become more and more aggressive, and involve themselves in war and terror, a great many people will suffer—among them, those who support the Iranian regime. At the same time, any domestic opposition to the Iranian regime is crushed without mercy.

In a move that exploited European dependence on Russian oil and the perceived weakness of the international community, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to expand his control over additional territories in Europe and invaded Ukraine. Putin’s actions were encouraged by the lack of international condemnation that followed the Russian invasions of Chechnya, Georgia and Crimea, and the buildup of the Russian presence in Syria.

The current wave of anti-Semitism is only getting more powerful—for several reasons. One of the main reasons is the relentless propaganda efforts that are pushed by malicious operatives from the radical right, radical left and radical Islam.

Theoretically, a well-financed propaganda effort that is based on deception and misinformation should be relatively easy to expose and, hopefully, defeat. Unfortunately, too many good people around the world are busy with their own priorities and are not paying attention to this malicious wave of anti-Semitism, which may cause even them a lot of trouble, along with the entire free world.

We know from several previous studies that relentless and repetitive propaganda can be very effective in influencing public opinion, and these efforts are even more dangerous when they are directed at brainwashing vulnerable children and young adults.

There are multiple honorable organizations, like StandWithUs, The Lawfare Project, Brandeis Center, OpenDor Media and many others, which pay a lot of attention to this problem and offer some practical solutions. Unfortunately, there are other institutions, like the the Jerusalem-based Yad Vashem, which until recently were focused only on the Holocaust from World War II and practically ignored the creeping wave of the current rise in anti-Semitism.

The Holocaust did not arise out of thin air. It followed a massive wave of anti-Semitism that escalated gradually from verbal abuse to economic restrictions, to educational limitations, to physical marginalization in designated ghettoes, to enslavement and finally to extermination. Unfortunately, this wicked escalation of evil was facilitated by the deafening silence of the media, academia, civic organizations, politicians and even many Jews who hoped that if they did not sound the alarm, they might be saved from that horrible wave of evil.

It is obvious today that we are facing the early stages of a very similar wave of rise in anti-Semitism, which is also caused by the ongoing demonization of the Jewish people and the State of Israel by the three main radical groups and many other oblivious people. Looking at the current situation with open eyes, we can see too many similarities to the anti-Semitic wave that happened before and during WWII. The results of this hatred brought upon the free world a major disaster that included the loss of many lives, the destruction of property and the shaking of the political stability of many nations.

Today, we also notice the silence of too many in the media, in academia, in politics, in the general population and even within some Jewish groups. In addition, there is an ongoing effort by some of them to hurt Jews and the State of Israel, both economically and politically.

So far, these efforts have not been very successful, as there are many honorable people who recognize the just cause of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and who understand that if evil is rewarded and prevails, all good people will become its victims.

Following the Holocaust, some institutions dedicated themselves to teaching what happened during those dark days of history, hoping that if people knew about the horrors of the past, they would be more inclined to prevent it from happening again. Unfortunately, as Jonathan Tobin has opined, there are too many people who readily cry over dead Jews, but simultaneously continue their blind hatred of the living Jews and the Jewish State of Israel.

This can be partially attributed to the ongoing anti-Jewish incitement and the total ignorance of current and historical facts about the just cause of the Jewish people and their absolute legal right to live in their ancestral homeland in the land of Israel.

I am delighted that Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, which is dedicated to the study and education of the Holocaust, has received several major donations from many donors, from the State of Israel and from the wonderful and philanthropic Dr. Miriam Adelson and her family, which have enabled it also to launch an academy to train future leaders in Holocaust awareness.

Additionally, Yad Vashem recently appointed a new chairman, Ambassador Dani Dayan, who joined the leadership of the institution with a fresh vision. As was reported in JNS, he urged the leadership of the Christian world to improve its ways combating anti-Semitism, and to observe International Holocaust Memorial Day as a day of reflection and fight against modern-day anti-Semitism.

The spirit of this statement was very significant, as it set up the wise policy of helping the organization remember the Holocaust, while at the same time seriously addressing seriously current events and related modern anti-Semitism, with the stated goal of preventing the atrocities of the past from happening again. This message will have to be implemented throughout the organization and included in its various programs.

In addition to sharing important and relevant information about the horrors of the Holocaust, and about the just historical cause of the Jewish people and the honorable modern State of Israel, we must also include information about the following three points, to put the big picture into the correct perspective:

The enemies of the Jewish people and the State of Israel are relentlessly using deception and misinformation to promote their malicious propaganda.

When we investigate what these enemies of freedom and liberty stand for, we find that many of them are corrupt, support terror, abuse children, abuse women, etc. All these issues should be despised by the many people whom, unknowingly, support their malicious agenda. Once properly informed and educated, many of these oblivious people will likely discontinue their support of bad operatives.

People must know that these bad operatives will not unconditionally respect those who supported them in the past. Should evil prevail, all good people will become their victims. Therefore, giving evil financial support and political power will only make them bolder and more aggressive enemies of all good people, and not only of the Jews.

The more that people are educated and informed, the better it will be for the entire free world.

Dr. Shmuel Katz was born in Hungary and raised in Israel. He served as an IDF officer in the Six-Day War and gained extensive trauma experience during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He is double-boarded in surgery, a fellow of the Israeli Surgical Society and of the American College of Surgeons and other medical societies, and is on the board of many pro-Israel organizations.

For several problematic reasons, the State of Israel and the Jewish people have become the punching bag of many entities across the globe.

Among these reasons is the malice of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel dictatorships that depend on the 56-state bloc of Muslim countries in the United Nations—for oil, investment and protection. In their eyes, these benefits outweigh the values promoted by the honorable and democratic State of Israel, as well as its scientific contributions to the world.

These days, too, self-absorbed individuals and political leaders have a need to convince themselves that they are doing good by bashing Israel and the Jewish people. Unfortunately, there are too many oblivious Jewish leaders, students and others in this category. It seems that these individuals—even the well-connected and influential ones—are intimidated by the aggressive promoters of anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish agendas, and justifying their positions with irrational claims.

Perhaps they believe that if they stand against their own people, they will earn some benefit or respect from vicious Jew-haters. They probably hope that in the case of a confrontation, they will be able to weather the storm.

Honorable people should look at the overall situation with open eyes, check the facts independently and put them into the correct context. This will allow them to stand up for what is right, and defend themselves and their communities proudly against evil.

Any objective observer will see that in general, the Jews, like many other peoples of the world, are good. In addition, it is clear that those Jews living in the State of Israel have the absolute legal right to do so, for many reasons. Including the fact that it is their continuously inhabited ancestral homeland; they are not illegally occupying any foreign country.

The sooner critics of Israel realize that by bashing it and the Jewish people they are supporting the agendas of corrupt, self-serving actors, who stand for everything that they oppose, the better it will be for the free world. It is not difficult to see that these corrupt, self-serving actors support terrorism and do not care about human rights, equal rights, women’s freedom or even their own innocent children.

Unfortunately, many, if not most, of those who support these bad actors will end up becoming their victims, as we are seeing across the globe. Examples of this have been well-documented—some became human shields to protect dictators, others lost their personal freedom due to becoming accomplices to terrorists.

Once one understands the ways many of these bad actors think, it becomes obvious that they cannot be appeased, accommodated, or converted into peace-loving individuals. For the radical Muslims, even if Israel made the most generous concessions, including committing national suicide and closing down the country, the march to conquer the rest of the free world would continue.

Nor would Israel’s disappearance halt the radical left’s quest for absolute power and totalitarian domination, as we are seeing currently in China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea.

As for the radical right, the key to reversing their extensive brainwashing is education. Any rehabilitation program would have to start at an early age, and include the adults, too.

Providing any of these groups with financial support and political recognition and connections will only make them better-financed and better-connected malicious actors. It will not make our world a better or more peaceful place.

To achieve a better future for all good people, we must wake up and unite, we must educate as many people as possible with truthful facts and honorable values, and we must expose and marginalize the bad actors.

Dr. Shmuel Katz was born in Hungary and raised in Israel. He served as an IDF officer in the Six-Day War and gained extensive trauma experience during the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He is double-boarded in surgery, a fellow of the Israeli Surgical Society and of the American College of Surgeons and other medical societies, and is on the board of many pro-Israel organizations.

As some Christian leaders in Israel and around the world blame Jews for diminishing Christian numbers in the Holy Land, the true culprit – hostile Muslims – goes unnamed.

Fact: The 2016 killing of a gorilla in Cincinnati received six times more media coverage than the beheading by ISIS of 21 Coptic Egyptian Christians who refused to recant their faith. This is just one example of the woeful paucity of reporting on rampant Muslim persecution of Christians around the world.

Let us here be part of the solution, and note important examples of how Christians are faring in Muslim-controlled areas. In Nigeria, no fewer than 32,000 Christians were butchered to death by the country’s main Jihadists over the course of the decade just ended. Another more than 3,000 Christians were murdered there during the first seven months of this year, and three months ago, Muslims attacked a Christian community, murdering 49 Christians and kidnapping another 27.

