Daily Wire editor-in-chief and author of The New York Times bestseller &#8220;<a href="https://amzn.to/2HjtBTp">The Right Side Of History</a>&#8221; Ben Shapiro hosts the latest video from Prager University, &#8220;Why Has The West Been So Successful?&#8221; in which he explains how Western Civilization has helped shape the history of the world for the good. 
&#8220;Western civilization; it&#8217;s been around for a while, but suddenly everybody is talking about it. Some are anxious to save it; others are happy to see it go. But what exactly is Western civilization?&#8221; Shapiro begins.
&#8220;The Left likes to focus on the bad: genocide, slavery, environmental destruction. But those have been present in every civilization from time immemorial,&#8221; he continues. &#8220;The positives are unique to the West. Religious tolerance, abolition of slavery, universal human rights, the development of the scientific method: these are accomplishments of a scope and scale that only the West can claim.&#8221;
Shapiro posits that the &#8220;balancing&#8221; of two focal points in history, Jerusalem and Athens, has become the foundation of the West. &#8220;Jerusalem represents religious revelation as manifested in the Judeo-Christian tradition: the beliefs that a good God created an ordered universe and that this God demands moral behavior from His paramount creation, man,&#8221; says Shapiro. &#8220;The other city, Athens, represents reason and logic as expressed by the great Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle and many others.&#8221; 
&#8220;These two ways of thinking, revelation and reason, live in constant tension,&#8221; he continues. &#8220;Judeo-Christian religion posits that there are certain fundamental truths handed down to us by a transcendent being. We didn&#8217;t invent these truths; we received them from God. The rules He lays down for us are vital for building a functioning, moral civilization and for leading a happy life. Greek thinking posits that we only know truth by what we observe, test, and measure. It is not faith, but fact, that drives our understanding and exploration of the universe. Western civilization, and only Western civilization, has found a way to balance both religious belief and human reason.&#8221;
Video and transcript below:
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<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="481" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RVD0xik-_FM" width="855"></iframe></div>
<blockquote>
Western civilization. It&#8217;s been around for a while, but suddenly everybody is talking about it. Some are anxious to save it; others are happy to see it go.
But what exactly is Western civilization?
Is it the great cathedrals of Europe or the Nazi concentration camps? Is it the freedoms secured in the US Constitution or chattel slavery? Life-saving medicines or poison gas?
The left likes to focus on the bad &#8211; genocide, slavery, environmental destruction. But those have been present in every civilization from time immemorial.
The positives are unique to the West &#8211; religious tolerance, abolition of slavery, universal human rights, the development of the scientific method: these are accomplishments of a scope and scale that only the West can claim.
These aren&#8217;t the only achievements that make the West special and uniquely successful. As Western thought evolved, it secured the rights of women and minorities, lifted billions of people out of poverty, and invented most of the modern world.
Progress hasn&#8217;t been a straight line, of course. But the arc of history is clear. The obvious proof is that the world is overwhelmingly Western. And, with few exceptions, those parts of the world that aren&#8217;t aspire to be.
Why? Why has Western civilization been so successful?
There are many reasons, but the best place to start is with the teachings and philosophies that emerged from two ancient cities: Jerusalem and Athens.
Jerusalem represents religious revelation as manifested in the Judeo-Christian tradition: the beliefs that a good God created an ordered universe and that this God demands moral behavior from His paramount creation, man.
The other city, Athens, represents reason and logic as expressed by the great Greek thinkers Plato and Aristotle and many others.
These two ways of thinking &#8211; revelation and reason &#8211; live in constant tension.
Judeo-Christian religion posits that there are certain fundamental truths handed down to us by a transcendent being. We didn&#8217;t invent these truths; we received them from God. The rules He lays down for us are vital for building a functioning, moral civilization and for leading a happy life.
Greek thinking posits that we only know truth by what we observe, test, and measure. It is not faith, but fact, that drives our understanding and exploration of the universe.
Western civilization, and only Western civilization, has found a way to balance both religious belief and human reason.
Here&#8217;s how the balance works.
The Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that God created an ordered universe, and that we have an obligation to try to make the world better. This offers us purpose and suggests that history moves forward. Most pagan religions taught the opposite: that the universe is illogical and random, and that history is cyclical. History just endlessly repeats itself &#8211; in which case, why bother to innovate or create anything new?
Second, Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that every human is created in the image of God; that is, each individual&#8217;s life is infinitely valuable. This seems self-evident to us now, but only because we have lived with this belief for so long. The far more natural belief is that the strong should subjugate the weak &#8211; which is precisely what people did in nearly every society in all of history. Only by recognizing the divine in others did we ever move beyond this amoral thinking toward the concern for human rights, democracy and free enterprise that characterize the West.
But Judeo-Christian religion alone didn&#8217;t build our modern civilization. We also required Greek reason to teach us objective observation: that man has the capacity to search beyond revelation for answers.
Greek reason brought us the notion of the natural law, the idea that we could discover the natural purpose &#8211; the telos &#8211; of everything in creation by looking to its character. Human beings were created with the unique capacity to reason; therefore, our telos was to reason. By investing reason with so much power, Greek thought became integral to the Western mission.
Nowhere is this more perfectly expressed than in the American Revolution, in which the Founding Fathers took the best of the European Enlightenment with its roots in Greek thought and the best of Judeo-Christian practice with its roots in the Bible and melded them into a whole new political philosophy.
Without Judeo-Christian values, we fall into scientific materialism &#8211; the belief that physical matter is the only reality, and therefore also fall into nihilism &#8211; the belief that life has no meaning, that we&#8217;re merely stellar dust in a cold universe.
Without Greek reason, we fall into fanaticism &#8211; the belief that fundamentalist adherence to unprovable principles represents the only path toward meaning.
The Soviet Union, Communist China and other socialist tyrannies rejected faith and murdered 100 million people in the 20th century.
Much of the modern Muslim world has embraced faith but rejected reason. It&#8217;s noteworthy that when the Muslim world did embrace Greek reason, from the 8th to the 14th centuries, it was a leading center for scientific advancement.
So, again, we need both &#8211; Jerusalem and Athens. Revelation and reason.
And yet, many want to reject both. These people call themselves &#8220;progressives.&#8221;
Ironically, they want to take us backwards, to a time when man was governed neither by reason nor faith, but by feeling, and therefore back to a time of moral chaos and disorder, of feeling over fact.
It would be a fatal mistake to follow the &#8220;progressives.&#8221; Stick with Athens and Jerusalem.
I&#8217;m Ben Shapiro, editor of The Daily Wire and author of The Right Side of History, for Prager University.
</blockquote>
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Ben Shapiro: Here&#8217;s Why The West Has Been So Successful

American History

Ben Shapiro

Conservatism

Jerusalem

Making History

Prager University

Why Do Christians Love Israel? What I Learned.

