JUST SAY NO TO DIVISION OF JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Barkat: Just Say No to Splitting Jerusalem
by Maayana Miskin OCT 12,10

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat addressed a crowd in Atlanta on Monday at the annual Jewish National Fund Conference. Barkat discussed the Palestinian Authority's demand that Israel hand over all parts of the city that were under Jordanian control between 1948 and 1967 to become the capital of a new Arab state.Barkat offered a straightforward solution: We just have to say a simple No about Jerusalem to the Palestinians and move on,he said.PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas demands control over all formerly Jordanian parts of Israel's capital city, including the Old City and other historically Jewish areas. The city has been unified for decades, since it was annexed following the Six Day War of 1967.Jerusalem must remain the united, undivided capital of Israel, Barkat told his audience.Barkat's speech took place on the second day of the JNF event. The JNF works to develop Israeli land and infrastructure. Its Atlanta conference focused on core issues challenging Israel, and insights into opportunities to affect change,according to organizers.

Earlier this year Barkat released an outline of his vision for Jerusalem's future. The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role it played two and three thousand years ago as a world center - a destination for pilgrims and believers throughout the world,the mayor wrote. He addressed Arab demands to divide the city in his manifesto, saying, Jerusalem must stay united. There is not one example in the world of a divided city that ever worked.Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh recently wrote a piece revealing that much of Jerusalem's Arab population prefers Israeli rule to that of the PA. It is only fair to ask the Arabs living in Jerusalem what they want before talking about splitting the city, Toameh said.
Approximately 200,000 Arabs live in the northern, eastern, and southern neighborhoods of Jerusalem demanded by the PA. More than 180,000 Israeli Jews live in those areas as well.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Clock Ticking Away against Obama’s One Year Peace Objective
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu OCT 12,10

The Obama administration is sticking to its hope that the Palestinian Authority and Israel can reach a peace agreement in one year, although both sides in the past week have ignored the clock and drifted out of the time zone.Reporters in Washington have increasingly questioned the feasibility of U.S. President Barack Obama’s goal, set by him and his administration on September 1, when he brought Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas together for the first official face-to-face talks in nearly two years in a high-profile ceremony.Since then, Abbas has refused to enter talks without the pre-condition that Prime Minister Netanyahu extend the same building freeze that was established last year to satisfy his pre-condition for direct talks. With one month left in the 10-month freeze, he finally agreed to talks and began calling on Israel to extend it while refusing Israel’s demand that he recognize the country as a Jewish state.After U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley reiterated the one-year goal in a press conference last week, one reporter asked, No, no, wait. I just want to make sure I have something clear. You said in response to a question a little while ago that your hope remains that you can – that if you can get through this deadlock, you can still get some kind of an agreement in 12 months, a year. But you – is it still 12 months or is it now 11? We’ve already had a month of this, so are you giving yourself an extra month here already? Amid laughter from his colleagues, the journalist added, Has it already been extended? It was really a 13-month process and not a year? Crowley, caught off balance for a couple of seconds, regained his posture and replied,It’s a fair question. At the start of these direct negotiations, it was our view and it remains our view that we can be successful in 12 months. If we get into next year successfully, whether it’s 12 months and one day, 12 months and one week, but it would – on the clock that was started here in Washington in late August, we are now one month into that process.

The spokesman tried to change the subject, but another reporter cut him off and asked, again amid laughter, Is it accurate to say that you’re still trying to get over the current hurdle in negotiations by getting an extension of the moratorium? And if that is still the plan, what does it say about the prospects for reaching an agreement within 12 or 13 months if the Israelis aren’t willing to make that gesture and you are not willing to – or you’re not able to break the deadlock? Crowley fell back on the Obama administration’s repeated optimism that if we’re able to encourage successfully the parties to remain in the direct negotiations, that gives the process a boost. That demonstrates that both of them are willing to take the difficult political steps and stay committed to the process. So that is our goal.
Journalist Jackson Diehl wrote in the Washington Post Monday,Is it possible that Netanyahu and Abbas can agree on the borders of a Palestinian state in less than 60 days and end the settlement debate? No. But then, what will happen when the next deadline arrives? Discussion will be forced on yet another timetable… Yet in the Obama administration, the timetable is becoming an end in itself. It reflects a president who is fixed on disposing of foreign policy problems -- and not so much on solving them.Other pundits have charged that the president wants a peace act, regardless of whether there is peace.The Netanyahu government is far from optimistic. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stated last month that it will take decades before the Palestinian Authority can reach a peace agreement with Israel.

Another senior Cabinet member, Minister of Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon of the Likud party, said Tuesday, There is no chance in the coming years for a peace agreement with the Palestinians.In the eyes of the Palestinians, the occupation started in 48 and not in 67. It is not only Hamas that thinks this way, but also [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas]. They need to be released from this delusion, from not recognizing Israel as the home of the Jewish people. They have no interest in having Israel as a neighboring state.(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Deputy PM: Israel officials doubt peace reachable By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 12, 7:04 am ET

JERUSALEM – An Israeli Cabinet minister said Tuesday that top officials doubt a peace deal with the Palestinians can be reached soon even though the prime minister has committed to try to reach an agreement within a year.The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which resumed last month after a breakdown of nearly two years, have already run aground over Israel's refusal to renew a moratorium on West Bank settlement construction.I don't know a single minister in the septet who thinks it's possible to reach a deal in the foreseeable future, said Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon.Yaalon was referring to the seven-member decision-making body in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet.Yaalon, speaking to Army Radio, accused the Palestinians of being intransigent and of carrying out repeated violence and incitement since 1993, when the two sides signed their first, interim peace accord.

He claimed the Palestinians have refused to declare an end to their conflict with Israel, even under a peace deal, suggesting that further demands for territorial concessions could follow.However, an official in the prime minister's office disputed Yaalon's take on the matter, noting that Netanyahu, who leads the septet, had reiterated his goal of reaching peace within one year during a parliamentary speech on Monday.He believes firmly that if both sides show creativity and flexibility and are ready to take tough decisions, then peace is possible. But it has to be a two-way street. It can't just be the Palestinians making demands and Israel making concessions,said the official. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to respond to another minister's public comments.The Palestinians say Israel has not lived up to its commitment under an internationally backed 2003 peace blueprint that, among other things, called for an all-out settlement freeze.A pan-Arab peace initiative offered in 2002, which the Palestinians endorsed, calls for an end to the conflict if Israel withdraws from all territory Israel occupied in the 1967 Mideast war. It must also accept a sovereign Palestinian state within the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, and an agreed solution with the Arab world on the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees scattered throughout the region.Israel opposes a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 war boundaries, though both sides have agreed in principle to a West Bank land swap that would give the Palestinians an equal amount of land to that captured in 1967.

But agreement on future borders seems far away: The Palestinians have refused to resume negotiations with Israel as long as it refuses to curb settlement construction in the West Bank.Netanyahu on Monday offered to renew the moratorium if the Palestinians would recognize Israel as the Jewish homeland. The Palestinians immediately refused, but Netanyahu also signaled he would be willing to renew the curbs if the U.S. offered an attractive incentive.The Palestinians also say acceptance of Israel as a Jewish state would compromise the rights of Israel's 1.5 million Arab citizens and the rights of Palestinian refugees. They say it is sufficient that they recognize Israel's right to exist.