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May, 2003
To: Officers, Rabbis, Key Contacts
From: Richard B. Stone, Chairman
Betty Ehrenberg, Director, International and Communal Affairs
Re: Jerusalem – Talking Points I
As Yom Yerushalayim of 5763 approaches, we call upon our members to help
educate community, political, and media leaders, and the public at large
about the centrality of Jerusalem in Jewish life as the eternal, undivided
capital of Israel. The following are points that can help you in your
communications to opinion molders and policy makers.
Talking Points
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The Jewish claim to Jerusalem is rooted in more than
3,000 years of history. Jerusalem has been at the center of Jewish
consciousness for over 3,000 years, even before King David made it the
capital of his kingdom in 1004 BCE. Abraham’s binding of Isaac and the
dream of Jacob’s ladder took place in Jerusalem, according to the Bible.
No other city has played such a prominent role in the history, culture,
and religion of a people, as has Jerusalem for the Jews.
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Throughout the Jewish Diaspora, Jerusalem has always
remained foremost in the thoughts of the Jewish people as they turn to
Jerusalem three times a day in prayer. No wedding or other celebration is
without references to the Jewish people for their ancient capital.
Jerusalem is mentioned in everyday prayers and on holidays and festivals.
At the end of the Passover Seder and the Yom Kippur Services, Jews
proclaim, “Next Year in Jerusalem.”
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Jewish independence in the land of Israel, which ended
in 70 CE and was renewed in 1948, marks the longest period of sovereignty
over Jerusalem by any nation. No other nation can claim such a long
political existence in the recorded history of this unique city. Jerusalem
was never the capital of any other state.
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Throughout all the periods of foreign rule over
Jerusalem (Roman, 70CE – 324; Byzantine, 324 – 614; Persian, 614 – 640;
Arab 640 – 1099; Crusader, 1099 – 1291; Mamluk, 1291 – 1516; and Ottoman
Turk, 1516 – 1918) Jews were persecuted, massacred, and subject to exile.
Even so, the Jewish presence in Jerusalem remained constant and enduring.
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Jews have always chosen to settle in Jerusalem. Since
1840, Jews constituted the largest ethnic group in this city and have held
an uninterrupted majority in Jerusalem since the 1860s.
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No other nation or state which gained political
sovereignty over the area had ever made Jerusalem a capital city. Both the
Arab and Mamluk empires chose to rule from Damascus, while the Ottoman
ruler resided in Constantinople. None of these empires even granted
Jerusalem the status of district capital. When Israel reunited the city in
1967, she found Jerusalem in a state of ruin and destruction, badly
neglected by those who formerly had jurisdiction over Jerusalem.
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The liberation and reunification of Jerusalem occurred
in 1967 during the Six Day War. The only time the city was divided was
between the years of 1948 and 1967, the result of unprovoked attack
followed by unrecognized annexation by Jordan:
- On May 14, 1948, upon the termination of the
British Mandate, Israel proclaimed its independence. Immediately, the
surrounding Arab countries attacked the fledgling state and besieged the
Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.
- On May 28, 1948, the Arab Legion overran the
Jewish Quarter in eastern Jerusalem while Israel held onto the Jewish
populated western neighborhoods of the city. Jerusalem was divided for the
first time in its history.
- In 1950, Transjordan annexed the West Bank and
Jerusalem in an act which was neither recognized by the world community
nor by the Arab states.
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On June 5, 1967, an unprovoked Arab attack was launched
on the Jewish-populated western neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Indiscriminate
artillery bombardment damaged religious sites, hospitals, and schools
across the 1949 armistice line. The UN headquarters south of Jerusalem was
seized, and enemy troops began to enter nearby Jewish neighborhoods.
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On June 7, the IDF retook the Old City, reuniting
Jerusalem. The barbed wire and concrete barriers which had divided
Jerusalem were finally torn down, and Israeli law, jurisdiction, and
administration was extended to the eastern neighborhoods of the city.
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Jerusalem is and has always been an undivided city
except for this 19-year period. There is no justification for this short
period to be viewed as a factor in determining the future of this city and
to negate over 3,000 years of unity.
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There is no basis in international law for the position
supporting the status of the separate entity for the city of Jerusalem.
This concept originated in a proposal contained in the UN General Assembly
resolution 181 of November 1947, which dealt with the partition of the
British Mandate of Palestine. This was a non-binding proposal and never
materialized. It was rendered irrelevant when the Arab states rejected the
UN resolution and invaded Israel.
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Immediately following the reunification of Jerusalem in
1967, Jerusalem’s Arab residents were offered full Israeli citizenship,
though most declined to accept it. Those who chose not to accept it still
retain the rights to participate in municipal elections and enjoy all
economic, cultural, and social benefits afforded Israeli citizens
including health benefits, and social security, among others.
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In 1949, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion acted to
reconstitute the seat of government in Jerusalem and the Knesset was
reconvened in the city in December of that year.
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Following the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967,
together with the extension of Israeli jurisdiction and administration
over East Jerusalem, the Knesset passed the ‘Preservation of the Holy
Places Law of 1967’, which ensured protection and freedom of access to all
holy sites of the city to members of all faiths.
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In 1980, the Knesset legislated ‘Basic Law: Jerusalem,
Capital of Israel’ which restates the position that “Jerusalem, complete
and united, is the capital of Israel” and the seat of its main governing
bodies. This law reiterates Israel’s commitment to protecting the holy
places and to developing the city.
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There has always been a national consensus in Israel on
the status of Jerusalem. Since the reunification of the city in 1967, all
Israeli governments had declared their policy that united Jerusalem,
Israel’s eternal capital, is one indivisible city under Israeli
sovereignty.
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On May 28, 1995, then Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin
stated, “In 1980, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem law. All the
governments of Israel, including the present government, have been fully
confident that what was determined in 1967, what was legislated in 1980
transforming Jerusalem into a unified city under Israeli sovereignty, the
capital of Israel, the heart of the Jewish people – these are facts that
will endure for eternity.”
More sources for this and additional information are:
www.mfa.gov.il
www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
www.jerusalem-archives.org
www.myrova.com
RBS
BE
Talking
Points II
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