I just watched the opening of the USA Embassy in Jerusalem. It is a move with which I agree. I am not the only socially progressive person to also agree. I listened with interest to a Congressman who is a Bernie Sanders backer who also agreed with the move. I know that the USA has upset many countries, but not all. Already, at least two additional countries have already also recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Jerusalem.
So, why do I agree? In the 1990s, my presvytera and I served 3 years in Bolivia and 7 years in Perú. During that time, we heard about a war that had taken place in the late 1800s between Bolivia, Chile, and Perú. Bolivia lost, and as a result, became a land-locked country. Many people do not realize that Bolivia used to have a seacoast before that war. Tacna (Perú), Arica and Iquique (Chile) were Bolivian cities. The War of the Pacific took place from April 5, 1879 – October 20, 1883, and was disastrous for both Bolivia and Perú. Chilean troops nearly reached the second largest city in Perú, Arequipa. A tourist can still go to a park on the outskirts of Arequipa and see Chilean graffiti from the war that has been preserved for historical reasons. They are also a testament to the fierce resistance that the mountain-based Arequipeños put up, a resistance so fierce that the Chileans were not able to pass them and go to Lima.
Over 100 years later, our daughters were in school in Bolivia, in the southern city of Santa Cruz. There they were taught about how Bolivians must stand strong and plan for the day when they would recover their stolen cities. Bolivia would return to being a country with a seacoast, and all Bolivian children had to be prepared for that eventual return. In other words, despite peace accords, and over 100 years since them, Bolivians children were still being taught to be prepared for war again. Three years later, we were transferred to Perú. None of that was being taught in Perú. That country had come to accept that they had lost a war and that over 100 years later none of the citizens of the Chilean cities that used to be Peruvian would wish to democratically return to Perú. One country was still slinging mud. The other had realized that even if the land taken was returned the people living on that land no longer wanted to be part of them.
The same is true in the current mess in the Middle East. It has been 70 years since Israel became a country. It has been 51 years since the 1967 war that was instigated by an Arab invasion from several countries. It has been 22 years since… Yes, I could go on for a while. But, I see only the same pattern as I saw in Bolivia. There is no intention of ever reaching some type of treaty to allow Israel to have Jerusalem as its capital, despite the many centuries during which Jerusalem was the capital of Israel. All the current proposals talk about making Jerusalem an international city. Frankly, that reminds me of the joke about the pig and the chicken who were providing breakfast for their owner. The chicken was surprised that the pig was not more willing, to which the pig commented that what was a gift for the chicken was a total commitment for the pig (ham and eggs, think about it). The same is true for Israel. For the Palestinians having Jerusalem as their capital would be nice and symbolic, but for the Israelis, it calls up the deepest part of their hearts and what it means to be Jewish.
Israel is not completely innocent in that it continues to build settlements, and has not fully complied with the accords. While there are those that continually charge Israel with terrorism, the reality is that there has been insufficient proof presented at the UN to declare Israel a terrorist state. The reality is that while Israel has had to be dragged into accords, organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah have made it clear over the years that they have absolutely no intention of honoring any of their part of the accords. The continual and unremitting terrorism, as well as the unremitting calls for the destruction of Israel as well as the continual denial of the Holocaust, make it clear that, like Bolivia, there is no intent to come to some type of accord. Israel may not be innocent, but there was no intention of peaceful resolution on the part of the Palestinians.
I am one of those that believe that there may be some short-term upheaval, but that in the long-term, it is better that Jerusalem was taken off of the table. Muslims still control the Temple Mount. Many of the accords that preserve Jerusalem as an almost tripartite city are still functional on a daily basis. And, Jerusalem is at the heart of Judaism in a way that it is not at the heart of anything Palestinian. And, long-term who knows? What is clear is that there was no prior intent by the Palestinians of ever allowing Israel to have Jerusalem recognized internationally as being the capital of Israel, even if Jerusalem were to be divided into a three-part city like Berlin used to be a several regions city. Like Bolivia when we were there, even when the Palestinians spoke of a possible tripartite city, they always spoke of it as an international city. Enough of that, I say.
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