Solving the Jerusalem Problem
by Ian Mosley
One of the main obstacles to “peace in the Middle East” is the status of Jerusalem. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, for the capital of their postage stamp-sized state, which they still think they’re going to get one day. The Jews demand to keep all of Jerusalem, and have been systematically harassing, oppressing, murdering, and expelling the 240,000 or so Arab inhabitants of the Old City ever since they seized it in 1967. (Now they’re trying to figure out some way to run their big concrete separation wall through the city to keep all the good stuff and wall out most of the Arab inhabitants.)
The city of Jerusalem contains a series of archaeological sites and monuments which are sacred to the two major monotheistic religions (Christianity and Islam) and one minor one (Judaism). Everybody is aware that as soon as Israel obtains untrammeled and unsupervised control of these sites, and the Muslim Waqf and the Eastern Orthodox commissioners led by the Patriarch of Jerusalem are expelled, all the Muslim holy places will disappear, the Al Aqsa mosque will be dynamited for the construction of the next Jewish Temple, and Christian sites will be turned into grotesque Miami Beach-style tourist traps complete with little plastic Jesuses and Splinter of the True Cross coffee tables to rook the little blue-haired ladies from Texas and South Carolina who follow Pat Robertson over there as tourists.
Now, if we’re REALLY looking for a solution to the problem of Jerusalem, consider the following:
In 1871, a serious disagreement developed between the government of united Italy and the Vatican following the declaration of the city of Rome as the capital of Italy. The dispute continued until 1929, when the Lateran Treaty
established a “special status under international guarantee” for the five basilicas that belong to the Vatican, but which are outside of its territory and scattered throughout the city of Rome (such as San Pietro in Vincoli). The “international guarantee” was given to the special status, and not to the churches. A small mini-state was thus created, the Vatican
City, which operates independently of Italian authority to this day, has fully recognized sovereign status including their own passports.
So why not set up a special Vatican-style mini-state or “prayer zone” in part of Jerusalem, mostly the old city containing the overwhelming majority of all the holy places of all faiths. The Christians could visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Bethlehem (which is actually in Palestinian territory, but could be added on very easily because it’s nearby) and other
Christian sites. The Muslims could still pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock Sanctuary on the Temple Mount, where Mohammed allegedly ascended bodily into Heaven on his death. The Jews could still bow up and down like those funny little birds that drink out of a glass of water and go habba habba gevalt in front of the Western Wall.
Such a move would lead to a number of very important positive results: Jerusalem would remain whole and not divided; each of the three monotheistic religions would be sovereign over the buildings that are sacred to them. Each would administer them and would be responsible for what happens inside. Now, what would be wrong with that? (Again, I am speaking from an Establishment point of view.) International public opinion would welcome such a move and it would be an important step toward that “Middle East peace” that everybody claims to want.
The Jews don’t want a rational solution. The problem with this proposal is the Jews would thereby be recognizing the existence of other faiths and at least some degree of moral equivalence with their own. They would be admitting that they are not God’s Chosen People after all. And we can’t have that now, can we?