Jerusalem: The coveted land
By Najla Al Rostamani, Associate Editor
Published: July 21, 2009, 22:45
In the Arab consciousness, Jerusalem has come to represent a yearning for a golden age of freedom and coexistence, of greatness and prosperity that has been diminished by an unjust occupation in recent times. That the city is synonymous with the birth of civilisations and fostered all three monolithic religions explains the reverence with which it is regarded globally.
Ancient history
Jerusalem is no less than 3,000-years old which makes it one of the oldest cities on the planet. There are any number of communities who have settled, conquered, ruled, traded and moved through its lands over the years including the Canaanites, Philistines, Samaritans, Nabataeans, Greeks, and Romans.
The city traces its roots to the Jebusites, Arab Canaanites who moved from the Arabian Peninsula and settled there. Named as Yaboos, the first blueprint of the city's domain was pencilled and built by King Maliksadiq, Canaanite monarch of Jerusalem. He was known for his fairness and desire to maintain peaceful relations with others - and hence was called as the King of Peace. Eventually, the city was named as Salim, or Shalim, and with time it came to be known as Uro-Salim - Canaanite for City of Peace.
Considering its rich history, Jerusalem has always been an attraction for conquerors. Pharaohs entered it around 1400 BC, followed by the Assyrians and later the Persians. Alexander the Great occupied Jerusalem and the Greeks held sway for long periods. The Romans invaded the city by 63 BC.
read more: http://www.gulfnews.com/region/Middle_East/10333440.html
As Shipler once remarked - "Jerusalem is a festival and a lamentation. Its song is a sigh across the ages, a delicate, robust, mournful psalm at the great junction of spiritual cultures. "
"The Kingdom of Heaven" - Salahuddin?
Yah - should be "The Kingdom of Conscience".
I think , Jerusalem with whatever name has always been a place of magic and pride.
And heres the funny thing.
When you call it Al Quds they say its a good proud place. When you say Jerusalem they say its a bad place.
Weird people around here, eh?
"Everything in this book may be wrong." Illusions: The Adventures of The Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach
I liked Ronit when I saw her in "Late Marriage". Why u call her dog? I thought she was a sexy human female by looking at her!
You need a new pair of specs :)
Ronit is dog ..
Yeah Bar Rafaeli has great curves!
But I like more Ronit Elkabetz & Aya Steinovitz
Amazing stuff..
Is there anything about Bar Refaeli ( בר רפאלי) ??
It's just a place! just like all other places on earth!
But still so many people fight over it..........
remind me of the movie "knowing" nicolas cage!
what a link! where in hell did u dig it up funiculus?
Also Jews are lunatics...
http://www.m424.com/86_1_eng.htm
after salomon, israel split into 2 kingdoms. israel to the north, and judea with jerusalem as it's capital, until the assyrians destroyed israel, than the babylonian nabuchodonossor devastated the land, destroying the temple for the first time, deporting the jewish population out of israel.
the persian darius? (not sure) allowed the jews to return and rebuild the temple.
the roman in 70 AD destroyed the second temple.
And 4000 BC it was Ophel, brit. But the point is that "if ever", it was an Israeli capital and no other at no time.
Jerusalem was known by the Ancient Egyptians as listed Rusalimum .
Persians, Greeks, Romans, Muslims and Jews have all ruled.
Th bottom is that "to the victors the spoils"
Jerusalem was the capital od David's United Kingdom of Israel (1000 BC), followed by his son Salomon. If ever, Jerusalem was the capital of an Israeli kingdom!
i'm not with or against the UN 1948 partition of palestine into 2 states.
my thread here is just to point that in that partition, jerusalem was for none of the two states! it was for the UN! a neutral city
-the main goal of the crusaders was jerusalem
1099 AD to 1253 AD. remember saladdin and lion heart Richard?
in fact jerusalem was the sole destination of both the crusadres and zionists
My plan for Jerusalem (Israel & Palestine)
Step 1 - Evacuate
Step 2 - Atomic Bomb
How?
Arab countries absorb Palestinians
Western countries absorb Isreal
Why?
This so-called holy land has been the root cause of death, misery, poverty and destruction. It IS, and has throughout history been an accelerator for, evil. Surely the peoples are at fault, yet we have proven we can not handle the issues it generates, therefore I call for the total destruction, annihilation, of that land.
Jerusalem has always been an "Internaional" city. In the past, the three main religions have coexisted without problems.
It is only since the inception of Israel that the problems have begun..
the jebusites are Canaanites. not sure about being arab.
no it wasn't an attraction of conquerors. but it's strategical placement made her a forced passage of conqueror going elsewhere.
no one conquered jerusalem, israel or lebanon for the purpose of just occupying it. they wanted to pass to other destinations.
pharoahs, fatimides, and mameluks to the south west, hittites, seljouks, and ottomans to the north
romans and greeks to the nord-west
mesoppotamia, persia, mongols to the east
arabs to the south east
Its the city of Prophets, doubt as The promised Land in the days of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob.
of a city's history that has been torn, divided and inflicted. Reading through its rich history, I can only come to wonder, of all places on this earth, Jerusalem considered as the holiest place , but here the conflict of faiths began. I ask my fellow Qlers to refrain from posting against anyone's religion or beliefs. Please respect other people's faiths. If only everyone lives in harmony, we wouldn't have war today. We wouldn't lost too many children, mother, fathers & friends.Let's just co-exist.