The Fight for Jerusalem: A Battle for Truth, Jewish Rights, and the Future of the World
The Fight for Jerusalem is a Larger Fight Against Historical Revisionism and the Global Future
On December 21, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly voted 128 to 9 to denounce the United States' decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. This vote, like so many others before it, was another attempt by the international community to undermine Israel’s sovereignty over its eternal capital. But the fight for Jerusalem is not just a political battle—it is a war against the erasure of history itself. The struggle over Jerusalem is not just about land; it is about denying the Jewish people's deep, unbreakable connection to their ancient homeland.
The international community’s crusade against Jerusalem began long before Israel’s establishment. In 1947, the UN Partition Plan sought to "internationalize" Jerusalem, placing it under international control rather than allowing it to remain part of the Jewish state. The UN’s rejection of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem reached a peak in 1949 with UNGA Resolution 303, calling again for the “internationalization of Jerusalem.” But the United Nations didn’t seek to only control territory, it also seek to control its population, placing those living in the city under the administration of now the entire world.
The origins of the idea of corpus separatum—the internationalization of Jerusalem—can be traced to the Vatican’s long-held position on the city based on the former Protectorate of the Holy See and the French Protectorate of Jerusalem. The Vatican’s position was also backed by other European powers like Italy and France, which had long-standing interests in the region through the French and Italian Protectorates of the Holy See. The Vatican’s involvement in advocating for Jerusalem’s internationalization stemmed from its desire to maintain control over Jerusalem. The Vatican’s efforts, beginning under Ottoman rule, were designed to ensure that Jerusalem, especially its sacred sites, would not fall entirely under Jewish sovereignty. This desire to control Jerusalem’s fate culminated in the internationalization plan—an effort to control not just the land, but the Jewish connection to the city itself.
In 1948, when Jordan seized control of East Jerusalem, this vision of international control morphed into a sinister form of ethnic cleansing. For 20 years, Jews were barred from entering the city and praying at their holiest sites, the Western Wall and the Temple Mount. The world stood silent while Jordan systematically erased Jewish presence in the city. Where was the condemnation when Jews were denied access to their sacred sites? Where was the outcry when the Jewish community was ethnically cleansed from their historic capital?
When Israel recaptured Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967, it restored Jewish sovereignty over its capital. Yet, the international community continues to deny this historic truth. Instead of acknowledging Israel’s right to Jerusalem, the UN and its member states have issued numerous resolutions calling for its division, a move that would turn history on its head. These resolutions seek to strip the Jewish people of their millennia-old connection to the city, while elevating the claims of those who, at best, have a colonial relationship to it.
In 1974, Pope Paul VI dropped demands for internationalization of Jerusalem and believes that the United Nations should work should work out a new formula for the status of the city. While at the United Nations a now Nazi Secretary General made moves to delegitimize Israel and the Jewish History, now moving the demands for Jerusalem to be “international” into demands for it to be handover to those seeking to destroy the Jewish People and State
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Then came the Oslo Accords and on December 30, 1993, the Vatican pushed to increase its rights over Jerusalem through agreements with Israel, reinforcing its centuries-old desire to control the city’s religious fate. The Vatican's ambitions are not about preserving Jerusalem for all faiths—they are asserting rights in a city at the very heart of Jewish identity.
Today, 29 years ago, December 21, 1993, Israel turned over control of Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority, as part of the Oslo accords. Since them, all territories controlled by Arab-Palestinians have seen a decrease in their Christian population. None of that has stopped the international community and the United Nations fight for undermining Israel’s sovereignty or the Holy See to both condemn the lack of protection for Christians but it has increasingly aligned closer with those persecuting the people it represents.
Now add historical revisionism to the equation, UNESCO resolutions denying Jewish connection to the holy city and sites, endless resolutions denying Jewish Sovereignty, most recently the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently issued an "opinion" that Jerusalem should be handed over to Arab Palestinians, labeling Jews “settlers”, “colonizers” and “illegal occupiers”,
In 2013, Israel and the Holy See upgraded their relationship with an agreement on issues like taxation and religious rights. Yet, this shift marked the beginning of a troubling alignment. Pope Francis' 2014 visit, which included a controversial meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, not only reaffirmed the Vatican’s growing desire for influence but also demonstrated its increasingly radical stance. By referring to Palestinian territories as “the state of Palestine,” praying at the Separation Wall, and planting an olive tree in Bethlehem, the Pope sent clear signals of support for those seeking to erase the Jewish connection to Jerusalem. The Vatican's actions now go beyond seeking a higher hold on Jerusalem; they are aligning with those who wish to "recolonize" the Jewish holy land, collaborating with radical forces intent on denying the Jewish people their historic and spiritual rights to the city.
Since of October 7th, the calls for ethnic cleansing from the international community have intensified, declaring their desire for “judenrein” (Jewish free) Jewish lands, in modern times hidden in euphemisms such as “end of the ‘occupation’,” and “dismantlement of settlement’ . This is a dangerous distortion of history. The Palestinians’ connection to Jerusalem is relatively recent and politically driven. Their claim to the city cannot and should not overwrite the Jewish people’s deep, millennia-long relationship with it.
Pope Francis has made several statements and taken actions that many view as distancing himself from Israel and aligning with Palestinian narratives. His initial response to the attacks failed to directly condemn Hamas, focusing instead on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and he appeared to equate both sides, ignoring the brutal realities of the assault on Israeli civilians. While expressing concern for Palestinian suffering, his emphasis often overshadowed the atrocities committed by Hamas, creating a false moral equivalence. The Pope has gone as far as suggesting Israel is committing “genocide” against the people in Gaza. The Vatican's 2024 nativity scene, which depicted Baby Jesus wrapped in a Palestinian keffiyeh, was seen as a politically charged move, aligning with Palestinian identity rather than honoring the historical and religious significance of the nativity story.
After the US recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017, Pope Francis expressed the Vatican's position: "I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the ‘status quo’ of the city, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.” Now signaling his support for the “internationalization of Jerusalem”, once again. In 2023 Pope Francis “appealed” for Jerusalem to be considered “the common patrimony of humanity" and "as a place of encounter and as a symbol of peaceful coexistence”. Quite the coexistence and Status Quo, one where Jews are not allowed. My prediction, we will soon see the United Nations float the idea again of Jerusalem as an “International City” to settle the “Palestinian Question”.
The terrorist attacks by Hamas, has further highlighted the brutal reality. The attack focused heavily on Al-Aqsa, a symbol not only of Palestinian nationalism but of Jewish oppression. Al-Aqsa, for those who perpetuate terrorism in the name of its cause, represents a sinister desire to not only remove Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem but to exterminate Jews altogether and all with a more globalist view, create a caliphate worldwide. All while the United Nations not only tries to deny the atrocities, in they are now glorified.
Media organizations have gone so far as to refuse to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel, despite the fact that the city has been the Jewish people’s spiritual and political heart for thousands of years. This includes media outlets like CBS News, which recently instructed its journalists not to refer to Jerusalem as part of Israel, others like Norwegian Public broadcaster NRK, which claimed that Israel has no capital at all. These stances are not just politically motivated—they are a denial of history.
Leaders like Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have revived claims to Jerusalem, citing the Ottoman Empire’s historical rule over the city as justification for Turkish claims. Erdoğan’s assertion is part of a wider effort to impose an imperial vision not only over a city sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike but part of a wider imperialistic agenda of reviving Turkey’s glory during the “Ottoman Empire” times.
The international community’s refusal to acknowledge Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish people is not just political; it is an act of historical amnesia. It ignores the long legacy of Jewish persecution and exile, and it allows foreign powers to dictate the fate of a city that is the very soul of the Jewish people. Jerusalem is not a commodity to be traded or divided; it is the eternal capital of the Jews, and no amount of historical revisionism can change that fact.
The battle for Jerusalem, however, extends far beyond the city itself. It is a struggle that seeks to conquer not just a physical space, but the very essence of history, truth, and identity. The forces that deny Jerusalem’s place as the capital of the Jewish people are engaged in a broader war against the values that define human civilization—respect for heritage, the right to self-determination, and the preservation of historical truth. If Jerusalem, the heart of Jewish identity, can be erased or rewritten, no heritage is safe from manipulation. This assault on Jerusalem is an assault on the foundation of justice and historical integrity and our future across the globe.
