Jerusalem Has Always Been The Capital Of Israel, Why Will The US Not Recognize That Fact?

US Lawmakers Call on Obama to Recognize Jerusalem as True Capital of Israel

By Lea Speyer June 16, 2015 , 7:30 am

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“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.” (Psalms 137:5)

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(Photo: The Official White House Photostream/Wikimedia Commons)

Pro-Israel US lawmakers are calling on US President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to officially recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and stop punishing US citizens born in Jerusalem, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The request came days after a US Supreme Court decision to strike down a law allowing Jerusalem-born American’s to write “Israel” as their birthplace on their passports.

In a landmark 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court justices sided with the Obama administration in Zivotovsky v. Kerry, ruling that the congressional law infringed on the president’s power to set foreign policy.

Lawmakers belonging to the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus (CIAC) criticized the decision and lambasted the president’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s official capital.

“The sad and unfortunate truth is that this president has done all he can to diminish the standing since he walked into office,” stated Rep. Ted Franks (R-AZ), co-chairman of the CIAC and who introduced the Recognition of Jerusalem as the Capital of Israel Act.

Due to the fact that Obama “refuses to reflect the unified American voice that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Congress has been placed in the very uncomfortable position of having to confirm to the world who our allies are,” Franks added.

The Arizona lawmaker explained that the goal of the congressional law was to hold Obama to previous statements he’s made that “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

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Franks criticized the president for misleading the American people on his true support for an undivided Jerusalem. He called on the White House to take a “noble act of courage and justice that comports who we are as Americans” and move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) said the Obama administration is punishing American citizens born in Jerusalem.

“Americans born in Jerusalem should be able to list their birthplace as Israel on their passport. It is that simple,” he said. “Jerusalem is the rightful capital of Israel and historic homeland of the Jewish people.”

The Supreme Court’s “ruling doesn’t change the fact that it is wrong for this or any administration to punish U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem this way.”

In an interview with National Public Radio (NPR), Rep. Eliot Engle (D-NY), co-chairman of the CIAC and co-sponsor of the Jerusalem passport law, said the Supreme Court decision is “very, very wrong.”

Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) called for a separation of politics from heritage. “The ability to claim one’s Israel heritage shouldn’t be blocked for political reasons, especially when referencing that heritage is simply an option, not a mandate,” he said.

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/43509/us-lawmakers-obama-stop-punishing-americans-born-jerusalem/#rCIbbyYZ5VYRwhXl.99

Should Those Americans Born In Jerusalem Be Able To Claim Israel As Their Birthplace? Duh. Of Course!

US Supreme Court to Decide Status of Jerusalem

By Lea Speyer October 6, 2014 , 1:16 pm

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“Before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98:9)

The US Supreme Court will examine whether American’s born in Jerusalem can list Israel on their passport. (Photo: Jarek Tuszynski/ Wiki Commons)

The US Supreme Court will decide the fate on whether to recognize Jerusalem as being a part of Israel as part of several new cases to be taken up during its new term, which opens on Monday.

The nine judges on the high court will hear the case of an American born in Jerusalem who wishes to list his birthplace as Israel on his passport.

The case, Zivotofsky v. Kerry, highlights a major dispute between US congress and the president with complex Middle Eastern politics serving as a background.

The case, which is before the Supreme Court for a second time, will call into question the issue of checks and balances – Can the president be the sole authority of US foreign policy or can Congress pass laws overriding the president’s policies?

The first challenge to the passport rule was brought to US courts by parents of an American boy, Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem right after the law was passed. Had he been born in Tel Aviv, the State Department would issue a passport listing Israel as place of birth.

The US does not recognize Jerusalem as belonging under any nation’s sovereignty, saying that the status of Jerusalem should be determined via peace agreements. In 2002, Congress passed a law that says American’s born in Jerusalem should be able to list Israel as their birthplace.

The Obama administration maintains that the law would be viewed as a US endorsement of Israeli control over Jerusalem. The executive branch says that the Congressional law interferes with the president’s right to recognize a foreign country.

Among some of the other cases that will come before the Supreme Court this term are those revolving around housing discrimination, religious discrimination, Facebook threats, and prison beards.