Jerusalem—City of God

January 21, 2015

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“We are in a battle for Jerusalem, our eternal capital.”

—posted on his Twitter account

“I often hear [Palestinians] accuse Israel of Judaizing Jerusalem. That’s like accusing America of Americanizing Washington, or the British of Anglicizing London. You know why we’re called ‘Jews’? Because we come from Judea.”

—addressing the United Nations

“Isaiah, our great prophet of peace, taught us nearly 3,000 years ago in Jerusalem to speak truth to power:

‘For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent.
For the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be still. 
Until her justice shines bright, 
And her salvation glows like a flaming torch.'” [Isa. 62:1]

“There are those who would like to uproot us from our land and from our capital. They will not achieve their aim.”

—posted on his Twitter account

Ron Prosor, Israel’s UN Ambassador:

Ron Prosor
John Rifkin/wikipedia.org “I am here to convey one simple truth. The people of Israel are not occupiers and we are not settlers. Israel is our home and Jerusalem is the eternal capital of our sovereign state.

“Throughout history, Jerusalem has been the capital for one people and only one people—the Jewish people. I am holding a Bible which details almost 4,000 years of Jewish history in the Land of Israel. In it we read about our forefathers—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—who travelled Jerusalem’s rolling hills. We read about King David who laid the cornerstone for his palace over 3,000 years ago. That’s King David from Bethlehem, not King David from the West Bank, and certainly not King David from the occupied territories. And in the Bible we read about King Solomon who constructed the First Temple. Jerusalem is a Divine promise to the Jewish people.

“The connection between the Jewish people and our capital cannot be denied. Nothing you can say will change that. Jerusalem is Mount Zion and Mount Moriah and the Temple Mount. To walk in this place is to follow in the footsteps of our forefathers and to feel the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people.

“The Palestinians and others have had the audacity to accuse us of trying to alter the historic Jewish character of our ancient city. Really? The truth of the matter is that Jerusalem had a Jewish character long before most cities in the world had any character. It was the capital of the Jewish people long before Homer composed the Iliad, before Romulus and Remus founded Rome, and before the armies of Alexander the Great swept across the Middle East.

“Israel will continue to strive for peace while fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah:

‘On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen; all day and all night, they shall never be silent.‘ [Isa. 62:6]

“Israel will never be silent. We will stand guard and we will safeguard Jerusalem – not just for the Jewish people, but for people of all faiths.

“And so today I issue this promise from the people of the Promised Land—under our watch, Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people, will remain a free and open city for all people and for all time.”

—speaking to the UN Security Council

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority:

Mahmoud Abbas
Amos BenGersom/GPO “Israel’s claim to the Temple ‎Mount is ‘empty and false’… a ‎falsification of the history we all know.”‎

—speaking on PA televison

“Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is ‎‘a red line’ that ‘we cannot possibly ‎accept.’”

—Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, official PA daily

“I congratulate our people for their steadfastness in defending Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for Al-Aqsa and for Jerusalem.”

—speaking to the Fatah Advisory Council

Palestinian Authority Religious Leaders:

Al-Habbash
Timo Patrikainen /wikipedia.org “The [terror] campaign being waged in Jerusalem today—I think it is the final chapter. The final chapter after which our banners will be raised, with the aid of the one, exalted and omnipotent Allah, over the towers of the muezzin [person who sings the Muslim call to prayer] of Jerusalem, the churches of Jerusalem, the domes of Jerusalem, and its hills, mountains, alleys and houses.”

—Sheik Yusuf Ida’is, PA Minister of Religious Affairs, speaking on official PA television

“Israel thinks that it will have the last word in the fairy tale of Jewish Jerusalem.”

—Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, WAFA news agency

“No Muslim will ever accept non-Muslim sovereignty over even a millimeter of… Jerusalem”

—Mahmoud Al-Habbash, the Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, speaking on official PA television

Jerusalem Is Important to God!

“Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; with great fervor I am zealous for her.’ Thus says the LORD: ‘I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, and the Mountain of the LORD of hosts, the Holy Mountain’ (Zech. 8:2–3).

Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Behold, I will save My people…and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem’” (Zech. 8:7–8a).

“‘For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,’ says the LORD God, ‘there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them…” (Ezek. 20:40).

“For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns” (Isa. 62:1).

Photo Credit: Click on photo to see photo credit