The Status of Jeruselum and double standards

[Coyote]

Big question here. Why are several saying that Jerusalem doesn't mean all of Jerusalem when referring to recognizing the city as the capital of Israel

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its "united" capital, and its annexation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war effectively put the entire city under Israeli control. So is the capital only WEST Jerusalem?


And let us reiterate the oft repeated refrain...borders are supposed to be determined through negotiation....right?

 

[abi]

and its annexation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war effectively put the entire city under Israeli control. So is the capital only WEST Jerusalem?

And since that "annexation" (land taken in war which is war crime), countless homes of the indigenous Arabs have been destroyed and Jewish only housing has been built in it's place.

Who would stand for this? How long can the zionists continue with their charade?

 

[Sixties Fan]

Now fast forward to the UNILATERAL decision by the US to recognize Jerusalem (in entirety) as the capital of Israel and then it's use of the bully pulpit in an attempt to punish those who push back on said unilateral decision.

So much for the idea that these things should be negotiated - that does not seem to be applied even handedly at all. Israel is rewarded. Palestine is punished. The requirement for these things to be negotiated only seems to apply to the Palestinians.

The US doesn't recognize Jerusalem in entirety. It's your interpretation.
General Assembly resolution 67/19 (and many others) call East Jerusalem "occupied Palestinian territory". Was it negotiated? Wasn't it a unilateral decision?

The UN is a multilateral body. The presidents statement said Jerusalem not part of it. So what did he mean? Jerusalem is claimed by two factions is it not?

Why the double standard where the Palestinians are punished for unilateral actions and Israel rewarded?

The Jewish People have claimed Jerusalem for 3000 years.

The Arabs, Muslims or Christians, have been on the land for 1400 years.

At what point did the Arabs decide that Jerusalem was important to them and chose to treat it as such?

What care did they give to her? What protection?

What protection of Jerusalem did they ask the Crusaders or the Ottomans?

What is the real significance of Jerusalem to Arabs?

The Hashemite clan made it clear that Jerusalem had no importance to them.

How many Arab clans see Jerusalem as important to Islam, and how long have they been thinking that way?

Those kingdoms ceased to exist thousands of years ago.

I will make the same argument I made on behalf of the Jewish right to the Temple Mount. It doesn’t matter what you think, It matters what people believe. Jerusalem is one of the important cities for Islam. Otherwise why is Israel so careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

"What people believe is what matters". There's the Rub.

Christians and Muslims have been led many things about themselves, Christianity, Islam, the Jews and Judaism.

Is any and all of it true?

The facts do not matter, at all?

And those who are the victims of those beliefs, must simply deal with it?

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.
And "suddenly" turning the city into a "third most important city for Islam", still does not make it so.

Why is Israel careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

Because Jews are not Muslims, or Christians.

Because Jews DO respect other people's beliefs and holy sites.

Because Jews would not EVER think of doing to the Muslims what they did to the Jews for 1400 years, and still doing, and destroying or denying access to any other religion or belief, if they think it has any importance to them.

The Hashemites did not keep the Jews and Christians from their holy sites for no reason, between 1948 and 1967. Maybe you need to look into the whys of it.

And also the whys, since the Hashemites entered into an accord with Israel over the Temple Mount after 1967, what did that accord say, and how is it respected today by the Hashemites and many other Arab clans.

Israel preserves all heritages found in Israel.
It does not even protect its own heritage from the Muslims who have been destroying everything they find under the Temple Mount and many other places.

Do extreme Muslims know the meaning of respect, based on what I wrote above?

How does UNESCO and all other bodies get to stop them?
How can UNESCO or any other body stop the Muslims from doing that, if they are calling Jewish Landmarks and Heritage "Palestinian Landmarks and Heritage" ?

 

[abi]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

 

[Sixties Fan]

Big question here. Why are several saying that Jerusalem doesn't mean all of Jerusalem when referring to recognizing the city as the capital of Israel

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its "united" capital, and its annexation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war effectively put the entire city under Israeli control. So is the capital only WEST Jerusalem?


