Coming: International Control of Jerusalem?

While the court of world opinion wishes to internationalize Jerusalem, many Israelis are absolutely determined to resist such a move.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly stated: "Israel could not under any circumstances negotiate over any aspect of Jerusalem, anymore than Americans would negotiate over Washington . . . The notion that Jerusalem will be redivided is sheer fantasy."

Yet he acknowledged that "it is not only the Arabs who cling to this fantasy. In practically every foreign ministry in the West, including the U.S. State Department, there are maps that do not include East Jerusalem as a part of a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty" (A Place Among the Nations, 1993, p. 346).

Still, even under the overseeing Jewish umbrella, in some vital respects the city remains divided. Author Bernard Wasserstein described the situation in Jerusalem in 2001, a situation that has only grown worse since.

". . . In many ways Jerusalem . . . is divided more than ever. Walls and fences were beginning to appear between Jewish and Arab districts. Jewish taxi-drivers were reluctant to take passengers to destinations in Arab neighbourhoods. Israeli ambulance drivers would go into Arab districts only if accompanied by security forces. The [outside] Palestinian Authority's Governor of the Jerusalem District was reported to be exercising effective authority in the Arab community" (Divided Jerusalem, 2002, p. 359).

Israeli writer and intellectual Amos Elon adds: "For the most part, the two main communities, Palestinians and Israelis, still work and live apart from one another, in separate quarters, much as though the city were still divided by minefields and barbed wire" (Jerusalem: City of Mirrors, 1996, p. 47).

The struggle for the Holy City and the divisive issue of Jerusalem's status still awaits a resolution.

Will the Vatican eventually offer its services to bring a peace settlement? It's interesting to note that between 1948 and 1967 the papacy showed little interest in the fortunes of Jerusalem. That suddenly changed when the Jews took control of the city in the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War.

In September 2000, Pope John Paul II urged that Jerusalem be governed under international protective bodies. "The history and present reality of interreligious relation in the Holy Land is such that no just and lasting peace is foreseeable without some form of support of the international community." Perhaps he meant the Vatican in conjunction with the United Nations and the European Union.

Some are calling for exactly this type of "solution," internationalizing the city and bringing in outside military forces to keep the peace. In recent years the European Union, the Vatican, Russia and the Palestinians themselves have all called for just such a solution.

Curiously, this meshes surprisingly well with Bible prophecy, which foretells that Jerusalem will again come under the domination of non-Jews shortly before Jesus Christ's return (Luke 21:24-28; Revelation 11:2).

The real resolution, however, awaits the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will then rescue the downtrodden, history-burdened city. Only then will Jerusalem gain its biblically intended role as a font of light, glory and truth. GN