Bible

Catholic Church

Christianity

Democratic Party

Donald Trump

Israel

Jesus Christ

Jews

Judaism

Just as many predicted, several countries are beginning to follow the United States&#8217; lead and move their Israeli embassies to Jerusalem in defiance of the European Union.
<a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/slovakia-moving-embassy-to-jerusalem/2018/07/04/">According to Jewish Press</a>, Andrej Danno, the Slovak National Council, told Reuven Rivlin, the President of Israel, that Slovakia plans to move their embassy to Jerusalem.
The decision was made by the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini.
Slovakia will be the sixth country to move their embassy to Jerusalem following the Trump administration&#8217;s decision to make the politically significant change.
Both Guatemala and Paraguay moved their Israeli Embassy to Jerusalem in May, just weeks after the United States. 
The president of Colombia, Ivan Duque, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-colombian-president-open-to-moving-embassy-to-jerusalem/">also flirted with the idea</a> of moving the Colombian embassy last month, saying he would not rule out &#8220;the possibility of placing the diplomatic seat in Jerusalem.&#8221;
Following President Trump&#8217;s announcement of the embassy move last year, both the EU and UN <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-israel-jerusalem-reaction/arabs-europe-u-n-reject-trumps-recognition-of-jerusalem-as-israeli-capital-idUSKBN1E0312">expressed their disagreement</a>.
<a href="http://www.algemeiner.com/2018/07/04/slovakia-declares-it-will-move-its-embassy-to-jerusalem/">Jewish Press</a> notes that in making the announcement, Slovakia is joining Bulgaria and Czech Republic in planning to move their embassies and breaking from EU&#8217;s policy of not recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
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Slovakia Announces Intention To Move Embassy To Jerusalem As The Sixth Country To Do So

European Union

Slovakia

Trump Administration

On Wednesday, Guatemala joined the United States by opening its own embassy in Jerusalem. This is not the first time Guatemala has followed the lead of the United States regarding Israel; in May 1948, after the United States became the first country in the world to recognize the Jewish state, Guatemala immediately did the same thing.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated, &#8220;This is the beginning of something extraordinary,&#8221; adding Guatemala&#8217;s decision went &#8220;hand in hand&#8221; with the U.S. move. He noted Guatemala&#8217;s decision 70 years ago, <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/16/guatemala-embassy-jerusalem-590959">saying</a>, &#8220;You were always among the first. We remember our friends and Guatemala is our friend, then and now.&#8221;
The embassy is located at the Malha Technological Park in Jerusalem.
Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales added, &#8220;70 years ago the U.S. and Guatemala voted in favor of partition. Three friends that share friendship and loyalty.&#8221;
As <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Guatemala-opens-embassy-in-Jerusalem-two-days-after-US-556589">The Jerusalem Post</a> noted, Netanyahu pointed out that Jerusalem already has a Guatemala Street near the new embassy. He asserted, &#8220;I think we need more Guatemala Streets in Israel. And we&#8217;d also like to see Israel Streets in Guatemala.&#8221; He said the next time he visits Latin America, which he surmised will happen in late 2018, he intends to visit Guatemala.
Roughly 150 people were jammed into the foyer of the embassy, including U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, Sheldon Adelson, Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat and numerous Guatemalan ministers and members of the legislature.
Paraguay has already stated it will also relocate its embassy to Jerusalem; Romania, the Czech Republic and Honduras have stated they are thinking of following suit.

TRUMP LEADS THE WAY: Guatemala Opens Its Embassy In Jerusalem

Guatemala

This week, the Trump administration inaugurated the new American embassy in Jerusalem. The celebration in Israel was palpable; the embassy move came amidst the national celebration of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the state. The streets filled with Jews of all sorts, cheering and dancing.
Meanwhile, on the Gaza border, Hamas broadened its monthlong campaign to break down the Israel border, staging border &#8220;protests&#8221; attended by thousands &#8212; including terrorists who have used the supposed protests as a staging point for violent attacks on Israeli troops and territory. Palestinian terrorists have caused mass chaos, throwing Molotov cocktails at troops, attempting to rush the border, flinging explosives and tying incendiaries to kites in an attempt to set Israeli territory alight. The Israeli Defense Forces have responded with restraint. Despite this, a few dozen Palestinians have been killed, not the hundreds or thousands Hamas would presumably prefer.
But even as Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in Gaza, suggested that &#8220;more than 100,000 people could storm the fence&#8221; between Israel and Gaza, and as 23-year-old Mohammed Mansoura announced, &#8220;We are excited to storm and get inside &#8230; to kill, throw stones,&#8221; the media covered the slow-rolling terror assault as a form of peaceful protest. A New York Times headline read &#8220;Israeli Troops Kill Dozens of Palestinian Protesters.&#8221; A Wall Street Journal headline reads &#8220;Scores Killed, Thousands Injured as Palestinians Protest US Embassy Opening In Jerusalem.&#8221;
Never mind that the riots had been going on for weeks preceding the embassy opening. Never mind that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority could quickly and permanently end all violence simply by stopping the violence. The real issue, according to the press, is President Trump and his Israeli friends.
What drives the leftist press&#8217;s coverage? Simply put, antipathy to the West. Israel is seen as an outpost of colonialism by leftists, and has been since the 1967 war. Then-President Barack Obama expressed the view well in his 2009 speech in Cairo, suggesting that Israel&#8217;s rationale relied on its &#8220;tragic history&#8221; that &#8220;culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust.&#8221; In this view, the Palestinians were shunted aside in favor of providing national reparations to Jews; the Jews took their Western ways into the heart of a foreign region.
This isn&#8217;t true. The living proof of that is Israel&#8217;s eternal connection to Jerusalem. That&#8217;s why both radical Muslims (including the Palestinian leadership) and the far left deny Israel&#8217;s historic bond with its homeland and hope desperately to stop public recognition of that bond. If Israel exists because Jewish connection pre-existed everything else, then Israel isn&#8217;t a new outpost of the West; it&#8217;s the oldest center of the West. That&#8217;s why Trump&#8217;s announcement is important: It&#8217;s a recognition that the West was founded on Jerusalem, rather than the other way around.
Peace will come when everyone recognizes what Trump has recognized: The Jewish connection to Jerusalem is unbreakable. And peace will come when Israel&#8217;s enemies realize that violence can&#8217;t change that underlying fact.
COPYRIGHT CREATORS 2018

Why Jerusalem Matters

Conservative author and radio host Mark Levin blasted the mainstream media&#8217;s coverage surrounding Israel&#8217;s response to the Palestinians&#8217; violent protests following the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The media, Levin said, &#8220;have blood on their hands&#8221; for continuing to fall for the tactics of Hamas, who use human shields as props for the cameras so the press will unfairly blame the Israeli government for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30664/watch-shapiro-fox-rips-medias-israelhamas-coverage-daily-wire">violence</a>.
&#8220;But they force children into these actions. Remember the last war with Gaza? Where do they put their headquarters? Under elementary schools. Remember? Where do they put their missile inventory? Under hospitals,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You see, what our media do not understand or do not care to understand is that for Hamas every human being is expendable. Because it&#8217;s a war. Every one of their citizens, expendable. Children and women first!
&#8220;Why? I&#8217;m gonna tell you why,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;And I don&#8217;t mean to be provocative, but I&#8217;m gonna tell you why.
&#8220;The media in our country &#8212; hell the worldwide media and the Democratic Party in our country, just like all the left European parties&#8230; You know what? They have blood on their hands! You know why they have blood on their hands? Because they encourage this activity. Because Hamas watches them. The more children that are killed, the more the media turn on the Israelis. The more women killed, the more the media turn on the Israelis. So they push the women to the front. They push the children to the front.&#8221;
The host condemned Hamas for the violence the perpetrate on their own people. &#8220;You and I look at this and say holeeeee&#8230;these terrorists are unbelievable, what they do to their own people!&#8221; he said. &#8220;The media, they say the Israelis are unbelievable, look what they do to these people.&#8221;
You can listen to the audio on <a href="http://therightscoop.com/the-media-have-blood-on-their-hands-mark-levin-blasts-the-media-over-biased-coverage-of-israel-defending-itself-from-palestinians/">The Right Scoop</a>. 
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30638/hamas-planned-violence-gaza-border-media-act-their-ben-shapiro">SHAPIRO: Hamas Planned The Violence On The Gaza Border. The Media Act As Their Propaganda Arm</a>.

Mark Levin: The Media &#8216;Have Blood On Their Hands&#8217;

Media

Media Bias

Republican Party

On Monday, Andrew Kugle of The Washington Free Beacon released a rather <a href="http://freebeacon.com/politics/israel-controversial-cuba-historic/">brilliant video</a> showcasing the differences in news coverage between the Jerusalem embassy move and the Obama administration announcing normalized relations with Cuba.
Take a look:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="385" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w-SVTVKMPnE" width="720"></iframe>&#8203;</div>
It&#8217;s almost as if the mainstream press has a script. What&#8217;s good in their eyes is &#8220;historic,&#8221; and what&#8217;s bad is &#8220;controversial.&#8221;

WATCH: ‘Historic/Controversial’ Supercut Shows That Two Simple Words Can Change The Way We See World Events

Cuba

On Monday, the Trump administration officially opened the US embassy in Jerusalem. It was a moment to cherish: an acknowledgment by the most powerful nation on the planet that Jerusalem was indeed Jewish, that it is the eternal capital of Israel, and that neither revisionist history nor sheer anti-Semitic malice can separate Jerusalem from her people.
Naturally, not one elected Democrat showed up.
On the surface, this decision makes little sense. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) signaled his excitement over the Trump administration&#8217;s decision: &#8220;In a long overdue move, we have moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Every nation should have the right to choose its capital. I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President Trump for doing it.&#8221; Back in 1995, Congress passed a law mandating the embassy move with bipartisan support; in the Senate, the bill passed 93-5. In June 2017, a bill reaffirming the principles of the 1995 vote passed 90-0 in the Senate.
Yet no Congressional Democrats showed up to the Jerusalem event. By contrast, a bevy of elected Republicans ranging from Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) showed up in Jerusalem to celebrate. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he had invited Democrats to come along. &#8220;I am disappointed that not one Democrat came,&#8221; Graham stated. &#8220;What does that say? It&#8217;s not for me to tell you what that says. It hurts me. Because I work across the aisle on a regular basis. I think it was a mistake, because there&#8217;s too much going on in the region.&#8221;
According to Israeli reporter Ariel Kahana, every member of Congress was invited to attend, but &#8220;people involved in the process blame the Democratic leadership of Congress.&#8221;
So why didn&#8217;t the Democrats show up?
<a href="http://jewishjournal.com/opinion/ben-shapiro/234098/democrats-missed-boat-jerusalem/">Read the rest by clicking here</a>.

Shapiro At &#8216;Jewish Journal&#8217;: Why Democrats Missed The Boat On Jerusalem

Charles Schumer

On Monday, it was reported that an Iranian group has offered $100,000 to anyone who blows up the new American embassy in Jerusalem. That news came courtesy of the University Student News Network, a <a href="http://snn.ir/fa/news/685010/%D8%AC%D8%A7%DB%8C%D8%B2%D9%87-%DB%B1%DB%B0%DB%B0-%D9%87%D8%B2%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A8%D8%B4-%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%AC%D9%88%DB%8C%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B3%DB%8C-%DA%A9%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D8%A2%D9%85%D8%B1%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%B1%D8%A7-%D9%85%D9%86%D9%81%D8%AC%D8%B1-%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%AF">regional Farsi-language site</a>, as <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iranian-group-offers-100000-blow-new-u-s-embassy-jerusalem/">The Washington Free Beacon</a> reports.
The Iranian Justice Seeker Student Movement reportedly distributed posters with a message written in Farsi, Arabic, and English, that states, &#8220;The Student Justice Movement will support anybody who destroy the illegal American embassy in Jerusalem,&#8221; adding that there would be a &#8220;$100,000 dollar prize for the person who destroys the illegal American embassy in Jerusalem.&#8221;
The report from the University Student News Network stated, &#8220;The Student Movement for Justice declared, &#8216;Whoever bombs the embassy&#8217;s building will receive a $100,000 award.&#8217;&#8221;
Michael Rubin told The Washington Free Beacon that the threat was reflective of the Iranian government&#8217;s championing of terrorism. He said, &#8220;Unfortunately, terrorism directed toward diplomats and embassies has become a central pillar of the Islamic Republic&#8217;s culture. Terrorism is lionized in Iranian schools. This bounty is more the rule than the exception. To blame Washington or Jerusalem is to blame the victim and give terrorists a veto over U.S. policy.&#8221;
Behnam Ben Taleblu, an research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, &#8220;This is nothing short of an invitation to a heinous act of an international terror by a student group that looks up to the world&#8217;s foremost state sponsor of terror&#8212;the Islamic Republic of Iran.&#8221;

Report: Iranian Group Offers $100,000 To Blow Up American Embassy In Jerusalem

Iran

U.S. Embassy

There is a famous story in the Talmud about the great rabbis of the era of the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Here is the story, in full:
<blockquote>
Again it happened that Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Akiva went up to Jerusalem. When they reached Mt. Scopus, they tore their garments. When they reached the Temple Mount, they saw a fox emerging from the place of the Holy of Holies. The others started weeping; Rabbi Akiva laughed.
Said they to him: &#8220;Why are you laughing?&#8221;
Said he to them: &#8220;Why are you weeping?&#8221;
Said they to him: &#8220;A place [so holy] that it is said of it, &#8216;the stranger that approaches it shall die,&#8217; and now foxes traverse it, and we shouldn&#8217;t weep?&#8221;
Said he to them: &#8220;That is why I laugh. For it is written, &#8216;I shall have bear witness for Me faithful witnesses&#8212;Uriah the Priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.&#8217; Now what is the connection between Uriah and Zechariah? Uriah was [in the time of] the First Temple, and Zechariah was [in the time of] the Second Temple! But the Torah makes Zachariah&#8217;s prophecy dependent upon Uriah&#8217;s prophecy. With Uriah, it is written: &#8216;Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field; [Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the Temple Mount like the high places of a forest.]&#8217; With Zachariah it is written, &#8216;Old men and women shall yet sit in the streets of Jerusalem.&#8217;
&#8220;As long as Uriah&#8217;s prophecy had not been fulfilled, I feared that Zechariah&#8217;s prophecy may not be fulfilled either. But now that Uriah&#8217;s prophecy has been fulfilled, it is certain that Zechariah&#8217;s prophecy will be fulfilled.&#8221;
With these words they replied to him: &#8220;Akiva, you have consoled us! Akiva, you have consoled us!&#8221;
</blockquote>
Akiva&#8217;s consolation is now a reality.
According to Jewish tradition, the first mention of Jerusalem in the Bible comes in Genesis 14:18, when Abraham meets the King of Shalem; in Genesis 21:14, Abraham names the site of his near-sacrifice of Isaac &#8220;Yare,&#8221; meaning &#8220;the Lord will provide.&#8221; Yare-Shalem &#8212; Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the city of David&#8217;s tower and Solomon&#8217;s Temple; it is the city of Hezekiah&#8217;s water tunnels; it is the city of which the psalmist wrote after the destruction of the First Temple (587 BCE), &#8220;If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue leave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.&#8221;
Jerusalem is the eternal Jewish dream: the dream of a free nation living in a land promised by God.
It was the dream of Bar Kochba, who revolted against the Romans in 132 CE, sixty years after the destruction of the Second Temple, and used Roman coinage to mint his own &#8212; an engraving of the temple, with the words, &#8220;For the freedom of Jerusalem.&#8221; It was the dream of millions of Jews over hundreds of years, who prayed thrice daily for its restoration. It was the dream of Mordechai Anielewicz, the secular leader of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto: &#8220;The dream of my life has risen to become fact. &#8230; Jewish armed resistance and revenge are facts. I have been a witness to the magnificent, heroic fighting of Jewish men in battle.&#8221;
Jerusalem was never abandoned by the Jews; God did not abandon the Jews. Despite forcible expulsion, despite genocidal mania, despite terrorism and brutality, Jerusalem remained Jewish. And when, in 1967, the Israeli Defense Force announced &#8220;Har HaBayit beyadeinu&#8221; &#8212; the Temple Mount is in our hands &#8212; the footsteps of the living God could be heard across the planet, resonating from the top of the hills of Jerusalem.
That dream is real.
President Trump&#8217;s decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem is not merely a wise one politically (it has been Congressional law since 1995), it is a resonant one spiritually. Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish heart; it always was, and it always will be. Recognizing that fact is key to recognizing the legitimacy of the entire Judeo-Christian tradition upon which the West relies. There is a reason that a Jewish Jerusalem is an open Jerusalem, where all can worship as they see fit &#8212; a place from which &#8220;the word of the Lord&#8221; goes out (Isaiah 2:3). History exists; truth exists. Jerusalem has not been forgotten and will not be forgotten &#8212; its streets sing with throngs of Jews, nearly wiped off the planet within living memory, and its temples are filled with the psalms of David. The tears have turned to laughter.
&#8220;Eternity,&#8221; the Talmud says in Tractate Berachot. &#8220;This refers to Jerusalem.&#8221;
Jerusalem is eternal, as is the God who made it.

Rejoice With Jerusalem: Be Glad For Her, All You Who Love This City!