And let us reiterate the oft repeated refrain...borders are supposed to be determined through negotiation....right?

Israel may be leaving it open, still, for the Arabs to really want to negotiate.
Israel has offered the Jewish Quarter twice as the "capital of the Palestinian state" . It was refused twice. The Arabs cannot keep crying about it.
The Arab charters (Hamas and PLO and Fatah) clearly state that all of Jerusalem is theirs, that all of Israel is theirs. That is why the Palestinian state map encompasses all of what is west of the Jordan River.

The Arabs either come and sit down and negotiate as the Egyptians and Jordanians did, or it is not going to happen.

Yes, ALL of Jerusalem (with the returned Jewish Quarter in 1967) is the Capital of Israel. Always has been. 19 years of being forcibly taken in war and having Arabs move into all lands and homes ( In Judea and Samaria - Jerusalem is part of Judea ) which were Jewish do not suddenly make it the "capital of the Palestinian State".

 

[Hollie]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

 

[Sixties Fan]

and its annexation of East Jerusalem in the 1967 war effectively put the entire city under Israeli control. So is the capital only WEST Jerusalem?

And since that "annexation" (land taken in war which is war crime), countless homes of the indigenous Arabs have been destroyed and Jewish only housing has been built in it's place.

Who would stand for this? How long can the zionists continue with their charade?

The Arabs are no more indigenous to the Land of Israel than you are, Herr Goebbles.

Goebbles and his crocodile tears. A sight we are protected from seeing.

 

[Coyote]

Here is what has been happening in East Jerusalem in regards to rights.

Israeli courts has upheld a 63 year old controversial absentee landowner law that allows for the confiscation of Arab-owned properties in East Jerusalem. The courts specified it was legal but should be used rarely. The "rarely" part seems to be abused. According to this article, "the court said the state may confiscate East Jerusalem property held by West Bank residents".

Jewish settlers, such as the rightwing Elad Corporation have been moving into the traditionally Arab sectors of Jerusalem benefiting from these absentee confiscations as well as buying up property under false pretenses.

The absentee landowner laws forced Palestinians to sell because they were not allowed to return.

Other means of purchasing and "occupying" property are also questionable, for example:

Sudden apartment takeovers in east Jerusalem spark anger

Jewish real estate deals in the contentious Silwan area have long been murky. Purchases often go through intermediaries, which those involved says protects the Arab sellers from being attacked by their neighbors. In some cases, Arabs who say they are the rightful homeowners take Elad to court, arguing the properties were sold by imposters posing as homeowners.

Residents move in at night while Arab neighbors are asleep. The Israeli government bankrolls armed security guards to protect the Jewish residences, many of which are equipped with blooming geranium bushes, Israeli flags and security cameras.


Elad long has attracted controversy because of its nationalistic agenda. But Elad says the area is central to Jewish heritage, and investment in the area has benefited Arab and Jewish residents alike.


“We would like to see a majority of Jews living in this area,” Spielman said. “Having said that, we respect our Arab neighbors.”


About 500 Jews live in the area, and the newly purchased homes will allow for 200 more, Spielman said.


Until residents move in, the properties are occupied by police officers, private security guards, and young volunteers packing pistols. An ad on a Facebook page for religious Jewish army veterans offered 500 shekels ($140) a day to anyone willing to sit in the properties.


On Thursday, Israeli police officers disappeared down a narrow concrete alleyway, bringing a box of supplies deep into the Arab neighborhood to a second-floor apartment. The Israelis peered out from windows they enveloped in wire mesh, and would not open the door to visitors.


In a narrow alleyway below, an exasperated Palestinian woman, 23-year-old Bushra Mohammed Adel Khayyatt, said her laptop and jewelry were stuck inside the apartment, and that her knocks on the door and pleas to get her belongings back have gone unanswered. She insisted her family had not sold the apartment.


A group of young Palestinian residents gathered and screamed at her, accusing her family of selling their home to the new residents.


“Are you crazy?” she retorted. “How would my father sell to Jews?”