The situation in other Muslim countries is better, but that’s little comfort. Raymond Ibrahim, author of a ten-year-old monthly Gatestone Institute series entitled Muslim Persecution of Christians, says, “the phenomenon of Muslim persecution of Christians is real: it’s unwavering, constant, and systemic, and it conforms to sharia-approved patterns — meaning its root source is Islam.”

Ibrahim emphasizes that in addition to the “pure genocide” of Christians in Nigeria, this same jihadist spirit is well entrenched or increasing in other African nations, such as Somalia, Mauritania, Kenya, Mozambique, and many more. In Christian-majority Uganda, it is common to see Muslims attacking or killing family members for converting to Christianity. In Pakistan, Ibrahim writes, “blatant and systemic discrimination against Christians is downright disgusting. Not a week seems to go by without a young, underage Christian girl being abducted, raped, and then forced to convert and marry her abductor – with the police and courts siding with the abductors and rapists.” In Egypt, numerous churches have been bombed by Muslims over the years, killing many worshipers, other churches have been banned outright, and kidnappings and forced marriages of Christian women and girls to their Muslim abductors have reached record levels.

PA Christians

What about in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas? A 2019 report by Edy Cohen of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies cited three horrifying incidents that received very little attention because they are “not connected to Israel.” The three stories “encapsulate the persecution of Palestinian Christians,” in the words of an HonestReporting.com report. One of them occurred on April 25, 2019, when Muslims stormed a village near Ramallah in response to a Christian resident who complained to police that the son of a Fatah leader had attacked her family. Rather than protecting the innocent civilian, police ignored the armed Fatah-affiliated rioters as they lobbed petrol bombs at homes and fired live rounds into the air. The men even demanded that the Christians pay a “jizya,” a yearly tax historically levied, by authority of the Quran, on permanent non-Muslim subjects (dhimmi) of Islamic states.

In the two other incidents in Cohen’s report, vandals broke into, desecrated, and stole equipment from churches in Bethlehem and Ramallah. In 2013 in Gaza, the Christian Holy Family School was set on fire, while the five Christian schools in the district were closed by Hamas government order.

“The only thing that interests the PA is that events of this kind not be leaked to the media,” Cohen wrote, because Fatah exerts heavy pressure on Christians not to report the attacks so as not to damage the PA’s image. “[Many] Christians in the PA … fear – with good reason – that Muslim aggression against them will only escalate. Such fears are all the stronger in light of the thunderous silence of the Western (and Israeli) media in the face of the Christian minority’s ongoing disappearance from the PA and Islamic lands in general – in striking contrast to the growth, prosperity and increasing integration of the Christian community in Israel proper.”

Church Leaders Blame Israel

With all this, a recent declaration by church leaders in Jerusalem puzzlingly lays all blame for Christian woes in the Holy Land at the feet of Jewish and Israeli elements. They warned that Christians have become targets of “frequent and supported attacks by radical fringe groups” – Jewish ones, that is. Nowhere do they mention attacks, both physical and otherwise, initiated against Christians by Muslims. The religious leaders warned of a “systematic [Jewish] attempt to drive the Christian community out of Jerusalem and other parts of the Holy Land.”

Several days later, two leading Christian clerics, one in England – no less than the head of the Church of England, Justin Welby – and one in Jerusalem, wrote an article supporting the claims and clearly suggesting that Israel is at fault for the decline in the Christian population in the Holy Land. This, even though the Christian population in Hamas-run Gaza has plummeted by 80% (!) over the past 15 years, to around 1,000.

The article states: “The growth of settler communities and travel restrictions brought about by the West Bank separation wall have deepened the isolation of Christian villages and curtailed economic and social possibilities.” Again, these vague and undocumented accusations totally obfuscate the true picture of ongoing Palestinian Arab persecution of Christians. The article does not even mention the PA or Muslims.

Regarding the insinuations that Israel is responsible for a drop in its Christian population, the facts tell a different story. Though the percentage of Christians in Israel has dropped drastically over the decades, largely because of the massive Jewish immigration to the Jewish State, in absolute numbers the Christian population in Israel proper has actually grown – and Israel is the only Middle Eastern country in which this is the case.

It is notable that the Christian charity organization “Open Doors” attributes to “Islamic oppression” the steep decline of Christian numbers in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas. The organization stated that “Islamic extremist militants” were causing Christians to fear violent attacks. Keep in mind that Christian numbers are dwindling in Muslim lands around the world. In 2019, Christians comprised 5% of Middle Eastern populations, compared with 20% a century ago.