Three European Union countries &#8212; Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Romania &#8212; blocked an effort by the EU&#8217;s general council to condemn and &#8220;isolate&#8221; the White House for moving its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The effort, led by France, was designed to punish the United States for the decision to relocate its official presence in Israel, <a href="https://www.axios.com/hungary-czech-romania-block-eu-statement-against-embassy-move-jerusalem-6b85f6bb-8861-4dab-8473-e542196d1368.html">Axios reports</a>. If all 28 European Union member nations had signed it, it would have signaled a major effort to oppose the United States&#8217; change in policy and might have &#8220;embarrassed&#8221; the Trump Administration, even though the administration was adamant in its commitment to the move.
According to Axios, the draft resolution called for Jerusalem to be recognized as a dual capital &#8212; the central city of both Israel and &#8220;Palestine,&#8221; and claimed that the United States could not unilaterally decide that Jerusalem was the capital without the consent of other members of the United Nations, after significant debate. In addition, the draft statement suggested that no European nation would consider moving its own embassy to Jerusalem based on the United States&#8217; example.
Fortunately for the United States, three member nations derailed the effort. Without Romania, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, the issue has no EU consensus, and the resolution carries no weight.
Senior officials aren&#8217;t happy about the block, according to Axios. At least one source complained to the outlet that &#8220;the Hungarians didn&#8217;t want to poke Trump in the eye and the Czechs and the Romanians are considering to move their embassies to Jerusalem against the EU position. This is the state of the EU these days.&#8221;
The black eye gives the United States a win at the end of a contentious week, arguing with the European Union &#8212; and especially France &#8212; over whether to exit the Iran deal. The EU still opposes America&#8217;s decision to drop the handshake agreement the Obama Administration made with the Mullahs.

European Union&#8217;s Effort To Shame America Over Jerusalem Embassy Move Falls Flat

Anti-Semitism

Europe

France

On Monday, the White House released a statement regarding the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem that seemed to pass under the radar, but implied a significant difference from previous history, acknowledging that Jerusalem is a part of Israel. The White House statement<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-trump-announces-presidential-delegation-state-israel-attend-opening-united-states-embassy-jerusalem-israel/"> read</a>, &#8220;President Donald J. Trump today announced the designation of a Presidential Delegation to the State of Israel to attend the opening of the United States Embassy on May 14, 2018, in Jerusalem, Israel.&#8221;
To the uniformed observer, this would seem an innocuous enough statement, but acknowledging Jerusalem is in Israel is something the U.S. State Department has refused to do for decades.
After President Trump announced last December that the United states would move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the State Department <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/international/363821-state-dept-still-wont-allow-american-citizens-born-in-jerusalem-to">quickly reiterated</a> its long-standing position that American citizens born in Jerusalem could only list the city on their passport, as opposed to listing Israel as well, asserting, &#8220;At this time, there are no changes to our current practices regarding place of birth on Consular Reports of Birth Abroad and U.S. Passports.&#8221;
At the same time, State Department officials told <a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-still-wont-list-jerusalem-israels-capital-official-docs-passports-maps/">The Washington Free Beacon</a> that the United States would continue its policy of not formally recognizing Jerusalem as being located in Israel on official documents, maps, and passports.
American citizens born in Jerusalem prior to 1948 had to list &#8220;Palestine&#8221; as their birthplace.
In 2002, Congress passed legislation that instructed the State Department to allow American citizens born in Jerusalem to list Israel on their passports as their birthplace. <a href="https://www.jpost.com/International/US-court-invalidates-law-allowing-US-citizens-born-in-Jerusalem-to-chose-Israel-as-birthplace-on-passports-320804">In 2013,</a> a U.S. federal appeals court ruled against the law. The court upheld the tradition that the president had the sole authority to say who controls Jerusalem.

TRUMP BUCKS TRADITION: Acknowledges Jerusalem Is In Israel

On Wednesday, Mike Pompeo was sworn in as Secretary of State, replacing Rex Tillerson. During the ceremony, Pompeo reaffirmed the Trump administration&#8217;s plans to move the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem very soon (emphasis added):
<blockquote>
We are but 15 months into this administration and we&#8217;ve already made outstanding progress by speaking the truth about the challenges we face, by confronting them head on, by partnering with strong, sovereign, independent nations to make America and the world more prosperous and secure.
We put hurt on the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria. We&#8217;ve done so by great, diplomatic work. We&#8217;re confronting all types of Iranian hostility and are deciding on the next steps for the flawed JCPOA [Iran Nuclear Agreement]. We have imposed real consequences on Russia for its acts of aggression, and we will soon move our embassy in Israel to Jerusalem years ahead of schedule.
</blockquote>
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On December 6, 2017, President Trump announced that the United States would officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, <a href="https://it.usembassy.gov/statement-president-trump-jerusalem-december-6-2017/">stating</a> in part:
<blockquote>
In 1995, Congress adopted the Jerusalem Embassy Act, urging the federal government to relocate the American embassy to Jerusalem and to recognize that that city &#8212; and so importantly &#8212; is Israel&#8217;s capital. This act passed Congress by an overwhelming bipartisan majority and was reaffirmed by a unanimous vote of the Senate only six months ago.
Yet, for over 20 years, every previous American president has exercised the law&#8217;s waiver, refusing to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem or to recognize Jerusalem as Israel&#8217;s capital city.
Presidents issued these waivers under the belief that delaying the recognition of Jerusalem would advance the cause of peace. Some say they lacked courage, but they made their best judgments based on facts as they understood them at the time. Nevertheless, the record is in. After more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. It would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result.
Therefore, I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. &#8230;
However, through all of these years, presidents representing the United States have declined to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel&#8217;s capital. In fact, we have declined to acknowledge any Israeli capital at all.
But today, we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel&#8217;s capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality. It is also the right thing to do. It&#8217;s something that has to be done.
That is why, consistent with the Jerusalem Embassy Act, I am also directing the State Department to begin preparation to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This will immediately begin the process of hiring architects, engineers, and planners, so that a new embassy, when completed, will be a magnificent tribute to peace.
</blockquote>
The embassy is scheduled to move from Tel Aviv to a temporary site in Jerusalem on May 14, the 70-year anniversary of Israeli independence. A new, permanent embassy will be built at a later date.
<a href="http://freebeacon.com/national-security/pompeo-will-soon-move-embassy-jerusalem-years-ahead-schedule/">H/T: Andrew Kugle/Washington Free Beacon</a>

WATCH: Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Talks About Moving U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem

A picture of the inside of the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the ancient Jewish Temples were built, reveals the respect that the Palestinians have for a place whose ground is the holiest spot on Earth for the Jewish people:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
This is THE holiest spot on Earth for Jews, where our Temples stood, where Jews are not permitted.Its now the center of the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount See the tools, trash, &amp; man on top of it? Thats how it is being treated. The disrespect is painful. Imagine the reverse <a href="https://t.co/R4iAQsL0dZ">pic.twitter.com/R4iAQsL0dZ</a>
&#8212; shoshanna k jaskoll (@skjask) <a href="https://twitter.com/skjask/status/989446528753389568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 26, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Palestinians have treated the area of the Temple Mount with disdain for decades. Often they have displayed an active desire to destroy any evidence that the site was where the Jewish Temples stood in an effort to discredit the Jewish claim to Jerusalem, which dates back roughly 3,000 years.
In September 2,000, the Muslim Waqf refused permission for any archeological oversight by the Israel Antiquities Authority. Then it removed 13,000 tons of rubble from the Temple Mount and deposited it into the garbage; that rubble included archeological remnants from the First and Second Temple periods. For details see <a href="http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp483.htm">here</a>.
A <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163528">report</a> in 2012 stated that the Muslim Waqf was continuing to destroy Jewish antiquities on the Temple Mount.
As Dr. Gabriel Barkay, professor emeritus from Bar-Ilan University and recipient of the 1996 Jerusalem Prize for Archeological Research, <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Disproving-Temple-Mount-denial-one-bucket-at-a-time-506539">stated</a> last October, &#8220;Temple denial started in the 1990s, even though the Islamic Wakf itself in the 1920s and &#8217;30s issued booklets which were given to visitors of the Temple Mount in which they said the existence of the Temples is beyond any doubt. It was accepted and in the Islamic literature through the generations there is a plethora of mentions of Solomon&#8217;s Temple and the Temple of the Jews in Jerusalem, so it is very strange that they deny it now.&#8221;
The Temple Mount was where King Solomon established the Temple; it contained the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant, containing the Ten Commandments and the Torah, was housed. Jews were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year. The First Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, but Jews returning from Babylonia rebuilt it in 538 BCE and finished building it in 515 BC. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. To this day, Jews face in the direction of the site of the Temple when they are praying.

Look How Palestinians Treat The Site Of Judaism&#8217;s Holiest Place

Palestinians

Here&#8217;s a picture that says a lot more than a thousand words:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Street signs about to go up in Jerusalem. <a href="https://t.co/s78pUewwFw">pic.twitter.com/s78pUewwFw</a>
&#8212; Yoram Hazony (@yhazony) <a href="https://twitter.com/yhazony/status/986988004056227840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 19, 2018</a></blockquote>
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The signs giving directions to the U.S. Embassy that is supposed to be moved to Jerusalem next month are a powerful reminder of the enormous step President Trump took when he announced last December he would finally acknowledge what every American president before him had evaded: that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and the Jewish people&#8217;s eternal capital.
On Wednesday, President Trump tweeted his anticipation of the event:
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Best wishes to Prime Minister <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Netanyahu</a> and all of the people of Israel on the 70th Anniversary of your Great Independence. We have no better friends anywhere. Looking forward to moving our Embassy to Jerusalem next month!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/986643179452747776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 18, 2018</a></blockquote>
</div>
That was echoed by acting Secretary of State John Sullivan, who <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/244690">stated:</a>
<blockquote>
The State of Israel has prevailed over every challenge it has faced over the past 70 years. In just a short time, the people of Israel have created a successful nation that has flourished and continues to thrive. The United States established our diplomatic presence in Jerusalem well before the State of Israel was born, over 170 years ago. This year, we look forward to opening the new Embassy of the United States in Jerusalem on May 14 which coincides with the 70th anniversary of President Truman recognizing the nascent State of Israel. Israel and the United States have an unshakeable bond that has endured and grown even stronger over the past seven decades.
</blockquote>
The move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv will happen in <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/244622">three stages</a>: first, on May 14th &#8212; Israel&#8217;s 70th Independence Day &#8212; the U.S. will convert a U.S. consulate in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem into an interim embassy. That will house the U.S. Ambassador&#8217;s office, and a small portion of the staff.
Then the Arnona compound will be expanded, with the addition of a new annex, scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019. Finally, the construction of a new embassy in Jerusalem to replace the interim facility at Arnona.

Here Are Amazing Signs In Jerusalem That Only Exist Because Of President Trump

On Friday, Bill Maher, who is certainly no fan of President Trump, shockingly came out in support of the president&#8217;s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel&#8217;s capital. Maher told his panel, which included Rick Wilson, New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg (whose leftist bona fides include writing for Slate and The Nation and whose hatred of Israel is examined <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/point/219761/michelle-goldbergs-anti-israel-freakout-daniel-greenfield">here</a>), and California Congressman Ro Khanna, &#8220;I hate to agree with Donald Trump, but it doesn&#8217;t happen often, but I do.&#8221; Maher later suggested the reason there can be no peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is that the Palestinians are &#8220;perpetually hostile, a coiled snake.&#8221;
The exchange among the four people started with Maher positing:
<blockquote>
Okay, while we&#8217;re near the Middle East let me ask about a big story that happened while we were off in December. Donald Trump: &#8216;Today we finally acknowledge the obvious: that Jerusalem is Israel&#8217;s capital.&#8221; He said that Israel is a sovereign nation with the right like any other sovereign nation to determine its own capital. I hate to agree with Donald Trump, but it doesn&#8217;t happen often, but I do. I don&#8217;t know why Israel &#8212; it has been their capital since 1949, it is where their government is. They&#8217;ve won all the wars thrown against them. I don&#8217;t understand why they don&#8217;t get to have their capital where they want.
</blockquote>
Goldberg, snidely, &#8220;Really, you don&#8217;t understand that?&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;I understand there are repercussions.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;First of all, when you win a war you don&#8217;t get to take the other side&#8217;s land.&#8221;
Wilson: &#8220;Actually, you do.&#8221;
Maher, echoing, &#8220;Actually, you do.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;Under international law, you can&#8217;t.&#8221;
Maher pointed out, &#8220;Especially because they were attacked. I mean the country was divided, which they were okay with. They were attacked more than once and they took land in those wars that they won and there has been peace offers on the table ever since to give part of that land back.&#8221;
Khanna, deciding he would speak for America: &#8220;Here&#8217;s the thing: Trump says he&#8217;s gonna strengthen American national interest. Now they&#8217;re 128 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, India, who voted against us. If we&#8217;re gonna do this, there&#8217;s a cost. What did we get for doing this? I mean, he&#8217;s the dealmaker-in-chief, what are we getting in America&#8217;s&#8212;&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;What happened for the 50 years before? I mean, this has been the fact on the ground for 50 years. Israel has been a state for 70, I think, right?&#8221;
Wilson: &#8220;It is the capital of Israel, okay. I recognize Ro&#8217;s point that if we&#8217;re going to be an arbiter in the peace process that just declaring this without having trying to use that as a point of leverage in those debates, in those discussions, it might have given away a card that we might have held. I don&#8217;t think though that this is going to fundamentally ultimately alter the conditions on the ground there because the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian government is so collapsed in terms of being an effective political force in the process that the status quo is going to be the status quo for the foreseeable future.&#8221;
Goldberg, slamming the Israeli government as per usual: &#8220;But the problem is the message that it sent a message to everyone in the process. So it sends a message to the Palestinians that the United States is going to be even more pro-Israel than in the past. And it sends a message to the Likud government that you can basically do you want. And so they responded by adapting a resolution essentially calling for the annexation of the West Bank. They passed legislation that would make it much harder to come to any sort of final status agreement on Jerusalem. And they&#8217;ve done all these things that are going to make a two-state solution impossible.&#8221;
Maher, noting that Israel is always blamed: &#8220;But it&#8217;s always they&#8217;re making the two-state solution impossible.&#8221;
Goldberg, insistently brandishing her pro-Palestinian credentials: &#8220;They are!&#8221;
Maher, bluntly: &#8220;But what is making the essential thing that is making the two-state solution impossible is that one party is perpetually hostile, a coiled snake.&#8221;
Goldberg, determined to make Israel the villain despite the fact that the Palestinians have demonstrated time after time that they have no desire for peace: &#8220;That&#8217;s not true. Come on. You should go and see what&#8217;s happening in the West Bank. If you look at the settlements, if you look at the facts on the ground. The fact that you basically have instead of a contiguous land mass you increasingly have these little cantons. And if you look at the way that Palestinians &#8212; most Palestinians alive today were not born during any of these wars and so the idea that their lives should be blighted because of them. Look at what Americans have to do when they go through a TSA checkpoint. They completely lose their shit. And if you imagine doing that for two hours every single day&#8212;&#8221;
Maher, reflecting reality: &#8220;But this is always what happens. We talk about what happened as a result; we don&#8217;t look at the beginning of it. Like the Israelis just put up those checkpoints for no reason. They put up those checkpoints because there was an intifada and they were having bombings every day &#8212; a pizza parlor or a bus stop was getting blown up, that&#8217;s why they built it, not for no reason.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;No, because also they want to take that land.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;Some of them do, yes.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;I mean they are not putting up settlements for self-defense. They are putting up the settlements because they want to have a Greater Israel, and they are going to get it.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;Some of them do, yes.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;There is going to be a one-state solution. So then the question is what is that one state? Is it Jewish or is it democratic? Because it can&#8217;t be both.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;Absolutely, and that is a big problem.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;So that&#8217;s the problem.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;But when the gun is to Israel&#8217;s head &#8212; it is a problem.&#8221;
Khanna, ignoring the fact that the Oslo Accords ultimately were a failure: &#8220;Where are the Yizchak Rabin&#8217;s the Shimon Pereses in Israel. I mean, Benjamin Netanyahu has done Israel&#8217;s cause no service in this country. I mean, what we need is, Israel has had leaders before who have talked about their values and talked about a two-state solution.&#8221;
Maher: It&#8217;s a little bit different when you live in that hostile environment
Goldberg: &#8220;You&#8217;re a rich person, you should go see what life in the West Bank is like. Go to Hebron. Like, no, go see it.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;First of all, you don&#8217;t have to go to understand this. I&#8217;m not a moron.&#8221;
Goldberg: &#8220;No, but you do. I feel like it&#8217;s hard to really get your head around how bad it is unless you see it with your own eyes.&#8221;
Maher: &#8220;I understand that but Israel gave back Gaza and what was the result? Did they use the funds to build schools and hospitals? No. They used them to build tunnels to get weapons and they invited Hamas in to shell Israel across the border.&#8221;
Video below:
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WATCH: Maher: Trump Was Right About Jerusalem, Palestinians Are &#8216;Perpetually Hostile, A Coiled Snake&#8217;

Bill Maher

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin warmly welcomed Vice President Mike Pence to Jerusalem during his trip to the Middle East on Tuesday. &#8220;You are very proud, always, to stand very firm behind your words, in words and in action,&#8221; said Rivlin. &#8220;And for that, we have only one word to describe you: You are a mensch.&#8221;
Before heading to a bilateral meeting, the two leaders sat down for a press conference &#8212; and Rivlin had nothing but praise for both Pence and President Trump, particularly for the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.
&#8220;Now, in America, probably they know what is the meaning of mensch,&#8221; said Rivlin. &#8220;But for those people in Israel who doesn&#8217;t know American, or Yiddish, I would say, a mensch is a real human being. And we are very proud to have you along with us.&#8221;
Rivlin spoke about growing up in Jerusalem before praising the United States&#8217; decision to recognize the city as Israel&#8217;s capital. 
&#8220;But we are so very proud as Jerusalemites about the decision of President Trump, about recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel,&#8221; he said. 
Pence echoed those sentiments by stressing the alliance between Israel and the United States.
&#8220;Let me say that President Trump&#8217;s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel&#8217;s capital we hope is the clearest sign yet of the unwavering commitment of the United States of America to Israel,&#8221; the Vice President said. &#8220;As I announced yesterday, Mr. President, President Trump has directed our State Department, working with Ambassador Friedman, to complete the transition of moving our embassy here, to Jerusalem, by the end of next year. And we look forward to that as a tangible sign of our enduring commitment and alliance to the State of Israel and to the people of this great nation.&#8221;
He continued, &#8220;The bond between us, we believe, has never been stronger. But under President Trump&#8217;s leadership, we are committed to make it stronger still. We have ties through our deep commitment to freedom, shared values, but also through commerce.&#8221;
You can watch the press conference below:
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</div>

WATCH: Israeli President Praises &#8216;Mensch&#8217; Mike Pence, Trump

Mike Pence

WATCH: Pence In Israel: U.S. Embassy Will Move To Jerusalem In 2019, Warns Iran On Nuclear Deal

On Monday, archaeologists <a href="http://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/01/01/israeli-archaeologists-find-2700-year-old-artifact-that-backs-biblical-record?utm_content=buffer95f4a&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer">announced</a> they had found a 2,700-year-old seal impression from the First Temple Period that validates Biblical references from almost 3,000 years ago.
The seal was discovered near the plaza of the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem. Excavator Dr. Shlomit Weksler-Bdolah <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/240091">enthused</a>, &#8220;The Bible mentions two governors of Jerusalem, and this finding thus reveals that such a position was actually held by someone in the city some 2700 years ago.&#8221;
She added:
<blockquote>
It is likely that one of the buildings in our excavation was the destination of this transport, sent by the city governor. The finding of a seal with this high-rank title, in addition to the large assemblage of actual seals found in the building in the past, supports the assumption that this area, located on the western slopes of the western hill of ancient Jerusalem, some 100 m west of the Temple Mount, was inhabited by highly ranked officials during the First Temple period. This is the first time that such a sealing is found in an authorized excavation. It supports the biblical rendering of the existence of a governor of the city in Jerusalem 2700 years ago.
</blockquote>
Hebrew University&#8217;s Professor Tallay Ornan and Tel Aviv University&#8217;s Professor Benjamin Sass described the seal impression thus:
<blockquote>
Above a double line are two standing men, facing each other in a mirror-like manner. Their heads are depicted as large dots, lacking any details. The hands facing outward are dropped down, and the hands facing inward are raised. Each of the figures is wearing a striped, knee-length garment. In the register beneath the double line is an inscription in ancient Hebrew, with no spacing between the words and no definite article. The inscription denotes :lesar ha&#8217;air,&#8221; or &#8220;belonging to the governor of the city.&#8221; The title &#8220;governor of the city&#8221; is known from the Bible and from extra-Biblical documents, and refers to an official appointed by the king. Governors of Jerusalem are mentioned twice in the Bible: in 2 Kings, Joshua is the governor of the city in the days of Hezekiah, and in 2 Chronicles, Maaseiah is the governor of the city in the days of Josiah.
</blockquote>
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said excitedly:
<blockquote>
It is very overwhelming to receive greetings from First Temple-period Jerusalem. This shows that already 2700 years ago, Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was a strong and central city. Jerusalem is one of the most ancient capitals of the world, continually populated by the Jewish people for more than 3000 years. Today we have the privilege to encounter another one of the long chain of persons and leaders that built and developed the city. We are grateful to be living in a city with such a magnificent past, and are obligated to ensure its strength for generations to come, as we daily do.
</blockquote>
The seal impression <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/240091">measures</a> 13 x 15mm across its face and is 2-3mm thick.

GREAT FIND IN ISRAEL: Seal Impression That Validates Biblical Record 2,700 Years Old

On Wednesday, the government of possibly the most anti-Semitic government on earth shocked the world by announcing that <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Iranian-parliament-recognizes-Jerusalem-as-capital-of-Palestine-520177">Jerusalem will never be the capital of Israel</a> and the Jewish people.
According to the Iranian news agency <a href="http://en.farsnews.com/13961006000467">Fars</a>, the government of Iran passed a bill declaring Jerusalem forever as the capital of the non-existent country &#8220;Palestine&#8221; which &#8220;was approved within the framework of a double-urgency plan.&#8221; Predictably, there were 207 &#8220;yes&#8221; votes and no abstentions or opposition.
Despite the fact that Iran declared Jerusalem the capital of &#8220;Palestine,&#8221; the United Nations somehow missed the opportunity to pass, let alone offer, a resolution condemning the announcement. Last week, of course, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the U.S. decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel&#8217;s capital.
Iran&#8217;s history of vitriolic anti-Semitism since it was taken over by the mullahs in 1979 has <a href="http://www.momentmag.com/how-jew-friendly-persia-became-anti-semitic-iran/">featured</a> Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad standing next to a banner reading &#8220;The World Without Zionism,&#8221; in October 2005, while boasting, &#8220;Our dear Imam ordered that the occupying regime in Al Quds be wiped off the face of the earth. Anyone who would recognize this state has put his signature under the defeat of the Islamic world.&#8221;
According to the Council of Iranian American Jewish Organizations (CIAJO), since 1979, 11 Jews have been executed, six have been assassinated by the government, two have died in custody, eight died under suspicious circumstances and 12 disappeared.
In 2006, Iran&#8217;s largest newspaper, Hamshahri, sponsored an international Holocaust cartoon contest looking for vitriolic anti-Semitic entries; the 2nd International Holocaust Cartoons Contest was <a href="http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/403044/French-Iranian-artists-top-at-Holocaust-cartoon-contest">held</a> in Tehran in 2016. In 2004, the station Sahar 1 aired a weekly series called &#8220;Zahra&#8217;s Blue Eyes&#8221;; it depicted the Israeli government removing the blue eyes of Palestinian children for implantation into Jewish children.

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Jerusalem

Articles tagged with Jerusalem

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WATCH: Secretary Of State Mike Pompeo Talks About Moving U.S. Embassy To Jerusalem

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Here Are Amazing Signs In Jerusalem That Only Exist Because Of President Trump

WATCH: Maher: Trump Was Right About Jerusalem, Palestinians Are ‘Perpetually Hostile, A Coiled Snake’

WATCH: Israeli President Praises ‘Mensch’ Mike Pence, Trump

WATCH: Pence In Israel: U.S. Embassy Will Move To Jerusalem In 2019, Warns Iran On Nuclear Deal

GREAT FIND IN ISRAEL: Seal Impression That Validates Biblical Record 2,700 Years Old

SPITTING ON TRUMP: Iran Declares Jerusalem Eternal Capital Of ‘Palestine’