​

What often happens is the Arabs are unwilling to sell to Jews but intermediaries claiming they will not do that do just that. They are often employee's of corporations like Elad so it is a very deceptive practice. On the othe side of course - Arabs who sell to Jews face retribution from family and neighbors. And perception matters. They can say Arabs are allowed to live anywhere in Jerusalem but that is not the case in reality. Most "settlements" are Jewish only, even though the laws state that they can not have rules that discriminate ethnically they do.

Are there any new Palestinian settlements in West Jerusalem?

Is there any reason NOT to believe that increasing the number of Jews living in East Jerusalem and decreasing (through lack of residency permits, dishonest selling practices) - is not a means of gaining ethnic control over East Jerusalem?

It's a complex problem, and to add to the mess is housing costs in Jerusalem, which are so high that the Palestinians, who are NOT subsidized by outside groups - simply can not afford to live there.

 

[Coyote]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

The laws, values and ethics of today did not exist thousands of years ago.

 

[abi]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

The laws, values and ethics of today did not exist thousands of years ago.

Nor international law.

 

[Coyote]

Now fast forward to the UNILATERAL decision by the US to recognize Jerusalem (in entirety) as the capital of Israel and then it's use of the bully pulpit in an attempt to punish those who push back on said unilateral decision.

So much for the idea that these things should be negotiated - that does not seem to be applied even handedly at all. Israel is rewarded. Palestine is punished. The requirement for these things to be negotiated only seems to apply to the Palestinians.

The US doesn't recognize Jerusalem in entirety. It's your interpretation.
General Assembly resolution 67/19 (and many others) call East Jerusalem "occupied Palestinian territory". Was it negotiated? Wasn't it a unilateral decision?

The UN is a multilateral body. The presidents statement said Jerusalem not part of it. So what did he mean? Jerusalem is claimed by two factions is it not?

Why the double standard where the Palestinians are punished for unilateral actions and Israel rewarded?

The Jewish People have claimed Jerusalem for 3000 years.

The Arabs, Muslims or Christians, have been on the land for 1400 years.

At what point did the Arabs decide that Jerusalem was important to them and chose to treat it as such?

What care did they give to her? What protection?

What protection of Jerusalem did they ask the Crusaders or the Ottomans?

What is the real significance of Jerusalem to Arabs?

The Hashemite clan made it clear that Jerusalem had no importance to them.

How many Arab clans see Jerusalem as important to Islam, and how long have they been thinking that way?

Those kingdoms ceased to exist thousands of years ago.

I will make the same argument I made on behalf of the Jewish right to the Temple Mount. It doesn’t matter what you think, It matters what people believe. Jerusalem is one of the important cities for Islam. Otherwise why is Israel so careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

"What people believe is what matters". There's the Rub.

Christians and Muslims have been led many things about themselves, Christianity, Islam, the Jews and Judaism.

Is any and all of it true?

The facts do not matter, at all?

And those who are the victims of those beliefs, must simply deal with it?

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.
And "suddenly" turning the city into a "third most important city for Islam", still does not make it so.

Why is Israel careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

Because Jews are not Muslims, or Christians.

Because Jews DO respect other people's beliefs and holy sites.

Because Jews would not EVER think of doing to the Muslims what they did to the Jews for 1400 years, and still doing, and destroying or denying access to any other religion or belief, if they think it has any importance to them.

The Hashemites did not keep the Jews and Christians from their holy sites for no reason, between 1948 and 1967. Maybe you need to look into the whys of it.

And also the whys, since the Hashemites entered into an accord with Israel over the Temple Mount after 1967, what did that accord say, and how is it respected today by the Hashemites and many other Arab clans.

Israel preserves all heritages found in Israel.
It does not even protect its own heritage from the Muslims who have been destroying everything they find under the Temple Mount and many other places.

Do extreme Muslims know the meaning of respect, based on what I wrote above?

How does UNESCO and all other bodies get to stop them?
How can UNESCO or any other body stop the Muslims from doing that, if they are calling Jewish Landmarks and Heritage "Palestinian Landmarks and Heritage" ?

The facts are often not really "facts" when it comes to thousands of years of history and especially when it comes to religion - it's what people believe about a place.

You can not say Jerusalem was not important to Islam prior to 1946 when one of it's most revered mosques is built there and their prophet ascended to heaven there. It's simply untrue to claim it is not important and only became important when the Jews gained control. The only thing that changed then was not importance but access and control.

 

[Sixties Fan]

Here is what has been happening in East Jerusalem in regards to rights.

Israeli courts has upheld a 63 year old controversial absentee landowner law that allows for the confiscation of Arab-owned properties in East Jerusalem. The courts specified it was legal but should be used rarely. The "rarely" part seems to be abused. According to this article, "the court said the state may confiscate East Jerusalem property held by West Bank residents".

Jewish settlers, such as the rightwing Elad Corporation have been moving into the traditionally Arab sectors of Jerusalem benefiting from these absentee confiscations as well as buying up property under false pretenses.

The absentee landowner laws forced Palestinians to sell because they were not allowed to return.

Other means of purchasing and "occupying" property are also questionable, for example:

Sudden apartment takeovers in east Jerusalem spark anger

Jewish real estate deals in the contentious Silwan area have long been murky. Purchases often go through intermediaries, which those involved says protects the Arab sellers from being attacked by their neighbors. In some cases, Arabs who say they are the rightful homeowners take Elad to court, arguing the properties were sold by imposters posing as homeowners.

Residents move in at night while Arab neighbors are asleep. The Israeli government bankrolls armed security guards to protect the Jewish residences, many of which are equipped with blooming geranium bushes, Israeli flags and security cameras.


Elad long has attracted controversy because of its nationalistic agenda. But Elad says the area is central to Jewish heritage, and investment in the area has benefited Arab and Jewish residents alike.


“We would like to see a majority of Jews living in this area,” Spielman said. “Having said that, we respect our Arab neighbors.”


About 500 Jews live in the area, and the newly purchased homes will allow for 200 more, Spielman said.


Until residents move in, the properties are occupied by police officers, private security guards, and young volunteers packing pistols. An ad on a Facebook page for religious Jewish army veterans offered 500 shekels ($140) a day to anyone willing to sit in the properties.


On Thursday, Israeli police officers disappeared down a narrow concrete alleyway, bringing a box of supplies deep into the Arab neighborhood to a second-floor apartment. The Israelis peered out from windows they enveloped in wire mesh, and would not open the door to visitors.


In a narrow alleyway below, an exasperated Palestinian woman, 23-year-old Bushra Mohammed Adel Khayyatt, said her laptop and jewelry were stuck inside the apartment, and that her knocks on the door and pleas to get her belongings back have gone unanswered. She insisted her family had not sold the apartment.


A group of young Palestinian residents gathered and screamed at her, accusing her family of selling their home to the new residents.


“Are you crazy?” she retorted. “How would my father sell to Jews?”


​

What often happens is the Arabs are unwilling to sell to Jews but intermediaries claiming they will not do that do just that. They are often employee's of corporations like Elad so it is a very deceptive practice. On the othe side of course - Arabs who sell to Jews face retribution from family and neighbors. And perception matters. They can say Arabs are allowed to live anywhere in Jerusalem but that is not the case in reality. Most "settlements" are Jewish only, even though the laws state that they can not have rules that discriminate ethnically they do.

Are there any new Palestinian settlements in West Jerusalem?

Is there any reason NOT to believe that increasing the number of Jews living in East Jerusalem and decreasing (through lack of residency permits, dishonest selling practices) - is not a means of gaining ethnic control over East Jerusalem?

It's a complex problem, and to add to the mess is housing costs in Jerusalem, which are so high that the Palestinians, who are NOT subsidized by outside groups - simply can not afford to live there.

Coyote, did you miss the part where the Arabs took the JEWISH QUARTER of Jerusalem in 1948 and expelled all the Jewish inhabitants from there?

HOW MANY ARABS do you think lived in the JEWISH QUARTER of Jerusalem before 1948?

Am I missing something, that Israeli courts, which are on the Left and giving away Jewish rights and lands are NOT on the side of the rightful Jewish owners of homes and businesses of the area known before 1948 as the JEWISH QUARTER ?

Someone who knows about Israeli law and the Supreme court, or anything else which is going on, please enlighten me.

 

[abi]

HOW MANY ARABS do you think lived in the JEWISH QUARTER of Jerusalem before 1948?

How many Jews lived there c.1130?

 

[Coyote]

Now fast forward to the UNILATERAL decision by the US to recognize Jerusalem (in entirety) as the capital of Israel and then it's use of the bully pulpit in an attempt to punish those who push back on said unilateral decision.

So much for the idea that these things should be negotiated - that does not seem to be applied even handedly at all. Israel is rewarded. Palestine is punished. The requirement for these things to be negotiated only seems to apply to the Palestinians.

The US doesn't recognize Jerusalem in entirety. It's your interpretation.
General Assembly resolution 67/19 (and many others) call East Jerusalem "occupied Palestinian territory". Was it negotiated? Wasn't it a unilateral decision?

The UN is a multilateral body. The presidents statement said Jerusalem not part of it. So what did he mean? Jerusalem is claimed by two factions is it not?

Why the double standard where the Palestinians are punished for unilateral actions and Israel rewarded?

The Jewish People have claimed Jerusalem for 3000 years.

The Arabs, Muslims or Christians, have been on the land for 1400 years.

At what point did the Arabs decide that Jerusalem was important to them and chose to treat it as such?

What care did they give to her? What protection?

What protection of Jerusalem did they ask the Crusaders or the Ottomans?

What is the real significance of Jerusalem to Arabs?

The Hashemite clan made it clear that Jerusalem had no importance to them.

How many Arab clans see Jerusalem as important to Islam, and how long have they been thinking that way?

Those kingdoms ceased to exist thousands of years ago.

I will make the same argument I made on behalf of the Jewish right to the Temple Mount. It doesn’t matter what you think, It matters what people believe. Jerusalem is one of the important cities for Islam. Otherwise why is Israel so careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

"What people believe is what matters". There's the Rub.

Christians and Muslims have been led many things about themselves, Christianity, Islam, the Jews and Judaism.

Is any and all of it true?

The facts do not matter, at all?

And those who are the victims of those beliefs, must simply deal with it?

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.
And "suddenly" turning the city into a "third most important city for Islam", still does not make it so.

Why is Israel careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

Because Jews are not Muslims, or Christians.

Because Jews DO respect other people's beliefs and holy sites.

Because Jews would not EVER think of doing to the Muslims what they did to the Jews for 1400 years, and still doing, and destroying or denying access to any other religion or belief, if they think it has any importance to them.

The Hashemites did not keep the Jews and Christians from their holy sites for no reason, between 1948 and 1967. Maybe you need to look into the whys of it.

And also the whys, since the Hashemites entered into an accord with Israel over the Temple Mount after 1967, what did that accord say, and how is it respected today by the Hashemites and many other Arab clans.

Israel preserves all heritages found in Israel.
It does not even protect its own heritage from the Muslims who have been destroying everything they find under the Temple Mount and many other places.

Do extreme Muslims know the meaning of respect, based on what I wrote above?

How does UNESCO and all other bodies get to stop them?
How can UNESCO or any other body stop the Muslims from doing that, if they are calling Jewish Landmarks and Heritage "Palestinian Landmarks and Heritage" ?

Let me add something here because you're really kind of throwing other issues into the pot that I don't actually disagree with.

1. "Why" - for a number of reasons, but they are generally a very tolerant religion also, I suspect, they know what conflageration would result around the world if they did not. They control sites integral to two other major and volatile world religions. They are very aware of the importance of it to multiple faiths. I respect that and don't have an issue with them controling those sites.

2. Israel is at the forefront of archaeological preservation, more so then the muslim factions who controled it in prior times.

