XPost: soc.history.war.misc

interesting read, from:
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-716906

Britain's King Charles III is a problem for the Palestinians - opinion
The royals’ desire to be buried in Jerusalem demonstrates a longstanding affection for the capital of the Holy Land - known as "Christian Zionism."
By STEPHEN M. FLATOW Published: SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 04:05
Updated: SEPTEMBER 12, 2022 08:21Email Twitter Facebook fb-messenger
KING CHARLES III, as the Prince of Wales, meets with Palestinian
Authority head Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, 2020. (photo credit: FLASH90)

The ascent of Prince Charles to the British throne King Charles III is a problem for advocates of the Palestinian Arab cause. The new king’s connection to a key Jewish holy site in eastern Jerusalem could focus
attention on a subject that the Arabs are anxious to avoid.

King Charles III’s grandmother, Princess Alice, and her aunt, Grand
Duchess Elisabeth, are both buried in a small Christian cemetery on the
Mount of Olives, near the largest Jewish cemetery in the world.

The Mount of Olives is in that part of the city that the Palestinian
Authority calls “Arab East Jerusalem.” The PA says that the area should
be the “capital of Palestine.” According to the PA, Zionists – whether Jews or Christians – have no right to be there. They’re “illegal settlers.”

The cemetery where the two royals are buried belongs to the Church of
Mary Magdalene, a Russian Orthodox church and convent that was built at
the foot of the Mount of Olives in 1886 by Tsar Alexander II. It is
located directly across the Kidron Valley from the Temple Mount, the
holiest site in Judaism.

Princess Alice, who lived in Greece during World War II, sheltered a
Jewish family from the Nazis and was posthumously honored by Yad Vashem
as one of the Righteous Among the Nations. Alice, who passed away in
1969, left instructions to be buried at Mary Magdalene cemetery. Her
remains were transferred there in 1988.

PRINCE CHARLES and a Holocaust survivor light a candle at Central Hall Westminster, as his wife, Camilla, looks on. (credit: Courtesy)
PRINCE CHARLES and a Holocaust survivor light a candle at Central Hall Westminster, as his wife, Camilla, looks on. (credit: Courtesy)
The British Royals practiced Christian Zionism
The royals’ desire to be buried in Jerusalem demonstrates a longstanding affection for the capital of the Holy Land, something that reflects what
we call “Christian Zionism.”

Whether or not Alice or Elisabeth ever called themselves “Christian Zionists” – and whether or not the new king thinks of himself as such – doesn’t matter. The historical facts speak for themselves. Charles knows
that his Bible describes the founder of their religion traveling and
residing in territories with Hebrew, not Arabic, names – because those
areas were, and are, central parts of the Jewish homeland. If there had
been a Palestinian Authority in those days, no doubt it would have
denounced Jesus as a “Zionist settler.”

As prince, Charles visited the graves of his grandmother, and her aunt,
when he attended the funeral of Shimon Peres in 2016. Perhaps, in the
PA’s eyes, that made him an “accessory to Zionist settlement activity.” Interestingly, Charles’s visit to the Mount of Olives was undertaken secretly, without the knowledge of the public or news media, apparently
for fear of offending the Palestinian Authority.

It’s easy to see why the PA would have been angry over Prince Charles’s visit to his relatives’ graves. Any focus on the Mount of Olives is a
public relations disaster for the Palestinians. It reminds the world
that one of the most important Jewish religious sites in the world is
situated in eastern Jerusalem – shattering the myth that it’s an
all-Arab territory that belongs to the Palestinians.

The PA and its media allies call it “Arab East Jerusalem,” but that’s just a propaganda term. The Jewish people’s roots in eastern Jerusalem
go back thousands of years, long before any Arab claims.

THERE’S ANOTHER reason that talking about the Mount of Olives is a
public relations headache for Arab propagandists. Anybody who takes even
the briefest glance at the mount’s recent history discovers that when
the “moderate” Jordanians occupied it from 1949 to 1967, they destroyed thousands of Jewish tombstones, which they used for paving roads and
building latrines in Jordanian Army barracks.

That experience reminds everyone how Arab regimes have mistreated Jewish
holy sites throughout the century – a legacy the PA itself has continued
to the present day, with its repeated desecrations of the Tomb of Joseph
in Nablus, and the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem. When will the Jordanians
and the PA pay reparations for all the damage they have done to Jewish religious sites?

The existence of the Church of Mary Magdalene is yet another PR headache
for the Palestinians. It was established in 1886 – at a time when no
Arabs called the area “Palestine” or called themselves “Palestinians.” That is yet another reminder that Palestinian national identity is a
recent and shallow invention, created not because Palestinians are any different from Jordanians or Syrians, but simply as a weapon against the
Jews.

The founders of the Mary Magdalene church would have scoffed at the
notion that the land on which their church was built, and where the
remains of Alice and Elisabeth were “settled,” is “occupied Palestinian territory.” They know that the Bible which they revere calls the
territory the Land of Israel, not “Palestine.” They know that the Bible repeatedly refers to Jerusalem as the capital of the Jews – and that Jerusalem is not even mentioned in the Koran.

How King Charles III interacts with Israel, and whether or not he visits
his illustrious family’s graves in Jerusalem, remains to be seen. But
the facts about why his relatives are buried there, and who the city and
the country belong to, are part of a historical record that cannot be
denied.



The writer is an attorney and the father of Alisa Flatow, who was
murdered in an Iranian-sponsored Palestinian terrorist attack in 1995.
He is the author of A Father’s Story: My Fight for Justice Against
Iranian Terror.

Tags East Jerusalem Palestinians history Israeli Palestinian Conflict
mount of olives prince charles British Royals Royal Family King Charles
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comments include:

Philadelphian
15 hours ago

Congratulations to the Jerusalem Post for publishing a decent story for
once.

While I understand this to be an opinion piece, I think it's important
that the article included many facts the Palestinians and anyone else
cannot dispute when it comes to who the territory actually belongs to.


Yo-Semite Sam
14 hours ago

It belongs to he who can win the war de jour, and, thereafter, keep the
land, and then win the next war. Keep winning or lose the land. Simple!

It's all about war. It's all about winning. Might makes right. Or didn't
you know that?

Why do you think that nations collectively spend tens of trillions of
coin on their war machines?

davefromorange
9 hours ago

Well written and factual article. I would challenge the mainstream news
media outlets to carry this article if they have any integrity.

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