Page 92 - Signs of the End

56 THE SIGNS OF THE END

Another way in which Anti-Semitism continues to rear its ugly
head is through the denial of the Nazi Holocaust. World War II is
fading in the memory of new generations, and several groups are
dedicated to the proposition that the Holocaust never happened,
or, if it did, it was on a much smaller scale than the six million Jews
slaughtered because they were Jews. Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the
Holocaust Museum in Washington and the film, Schindler's List, are
efforts to keep the Holocaust vivid in the memory of the world, but
that seems to be more and more difficult to accomplish.

"O, JERUSALEM!"

The thorniest issue in the whole Israeli-Arab dispute is what to
do with Jerusalem. Leaving aside the security issues of the West
Bank and the Golan Heights, Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the
issues involved. Jews have looked upon Jerusalem as their spiri­
tual and political capital for over 3,000 years since the time of King
David and the Temple of King Solomon. The Orthodox pray three
times a day for the restoration of the Temple and Jerusalem. Even
in the happy occasion of Jewish weddings, a glass is smashed to
remember the destruction of the Temple. Every Passover meal
closes with the prayer and wish, "Next year in Jerusalem." The
importance of Jerusalem to the mind of the Jewish people cannot
be overemphasized:

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cun­
ning. (6) If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
(Psalm 137:5-6)

The Arabs, on the other hand, have incorporated Jerusalem as
one of their Moslem holy sites. During the first century of Moslem
history, in 683 AD, the Moslems took Jerusalem and built the Dome
of the Rock on the Temple Mount, along with the A1 Aksa Mosque.
For over 1,300 years, then, Jerusalem has been sacred to the Arabs.
From their point of view, nothing significant occurred in Jerusalem
before the Moslem era. They actually deny the historicity of Jewish
sovereignty over Jerusalem and worship in the Temple throughout
the Old Testament and New Testament era. Guides are not even
permitted to bring a picture of Herod's Temple on the Temple