3. Do religious extremists of ANY sect know the meaning of respect based on what you wrote?

 

[Hollie]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

The laws, values and ethics of today did not exist thousands of years ago.

I agree. However, in view of the thread title, lets remember that the Palestinian Authority is teaching its population that the conflict with Israel is based on a religious ruling which is identical to a significant religious ruling of Hamas. This Islamic religious ruling holds that all the land of the State of Israel is an inalienable religious endowment - a waqf - of which it is "forbidden to relinquish a single grain of soil." This means that Palestinians are prohibited from accepting Israel's existence in any borders as that is violating the waqf.

Let's just be honest and acknowledge that if Arabs-Moslems had the ability, they would have no hesitation in fulfilling the goals of the Hamas. Charter and Pan-Arab ideology.

 

[Sixties Fan]

The US doesn't recognize Jerusalem in entirety. It's your interpretation.
General Assembly resolution 67/19 (and many others) call East Jerusalem "occupied Palestinian territory". Was it negotiated? Wasn't it a unilateral decision?

The UN is a multilateral body. The presidents statement said Jerusalem not part of it. So what did he mean? Jerusalem is claimed by two factions is it not?

Why the double standard where the Palestinians are punished for unilateral actions and Israel rewarded?

The Jewish People have claimed Jerusalem for 3000 years.

The Arabs, Muslims or Christians, have been on the land for 1400 years.

At what point did the Arabs decide that Jerusalem was important to them and chose to treat it as such?

What care did they give to her? What protection?

What protection of Jerusalem did they ask the Crusaders or the Ottomans?

What is the real significance of Jerusalem to Arabs?

The Hashemite clan made it clear that Jerusalem had no importance to them.

How many Arab clans see Jerusalem as important to Islam, and how long have they been thinking that way?

Those kingdoms ceased to exist thousands of years ago.

I will make the same argument I made on behalf of the Jewish right to the Temple Mount. It doesn’t matter what you think, It matters what people believe. Jerusalem is one of the important cities for Islam. Otherwise why is Israel so careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

"What people believe is what matters". There's the Rub.

Christians and Muslims have been led many things about themselves, Christianity, Islam, the Jews and Judaism.

Is any and all of it true?

The facts do not matter, at all?

And those who are the victims of those beliefs, must simply deal with it?

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.
And "suddenly" turning the city into a "third most important city for Islam", still does not make it so.

Why is Israel careful to preserve Muslim access to the holy sites?

Because Jews are not Muslims, or Christians.

Because Jews DO respect other people's beliefs and holy sites.

Because Jews would not EVER think of doing to the Muslims what they did to the Jews for 1400 years, and still doing, and destroying or denying access to any other religion or belief, if they think it has any importance to them.

The Hashemites did not keep the Jews and Christians from their holy sites for no reason, between 1948 and 1967. Maybe you need to look into the whys of it.

And also the whys, since the Hashemites entered into an accord with Israel over the Temple Mount after 1967, what did that accord say, and how is it respected today by the Hashemites and many other Arab clans.

Israel preserves all heritages found in Israel.
It does not even protect its own heritage from the Muslims who have been destroying everything they find under the Temple Mount and many other places.

Do extreme Muslims know the meaning of respect, based on what I wrote above?

How does UNESCO and all other bodies get to stop them?
How can UNESCO or any other body stop the Muslims from doing that, if they are calling Jewish Landmarks and Heritage "Palestinian Landmarks and Heritage" ?

The facts are often not really "facts" when it comes to thousands of years of history and especially when it comes to religion - it's what people believe about a place.

You can not say Jerusalem was not important to Islam prior to 1946 when one of it's most revered mosques is built there and their prophet ascended to heaven there. It's simply untrue to claim it is not important and only became important when the Jews gained control. The only thing that changed then was not importance but access and control.

Yes, I can say that Jerusalem was never important to Islam before 1948, regardless of the mosques built there ON TOP of a Christian church and the Temple Mount , because Jerusalem was nothing else but a watershed city.
The Quran and historical documents attest to that.

