(CNN) Jason D. Greenblatt - No one with any credibility denies the attachment of Muslims and Christians to Jerusalem. Yet, shockingly, there are many who deny Judaism's spiritual and historical ties to Jerusalem. For example, in 2016, UNESCO tried to pretend that over 3,000 years of the Jewish people's ties to Jerusalem did not exist, when its executive board voted to refer to the Western Wall and Temple Mount only by their Muslim names. Some prominent Palestinians accused Israel of attempting to "Judaize" the city of Jerusalem, as if it was not a Jewish city for thousands of years. Such actions are thoroughly outrageous and deceitful. Those countries who think that a solution to this extraordinarily complicated conflict can be resolved by making unrealistic demands of Israel, such as rejecting their claim to Jerusalem, by endlessly arguing legal positions about the conflict, by international conferences, or by UN resolutions, are tragically misleading Palestinians. When people mistakenly refer to the West Bank as the "Occupied Palestinian Territories," when, in fact, the land is disputed, they stand in the way of a negotiation. When countries do not make clear that the only realistic path to peace is through direct negotiations between the parties, they prolong the conflict. The time for speaking the truth, recognizing reality, and seeking to build a better future is now. The writer is a former assistant to the president and special representative for international negotiations.
2019-12-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive