The same emphasis regarding the neutrality of Jerusalem was made time and again, including in the League of Nations' decision in 1922 to give Britain a political mandate over Palestine, and the United Nations resolution to divide Palestine into two countries, one Arab and one Jewish, in November 1947.
While that envisaged Palestinian state never actualized (thanks to numerous obstacles placed by the US and Israel), Israel became a reality in May 1948. Mere months after an armistice agreement was reached, Israel declared Jerusalem as its capital in December 1949.
It was then that biblical mythology was remolded to fit political exigencies.
Israel's first Parliament (Knesset) declared in January 1950 that "Jerusalem was, and had always been the capital of Israel."
The "was" and "always been" are references to a twisted interpretation of history that has no place in modern international law, of which Israel is never a follower to begin with.
After 1,500 years of Canaanite rule over Palestine, the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea fell under the rule of numerous invaders, including the Philistines, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Crusaders, and then it was ruled by various Islamic Caliphates from 1291 until the British mandate in 1922.
The Israelites control barely lasted for 77 years and it is largely contested that Israeli Jews of today are even blood relatives of the groups that inhabited Palestinians 2,000 years ago.
Yet that was enough for the modern Israeli national myth, which is now championed by the most right-wing, religious extremists in both the United States and Israel.
In 1967, Israel occupied the rest of historic Palestine, including Palestinian East Jerusalem, annexing the city in 1980.
The international community has continually rejected and condemned the Israeli occupation, with repeated emphasis on Jerusalem.
Countries around the world, even those who are considered allies of Israel, including the United States reject Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, and refuse Israeli invitation to relocate their embassies from Tel Aviv to the illegally-occupied city.
The American Exception
The United States' attitude towards Jerusalem, however, has been marred with contradictions. Since 1995, the US position has been divided between the historically pro-Israel US Congress, and equally pro-Israel, but slightly more pragmatic White House.
In October 1995, the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act. The act passed by an overwhelming majority in both House and Senate. It called Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel and urged the State Department to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
The US administration at the time protested the violation of protocol as such a decision is the responsibility of the executive branch, not lawmakers beholden to Israel's influential lobby in Washington.
The other dilemma is that if the US walks away from international consensus on the matter it both loses the little credibility it had as a "peace broker" and would be left to contend with the likely terrible consequences including political instability and violence.
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