-----------
What about Muslims? Where does Jerusalem fit in Islam and Muslim history? It is not the place to which they pray, is not once mentioned by name in prayers, and it is connected to no mundane events in Muhammad's life. The city never served as capital of a sovereign Muslim state, and it never became a cultural or scholarly center. Little of political import by Muslims was initiated there.

One comparison makes this point most clearly: Jerusalem appears in the Jewish Bible 669 times and Zion (which usually means Jerusalem, sometimes the Land of Israel) 154 times, or 823 times in all. The Christian Bible mentions Jerusalem 154 times and Zion 7 times. In contrast, the columnist Moshe Kohn notes, Jerusalem and Zion appear as frequently in the Qur'an "as they do in the Hindu Bhagavad-Gita, the Taoist Tao-Te Ching, the Buddhist Dhamapada and the Zoroastrian Zend Avesta"—which is to say, not once.2

The city being of such evidently minor religious importance, why does it now loom so large for Muslims, to the point that a Muslim Zionism seems to be in the making across the Muslim world? Why do Palestinian demonstrators take to the streets shouting "We will sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Jerusalem"3 and their brethren in Jordan yell "We sacrifice our blood and soul for Al-Aqsa"?4 Why does King Fahd of Saudi Arabia call on Muslim states to protect "the holy city [that] belongs to all Muslims across the world"?5 Why did two surveys of American Muslims find Jerusalem their most pressing foreign policy issue?6

Because of politics. An historical survey shows that the stature of the city, and the emotions surrounding it, inevitably rises for Muslims when Jerusalem has political significance. Conversely, when the utility of Jerusalem expires, so does its status and the passions about it. This pattern first emerged during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century. Since then, it has been repeated on five occasions: in the late seventh century, in the twelfth century Countercrusade, in the thirteenth century Crusades, during the era of British rule (1917-48), and since Israel took the city in 1967. The consistency that emerges in such a long period provides an important perspective on the current confrontation.

The Muslim Claim to Jerusalem

 

[Coyote]

Here is what has been happening in East Jerusalem in regards to rights.

Israeli courts has upheld a 63 year old controversial absentee landowner law that allows for the confiscation of Arab-owned properties in East Jerusalem. The courts specified it was legal but should be used rarely. The "rarely" part seems to be abused. According to this article, "the court said the state may confiscate East Jerusalem property held by West Bank residents".

Jewish settlers, such as the rightwing Elad Corporation have been moving into the traditionally Arab sectors of Jerusalem benefiting from these absentee confiscations as well as buying up property under false pretenses.

The absentee landowner laws forced Palestinians to sell because they were not allowed to return.

Other means of purchasing and "occupying" property are also questionable, for example:

Sudden apartment takeovers in east Jerusalem spark anger

Jewish real estate deals in the contentious Silwan area have long been murky. Purchases often go through intermediaries, which those involved says protects the Arab sellers from being attacked by their neighbors. In some cases, Arabs who say they are the rightful homeowners take Elad to court, arguing the properties were sold by imposters posing as homeowners.

Residents move in at night while Arab neighbors are asleep. The Israeli government bankrolls armed security guards to protect the Jewish residences, many of which are equipped with blooming geranium bushes, Israeli flags and security cameras.


Elad long has attracted controversy because of its nationalistic agenda. But Elad says the area is central to Jewish heritage, and investment in the area has benefited Arab and Jewish residents alike.


“We would like to see a majority of Jews living in this area,” Spielman said. “Having said that, we respect our Arab neighbors.”


About 500 Jews live in the area, and the newly purchased homes will allow for 200 more, Spielman said.


Until residents move in, the properties are occupied by police officers, private security guards, and young volunteers packing pistols. An ad on a Facebook page for religious Jewish army veterans offered 500 shekels ($140) a day to anyone willing to sit in the properties.


On Thursday, Israeli police officers disappeared down a narrow concrete alleyway, bringing a box of supplies deep into the Arab neighborhood to a second-floor apartment. The Israelis peered out from windows they enveloped in wire mesh, and would not open the door to visitors.


