[American Thinker] I never fully understood the plight of the Jews in Israel until I heard Ed Koch, the late mayor of New York City, spell it out years ago on a talk radio show. Koch simply said, "Israel is surrounded by millions of people who want to kill them."Jerusalem is once again at the center of political and international debate after President Donald Trump recently recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and plans to move America's embassy in Israel to Jerusalem by 2019.
Did anyone take notice of the recent meeting between Jordan's King Abdullah and Vice President Mike Pence? Reuters reported that Abdullah told Pence that "he looked to Washington to rebuild "trust and confidence" in moving toward a two-state solution in Israel..." Abdullah further stated that East Jerusalem should be the capital of a future Palestinian state.
Are you kidding me?
History shows Jordan has zero credibility to be speaking about Jerusalem and to be lecturing about "trust and confidence."
Jordan captured East Jerusalem (including the holy sites of the Old City) in 1948 and then annexed it in 1949. Jordan maintained control of East Jerusalem until the Six-Day War in 1967. After this war, Israel reclaimed East Jerusalem and unified Jerusalem as it exists today.
We must never forget what happened when East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control for 19 years. Jordan wanted to "Islamize" East Jerusalem. In 1952, Jordan proclaimed that Islam was to be the official religion, and according to Israeli professor Yehuda Zvi Blum, this also applied in Jordanian-held Jerusalem.