Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 02:59:41 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Slice up Jerusalem? Unthinkable


Dear All
I found it very disturbing to come across the
following article in Boston globe:
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/004/oped/Slice_up_Jerusalem_Unthinkable+.shtml

It is a typical example of the kind of pseudo-academic
propaganda that we are being bombarded with at the
moment.

My reply to the article was worded in an almost
identical way to the reply of Ahdaf Soueif to Edward
N. Luttwak's commentary piece in the December 22 issue
of TLS ("An insufficient war"), which could be called
a marvellous piece of scholarship compared to the
Boston Globe article.

At any rate below is my reply. I urge those of you who
can make further corrections to contact the Globe.

Dear Sir
Jeff Jacoby’s recent article [‘Slice up Jerusalem?
Unthinkable’-1/4/2001] which you saw fit to publish
contains so many errors – born it seems of bias and
ignorance- that it would take me almost as many pages
to correct him as were occupied by his text.
Still, he mustn’t be allowed to go unchallenged.

The central thesis of the article is that Muslims have
a lesser claim over Jerusalem than Jews. In order to
sustain that claim, he makes assertions that anyone
with even a passing interest in Islam would be able to
refute. He says for example that "Mohammed never
walked its streets, for the Arabs didn't conquer
Jerusalem until six years after his death."
He goes on to say: "nowhere in the Koran is Jerusalem
even mentioned."

Mr Jacoby is clearly clueless about Islam because even
if he had any basic knowledge of that religion he
would realise that one very important event in the
life of the prophet Mohammed is the trip he made from
Macca to the Al-Aqsa (meaning far distant place)
mosque in Jerusalem. This event is referred to as
‘Israa’ in the Koran and an entire sora (chapter) was
devoted to it.

It is sufficient to quote the first line of verse from
this sora: 
"Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from
the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far distant
place of worship the neighbourhood where of We have
blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens! Lo! He,
only He, is the Hearer, the Seer." (Pickthal 
translation).

Of course, Mr. Jacoby might be inclined to dismiss
this event as the stuff of legends but to do so would
call into question the claims of the Jews themselves
who are tied to the land through their own scripture.
Certainly from a secular point of view, the Jews have
a lesser claim over Jerusalem than the Muslims who
ruled and ran the city for most of its recorded
history. 

The Muslims sacrificed their lives during the crusades
to defend the city against Christian attacks. It is
interesting that Christianity receives no mention in
Mr Jacoby’s article considering the importance of
Jerusalem to that religion as well.

Mr Jacoby’s grasp of history is even more questionable
than his understanding of Islam for he asserts:
‘Palestinians placed so low a priority on Jerusalem
that the PLO's founding charter, the Palestinian
National Covenant of 1964, makes no reference to it.
Only when the Jews returned after the Six Day War did
the Arabs grow passionate about Jerusalem.’

Jerusalem was not an issue before the 1967 war (the so
called six day war). In that year, the Israelis
invaded (not returned to) Jerusalem and occupied the
West Bank. Mr. Jacoby ought to consult the numerous UN
resolutions issued after this invasion which demand
that Israel return the land to the Arabs. He will find
no mention of a ‘Jewish return’ within their pages.

At this time, when people are dying on both sides of
the Arab-Jewish divide, it seems highly irresponsible
of the Boston Globe to publish such a clearly partisan
article. However, even if you had made the decision to
take sides, you should have at the very least tried to
check some facts. Mr Jacoby mentions : "…since the
early 1800s, the population of Jerusalem has been
predominantly Jewish.". The Ottoman census of 1905
finds 13,000 Jews and 19,000 non-Jews in Jerusalem.
Later, under the British Mandate, as the city grew,
what is now West Jerusalem was completely Arab. 

As a serious publication you ought to make the
distinction between opinion and propaganda. That is
the very least your readers demand. 




===="All the wolves in the wolf factory paused at noon, 
for a moment of silence."
........from laughing Gravy by John Ashbery.
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