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Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=4235
Jerusalem: The Jewish Nation's DNA
(Israel Hayom) Nadav Shragai - When celebrating Jerusalem Day, let's talk about the nature of our connection to the city, from the time of King David, through the First and Second Temples, to modern independence in 1948, through the Six-Day War, and up to today. We need to talk about our birthright to this city of ours. Our connection to it is rooted in our religious faith, in our history, and in two thousand years of recollection and longing. The Jewish presence in Jerusalem never ended. As former Prime Minister Menachem Begin said, "More than Israel watches over Jerusalem, Jerusalem watches over Israel." Jerusalem is the DNA that runs through the veins of Jewish people all over the world. Jerusalem was a magnet to us, a compass, a glue, the weave forming the Jewish people's most characteristic memory. Without Jerusalem our nation would never have been resurrected here in Israel. Islam, which now claims Jerusalem and its holy places, entered the scene some 2,000 years after Israel became a nation. The Palestinians - who are claiming eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City and the Temple Mount, as their capital - only began to define themselves as a nation within the last century. Jews have lived in Israel for the past 3,300 years. Throughout this time, Jerusalem has always been the Hebrew capital.