Despite all, it might be of some consolation to know that even the Welby article notes that “Christians in Israel enjoy democratic and religious freedoms that are a beacon in the region.” Israel officially recognizes no fewer than 10 Christian denominations that regulate personal status issues such as marriage and divorce: Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic – to which most Israeli Christians belong – as well as Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Maronite, Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Chaldean Catholic and (Anglican) Episcopal. Israel is the only country in the region where freedom of Christian worship is not only permitted, but also protected.

In light of the Welby accusations, it behooves honest and freedom-loving citizens, especially in the Christian world, to protest yet another blatant antisemitic attempt to delegitimize Israel. These transparently false attacks serve only to delegitimize their own credibility. Shame.

In light of relentless international opposition, the Jerusalem District Planning Committee found a way to postpone construction of a new Jewish neighborhood in what used to be the Atarot Airport in northern Jerusalem.

The excuse utilized for this purpose was a purported need to conduct an environmental survey. The survey will take at least a year.

The United States, the European Union and several ministers from Israel’s current left-leaning government were pushing strongly for the postponement. This, even though the city council itself had just days before approved the neighborhood.

American pressure came not only in the form of a direct message from the State Department, but also the presence of a U.S. embassy official at the very meeting at which the postponement was decided upon. Jerusalem City Council member Ofer Berkovitz says that there is no reason why the new neighborhood could not be approved and advanced simultaneously with the conducting of the environmental survey.

The 9,000 housing units that were set to be constructed in Atarot would have significantly alleviated the housing crisis in Jerusalem, and would have helped guarantee full Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, for a number of reasons. As we have explained in previous articles, northern Jerusalem is a critical front in the Arab drive to take over parts of the city and then form yet another Arab country in the land of Israel.

Atarot—site of a Jewish village in both Biblical times and the early decades of the 20th century, a currently closed airport and a huge industrial zone that has dwindled to less than half its size as a result of the Oslo war—is the main Jewish presence in northern Jerusalem. The current threat to it is very real, with the nearby Arab neighborhood of Kafr Akeb about to engage in massive illegal and unsafe Arab construction that will overflow into it.

If Atarot does not remain Jewish, a contiguous north-south route of Arab neighborhoods—Qalandia, Bir Naballa, Beit Hanina, Shuafat and, further south, to Abu Dis and Bethlehem—will essentially divide Israel’s capital. On the other hand, the large Jewish neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Yaakov cannot continue to be connected to the rest of the city merely by a highway.

“It is construction projects like this [in Atarot] that will save Jerusalem [from being divided],” said Jerusalem lands activist Aryeh King. The only way to prevent the strangling of existing Jewish neighborhoods, in addition to buffering them up, is to build new ones alongside them.

This is clearly a national priority. Nearly a year ago, plans were finalized in southern Jerusalem for the construction of a new, mostly Jewish, neighborhood in Givat HaMatos.

There, too, heavy international pressure impeded the approval of the neighborhood, located adjacent to Beit Tzafafa (Arab) and Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, along the route leading to Gush Etzion. In fact, the Israeli government, after issuing and awarding the construction tenders in Givat HaMatos, made sure to finalize and close them just hours before U.S. President Joe Biden was inaugurated. Work on the more than 1,200 housing units there is now underway.

Atarot is planned to be a mostly haredi neighborhood. Although the future disposition of a neighborhood is not generally stated outright, several hints reveal the secret: The buildings will not be higher than nine stories, so that the highest floors can be accessed on the Sabbath by those who do not use Shabbat elevators; special sukkah porches with no ceiling above them are planned for each apartment on the higher floors; and lots have been designated for synagogues and mikvaot (ritual baths).

Haaretz commentator Nir Hasson wrote last week, “The [postponement] hearing well summed up the planning failure of united Jerusalem ever since 1967. The decision-makers and planners don’t see the city as a place that must be planned and built for its residents, but rather as a geopolitical chess board that must be built up in order to separate between two [Arab] neighborhoods, to preserve the [Jewish] majority or to thwart a diplomatic plan to divide the city.”

What Hasson sees as a “failure” and a contradiction between civilian needs and demographic/diplomatic considerations, we at Keep Jerusalem see as validation and a natural outgrowth of the Jewish return to its homeland. For what could be more important to the historic national and religious capital of the Jewish people for more than 3,000 years than ensuring that it remain Jewish?

Israel must certainly do all it can to ensure that Arab neighborhoods in its capital not become so large that they can no longer be policed (though this already the case in some areas), and that Jews are afraid to enter. We must also proudly do everything possible to ensure as large a Jewish majority in Jerusalem as possible, and certainly to thwart any and all diplomatic plans to divide our holy city.

This is why building up Atarot, Givat HaMatos and everywhere in the Jerusalem areas liberated more than 50 years ago in the miraculous Six-Day War is the charge of the hour.

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.