In a narrow alleyway below, an exasperated Palestinian woman, 23-year-old Bushra Mohammed Adel Khayyatt, said her laptop and jewelry were stuck inside the apartment, and that her knocks on the door and pleas to get her belongings back have gone unanswered. She insisted her family had not sold the apartment.


A group of young Palestinian residents gathered and screamed at her, accusing her family of selling their home to the new residents.


“Are you crazy?” she retorted. “How would my father sell to Jews?”


​

What often happens is the Arabs are unwilling to sell to Jews but intermediaries claiming they will not do that do just that. They are often employee's of corporations like Elad so it is a very deceptive practice. On the othe side of course - Arabs who sell to Jews face retribution from family and neighbors. And perception matters. They can say Arabs are allowed to live anywhere in Jerusalem but that is not the case in reality. Most "settlements" are Jewish only, even though the laws state that they can not have rules that discriminate ethnically they do.

Are there any new Palestinian settlements in West Jerusalem?

Is there any reason NOT to believe that increasing the number of Jews living in East Jerusalem and decreasing (through lack of residency permits, dishonest selling practices) - is not a means of gaining ethnic control over East Jerusalem?

It's a complex problem, and to add to the mess is housing costs in Jerusalem, which are so high that the Palestinians, who are NOT subsidized by outside groups - simply can not afford to live there.

Coyote, did you miss the part where the Arabs took the JEWISH QUARTER of Jerusalem in 1948 and expelled all the Jewish inhabitants from there?

HOW MANY ARABS do you think lived in the JEWISH QUARTER of Jerusalem before 1948?

Am I missing something, that Israeli courts, which are on the Left and giving away Jewish rights and lands are NOT on the side of the rightful Jewish owners of homes and businesses of the area known before 1948 as the JEWISH QUARTER ?

Someone who knows about Israeli law and the Supreme court, or anything else which is going on, please enlighten me.

It is complex isn't it?

So 70 years ago in war, 2000 Jews were driven out of the Jewish quarter with the proclomation that "not a single Jew was left". No one is saying that is right.

Then 50 years ago, in 1967, it was reversed and 6,000 Palestinians were driven out.

Beginning in the years immediately after 1967, around 6,000 Arabs were evicted from the Jewish Quarter, and the start of exclusion of Palestinians from appropriated land by the private company in charge of its development, for the reason that they were not Jewish. This later became legal precedent in 1978 when the Supreme Court made a decision in the case of Mohammed Burqan, in which the Court ruled that, while Burqan did own his home, he could not return because the area had "special historical significance" to the Jewish people.[25]​

Two wrongs don't make a right do they? Or do they?

 

[Sixties Fan]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

The laws, values and ethics of today did not exist thousands of years ago.

What you do not seem to realize is that the laws of today have no consequences to the Arab Muslims who want ALL of Israel back into Muslim hands.

They were conquerors in the 7th century CE. They are conquerors now in the 21st Century.

 

[abi]

They control sites integral to two other major and volatile world religions.

To be clear, in 2002 it was estimated that Islam had 1.6 billion adherents. Judaism on the other hand had about 14 million, just behind Spiritism with 15 million and Sikhism with more than double that at 30 million. They do however, have twice as many adherents as Bahá'í with 7.0 million.

 

[Coyote]

Jerusalem was NEVER important to Islam before 1948. EVER.

How stupid. Look at this... with your eyes open:

Have a clue as to long ago the Muslims built that stuff?

They built that subsequent to war and conquest. Haven't you been whining about land seized during war is illegal?

The laws, values and ethics of today did not exist thousands of years ago.

What you do not seem to realize is that the laws of today have no consequences to the Arab Muslims who want ALL of Israel back into Muslim hands.

They were conquerors in the 7th century CE. They are conquerors now in the 21st Century.

Except that isn't representative of most of the Palestinians who have, until relatively recently when it became less and less probable - supported a two state solution.