Praying at the Western Wall, a simple and revolutionary gesture
Il Giornale, May 23, 2017
(Jerusalem) Looking up at the great mystical stones of the Western Wall it’s possible to gaze at the future’s horizon; placing a note with a wish in one of the cracks, initiates a direct line with God Almighty. So, yesterday the American president went there, thus changing the history of the Middle East and perhaps that of the entire world. Because sometimes the game changes suddenly, and the change is inscrutable: winners are cornered, villains are called by their name, and lies are revealed.
It’s not said that all this will truly happen, at least until there’s some kind a positive outcome, but over the lastfew days during Trump's visit to the Middle East the standard “narrative” is being overturned,the assumptions that misled Obama in all his actions: Israel as a constant source of danger, which has to contained both in the Middle East and in the world, and terrorism as an isolated phenomenon that shouldn’t causeeither excessive alarm or reaction. Instead, in Riyadh, Trump urged the Sunnis to “drive out” the terrorists byleading the fight against radicalization in order to give the Muslim world back the honor of being a religion and not an enormous violent sect. More importantly, Obama's losing bet on the ayatollah regime ends, while it’s seen for what it is: a fanatical, imperialist, and fundamentalist country, a supporter of international terrorism, and devoted to the destruction of Israel.
In fact, Trump’s visit to the Western Wall yesterday represented a fundamental strategic choice. For the first time in history, a serving U.S. president ventured to this Jewish holy site during his first official visit abroad and only four months after his election. It’s true, many troubles are currently assailing him, but this has nothing to do with the fact that he’s “an enthusiastic supporter of Israel” as he declared yesterday.
It has been reported that Netanyahu wanted to accompany Trump to the Wall, but that he didn’t want him to because it couldhave been perceived as a sign of America’sacceptance of Israeli sovereignty over the site, which according to the United Nations is still located in thedisputed territories since1967. But there’s no doubt concerning the following: the visit was to the most important Jewish, Israeli site in the world.
During the Six Day War, after an incredible Israeli counterattack against Jordanian forces, Jerusalem was reunited. However, the Western Wall isn’t a monument: it represents the heart and soulof World Jewry, longed for by hundreds of people who believe that’s where monotheism began and subsequently,human history. Jerusalemhas become the symbol of Jewish rebirth and under a unified Jerusalem it’swonderful to see how the city is not only flourishing andvibrant, but also how the three monotheistic religions areable freely worship for the first time in history.
Trump visited the Church of the Holy Sepulcherwith Melania without being accompanied by TVcameras. Then he walked through the alleyways of the Old City to what is called in Hebrew “HaKotelHaMa’aravi,” the Western Wall, i.e. the outside wall of the Great Temple built by King Herod (not that of the massacre) to support the birthplace of the Jewish faith, a wonder of the world, where Jesus also went during the pilgrimage festivals as God commanded the Israelites to do. Today, as we know, there are two great mosques at the Temple Mount, but theWestern Wall has polished stones because of all thekisses and caresses Jews have given it throughout the centuries. Arriving at Kotel, Trump was greeted by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and Western Wall Heritage Foundation director Mordechai Eliav.
A thoroughly Jewish visit: no one in the world can really believe that the most sacred place in the world for Jews is “occupied” or “contested.” Saying this is a way of supporting UNESCO's madness, which has declared it as exclusivelybelonging toMuslim heritage. Moreover, it contradicts the Bible, the Gospels, Tacitus's Histories, Flavius Josephus, the bas-reliefs of the Arch of Titus, andmoreover, conventional wisdom. Trump certainly has enormous problems at home, but this journey has brought a breath of fresh air thanks to his relaxed, diplomatic and reassuring gestures and body language.
To the Palestinians, with whom he’llbe meetingwith today, Trump would do well to speakrealistically and not about their dream of seeing Israelabandoning its security by leaving the West Bank and even Jerusalem. Jerusalem has given Jews the strength to survivethroughout millennia despite exile and persecution. Trump's gesture is a revolutionary one, as is the fact that he visited the Saudis and offered them and the rest of the Arab world not only a solid alliance against terrorism, but also againstIran. The two things are linked and perhaps, who knows, they can devise a new peace process based on the common battle against terrorism. Today, the story continues.
Translation by Amy K. Rosenthal