Jerusalem Day

Fifty years have passed since the liberation of Jerusalem. Why is the city still “in chains” then?

Even 50 years after the liberation of Jerusalem, it is still, as it has always been, the center of the world. There is tension between Israel and Turkey since Erdogan’s call to Muslims to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque in masses in order to support the Palestinians’ struggle and not allow Jerusalem to become the capital of the Jewish state.

The suggestion of American president Donald Trump to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem might undermine the already shaky sense of security even more. The city that is holy to the three religions and in whose heart the Wailing Wall is located was and still is a disputed territory.

There are those who consider the victory won in the Six Days War as the final phase of the return home of the nation of Israel, and there are those who see it as the beginning of the political tragedy of the State of Israel.

Still, at the moment of truth, we were all deeply moved and our eyes filled with tears as everyone felt a great relief when we received proof that we can indeed protect ourselves, which has always been doubtful until that war.

It is only when we feel a threat from the outside that we become a bit closer to each other; we forget all our differences and look for shelter that can unite us, like a herd of sheep escaping from a wolf. But this is not how a nation is formed. This is not how a dream is revived from ashes; this is not how the chosen people should behave.

Nothing is solved by a wave of a magic wand. Our practical experience proves that no political decisions, no life under constant pressure can be the remedy for the nation of Israel.

The unbearable situation we live in today, under endless pressures from within and from beyond the borders of our state, including the growing anti-Semitism, puts us facing the fact that the solution is somewhere else. It isn’t in external actions while society is deeply divided, but first of all in the correction of the relations between us.

We will not be able to establish a healthy system of mutual relations with any nation or state unless we first heal the mutual connections between us. This is the law of nature that operates on the nations of Israel; “Love thy friend as thyself” is the first law. Only after we fulfill it will we be able to reach peace with all our external enemies.
[207320]