The Pilgrims' Holy Land is a Battlefield - written by 10108 Park Hyein and 20213 Lee Sumin

The Pilgrims' Holy Land is a Battlefield

written by 10108 Park Hyein and 20213 Lee Sumin

One of the most ironical cities in the world is Jerusalem. Jerusalem originally meant the city of peace, but it turns out that peace was nowhere in there, for its religious, social, and economic value, has a played part in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Why is it Jerusalem?

Jerusalem has deep religious meaning for Jewish people. Jerusalem was first settled by Jewish people in 1800 B.C. by Abraham, during his search for the “Promised Land.” It’s been said that Abraham was to sacrifice his son Isaac there, but God commanded him not to do so. Later, Jerusalem was built on the place, and it became an absolute religious hub after King Solomon built a temple there, the national center of worship. Major religious festivals and meetings used to occur in Jerusalem since it was a significance in their religious consciousness.

According to Islamic tradition, Islamic prophets travelled miraculously from Mecca to Jerusalem, in order to make an direct connection with the vision of God. Even though the Qur’an, the central religious text of Islam, doesn’t mention Jerusalem directly, it includes the term “the farthest Mosque,” referring to the Noble Sanctuary in Jerusalem, where the mosque stands.

Crisis around Jerusalem

The conflict about the ownership of Jerusalem goes back to around 70 B.C. In 67 B.C., the Jewish people were defeated by Rome and had scatter all over the world. The Jewish people wanted to establish their own country where they could be protected, and the desire was reinforced in World War II. They thought their native soil, which had become Palestine, would be the perfect place. This idea is called Zionism. Following Zionism, Jewish people started to immigrate to the land of Palestine and kept insisting on their right for independence.

In 1917, Britain declared “the establishment in Palestine as a national home for the Jewish people”. The noticeable thing is that the declaration is at odds with the Mcmahon-Hussein Agreement conducted a year before in which Britain ensured the independence of Arabians in the land of Palestine.

Eventually, Jewish people declared the establishment of Israel on the 14^th of May, 1948. With this being regarded, the United Nations adopted a resolution the next day, stating “the only fair and just solution to the problem of Palestine is the creation of a United State of Palestine based upon the democratic principles…”, including a guideline to divide the land of Palestine into two sections, 43% for the Arabians and 57% for the Jewish. It was consented that Jerusalem remains as a trust territory which the UN governs.

The 1948 Arab–Israeli War began on the very day of the UN resolution. The armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq who were representing the Arabians fought against Israel which was representing the Jewish people, and the victory went to Israel.

Israel took 78% of the Palestinian territory as a result. The other 22% included the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the case of Jerusalem, it was separated into two states between 1948 and 1967; East Jerusalem for Israelis and West Jerusalem for Palestinians.

As time went by, tensions between Israelis and Palestinians mounted, not to mention the Suez Crisis in 1956 and the Six-day War in 1967. After the successive victories, Israel finally invaded both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This event created around thousands of war refugees from Palestine. In 1980, Israel unilaterally declared all of Jerusalem to be owned by them, stating Jerusalem as “a unique and indivisible capital of the state”. Due to the Palestinian-Israeli Agreements known as the Oslo Accords in May 1994, Palestinians have inhabited in the Gaza Strip since then.

The United States has been one of the powerful supporters of Israel’s position in the situation. Trump has recognized Jerusalem as the official capital of Israel, there by fulfilling his political campaign pledge of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump's decision has led to a bitter conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the conflict over Jerusalem continues.

Conflict between the UN and the US?

On December 22^nd, 2017 the UN passed the Jerusalem Resolution that stated the UN will reject any decision on Jerusalem’s status, which went against declaration.

The United States, which has threatened member states to oppose the resolution is now facing isolation following the resolution being overwhelmingly passed in the UN. The resolution condemns Trump for openly acknowledging Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

The UN headquarters in New York adopted a resolution in a special plenary session to abolish Trump's declaration of changing Jerusalem's status without any legal effect. The meeting, which was attended by 193 representative countries, saw the resolution passed with 128 votes, thus apparently reaffirming the two-nations’ co-existence solution for Jerusalem.

The resolution urges Israel's embassies not to move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is of great value in that it has confirmed the official opinion of the international community, which was opposed Trump's decision.

Middle Eastern countries welcomed the adoption of the resolution. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad harshly criticized the Trump administration, saying the world opposed the U.S. President's threat after the resolution was adopted.

The Palestinian intemperate Hamas has been even more critical. Hamas spokesman Fougou Barz said, "The U.N. resolution has been properly opposed to the Trump administration by going in the right direction."

On the other hand, however, the United States and Israel strongly protested to the decision of the UN. U.S. government listed which countries voted for the resolution before the plenary session, saying “Today’s vote will be remembered by U.S. forever.”

U.S. government also threatened other countries, saying “We cannot give aid to countries that voted for it.”

Israel also expressed opposition to the international community, saying it cannot recognize the resolution.

Conflicts over Jerusalem's territorial dispute after the U.N. General Assembly have subsided for a while, but it is expected to continue longer due to protests from the United States and Israel.