Help pre-empt the internationalization of Jerusalem!

Don't permit the internationalization of Jerusalem!

Dear elected representative

For more than three decades, Jerusalem has once again been the united capital of the State of Israel. During this time, the Israeli government has acted as guardian of its holy sites - respecting the rights of all religious groups and guaranteeing access for all - Christians, Jews and Muslims. Israel's record in this regard speaks for itself.

It stands in sharp contrast to the situation that was created in 1948, at the time of Israel's founding, when Jerusalem was forcibly divided as a result of the invasion of Arab armies. From 1948-1967, Jews could not pray at the Western Wall and Israeli Arabs, both Christian and Muslim were denied access to their holy sites. Religious persecution led to desecration and destruction. This must never be allowed to recur.

Israel has upheld its moral and ethical obligations to the people of the world and has earned the right to retain sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, according to the present boundaries. Moreover, Israel's decision, as a free and democratic nation, to designate a united and undivided Jerusalem as its capital, should be respected and recognized by the entire international community.

At the end of last month, the Center for American Progress issued a report recommendating that the control of Jerusalem be ceded by the State of Israel to another a third party international administrator, such as the U.N. On July 1st, this recommendation was seconded by Professor Michael Barnett at the online forum for Middle East Strategy at Harvard. He pointed out that the two-state paradigm cannot solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because the two sides cannot reach an acceptable compromise, and suggested explicitly that the UN become the ruler of the areas now in the hands of the PA and under Isreali military control.

While I agree that the two-state solution will not solve the conflict, I completely disagree with the recommendation to place parts of Jerusalem under UN control as a means to solve the problem. The UN is a morally bankrupt institution with automatic majorities for the most ridiculous preferences of dictatorial Third World states. Moreover, for decades the UN has shown an entrenched anti-Israel bias, singling out Israel for every type of abuse. It was the UN that declared Zionism, the Jewish national movement, to be racist, and it is the UN that hosts anti-Semitic Durban-type conferences that annually adopt hundreds of anti-Israeli resolutions.

Finally, the UN is hardly an effective organization that can issue credible security assurances. The UN peacekeeping record is very flawed. In the Arab-Israeli arena, the UN forces have played a particularly dysfunctional role. Will they fight Hamas? The recommendation to place the security of Israelis in the hands of the blue helmets vastly overestimates what the UN can do, and shows disregard for the welfare of Israelis who face Palestinian hatred and terrorism.

In conclusion, the belief that a UN trusteeship would bring law and order, prosperity, and political stability to the Palestinians is divorced from Middle East realities. The Palestinians are beleaguered by problems similar to those that haunt other Arab societies, such as in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Somalia. The UN is hardly the remedy for the emerging failed states in the Arab world. Neither UN administrators nor generous outside funding can save the Palestinians from their problems.

Please do your best to prevent Israel from having to cede control over Jerusalem to a third party, rather support a unified Jerusale under the control of the state of Israel for perpetuity!

Respectfully yours,

[Your name]