Jerusalem move a sign of bad things to come

AMID the clamour to condemn US President Donald Trump for wanting to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, thus recognising Israel’s claim since 1949 for Jerusalem to be its capital city, no one questions how absurd it is for all of these world embassies to be in Tel Aviv at any rate, as it is not Israel’s capital.

That would be like insisting on having an embassy in Birmingham instead of London, or, in Ireland’s case, in Limerick instead of Dublin.

The Palestinian Arabs (Jews were Palestinian too before 1948) also claim the Old City of Jerusalem as their eternal capital of a future Palestinian (Arab Muslim) state as if it were their divine right, when, in fact, there never existed an Arab Palestinian capital there — never mind an Arab Palestinian state.

The geographical area of Biblical Israel renamed as ‘Palestine’ by the Romans (as a slur against the Jews after they forcibly ejected the Jews in 135AD) was occupied by various foreign forces, including the Turks for 400 years until 1917, then the British until 1947, then Jordan illegally occupied East Jerusalem until 1967, when Israel — miraculously — won a war in six days with multiple Arab armies meted against them.

None of these governances were Arab Palestinian, but 3,000 years ago you have records of King David ruling Jerusalem as a Jewish city.

The Bible predicts that Jerusalem will be at the centre of the world’s attention with the solemn warning found in Zechariah 12:2: “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem.

“And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; all who would heave it away will be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.”

We could be living in the days of Armageddon.

COLIN NEVIN Bangor, Co Down

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