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Community groups condemn plans to "celebrate" illegal annexation of Jerusalem

February 27, 2014 at 10:20 am

Plans by Zionist organisations in Britain to celebrate the anniversary of Israel’s illegal annexation of Jerusalem have been condemned by a number of organisations concerned about the status of the city holy to Christians and Muslims as well as Jews. The celebration event is scheduled for 11 May in London and is due to be addressed by Benny Begin, a member of Israel’s parliament and a senior minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. According to Mr. Begin, “Jerusalem must remain under the exclusive sovereignty of the State of Israel… We must be constantly on the alert against ideas of internationalisation.”


Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights after the Six Day War in 1967 and, against international law, annexed Jerusalem the year after. It claims the Holy City exclusively as the “undivided capital of Israel”, a status not recognised by the international community. In 1980 United Nations Resolution 478 denied Israel’s claim to East Jerusalem and instructed member states to withdraw their diplomats from the city. The UN Security Council, with U.S. support, declared the Israeli annexation of greater Jerusalem as “null and void,” the same language used in reference to Iraq’s takeover of Kuwait.

The declaration of independence of the State of Israel claims that the state will uphold and protect the holy places of all faiths and allow freedom of worship for all. However, Israel’s aggressive “Judaisation” policies in Jerusalem, which have seen Palestinian homes demolished and citizens expelled in what has been called “ethnic cleansing”, are accompanied by oppressive restrictions on Christians and Muslims wishing to worship in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Al-Aqsa Mosque respectively.

Begin, the son of the late former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (who was wanted in this country for terrorist acts committed in Palestine during the British Mandate period), peddles the myth of an exclusive biblical Jewish right to Jerusalem although its holy sites are revered by millions of Christians and Muslims as well as Jews. “We all know that no other nation or religion has a better claim to Jerusalem than we do,” he told Israel National News in February this year.

This myth and dogma obsesses Zionist organisations in Britain, including Likud-Herut UK, One Jerusalem, the Jewish National Fund, the Zionist Federation, Ner Yisrael Community and the Hendon United Synagogue, which are behind the celebration in London on May 11.
Critics, including Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (UK), say that this “celebration” of illegal activity demonstrates that the Zionist groups “care nothing for the actual residents of Jerusalem, Palestinian or Israeli”.

The following organisations have signed the condemnation statement:

Action Palestine
Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine
Friends of Al-Aqsa
Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions – UK
Jews Against Zionism
Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods
Jews for Justice for Palestinians
King College London Action Palestine
Liberal Democrat Friends of Palestine
Muslim Public Affairs Committee
Neturei Karta
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign