Has the Biblical war against Jerusalem begun?

As you probably know by now, Arab aggression in Jerusalem has escalated dramatically. Attacks against Jews have escalated from ‘a daily problem’ into a form of urban warfare.

For example, in May-June, 2014, before this summer’s 50-day Gaza-Israel war broke out, Arab rioting created some 200 incidents of violence per month. That’s a serious number of incidents, especially in a nation’s capital city. But Israeli authorities chose to down-play that seriousness. According to several sources, Israeli police intervention at the scenes of these attacks was often non-existent. Arab rage festered—and grew stronger--behind a violent curtain of obscurity.

But then, when that 50-day war began, Arab anti-Jew violence jumped—to an average of 5,000 incidents per month (“Mayor Reveals Jerusalem Went from 200 to 5,000 Monthly Attacks”, Arutz Sheva, October 27, 2014). Suddenly, Jews faced a series uprising. The violence wasn’t obscure any longer. Arab rage exploded.

Fortunately—at least, for the moment--most of this Arab violence has been confined to neighbourhoods that are heavily Arab. That means, primarily, East Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem is notable for three reasons.

First, much of Jerusalem’s 310,000+ Arabs live clustered in East Jerusalem.  About half of these Arabs live in neighbourhoods that are 95+ per cent Arab. Meanwhile, there are perhaps 175,000 Jews living in predominately Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem. These Jewish clusters often border Arab clusters. Some of Jerusalem’s Arabs and Jews live in the ancient ‘Old City’ portion of East Jerusalem. Included in the totals above are perhaps 37,000 ‘Old City’ Arab residents and perhaps 3,900 Jewish residents. Most of the Arabs in the ‘Old City’ live in the Arab Quarter; most of the Jews of the ‘Old City’ live in the Jewish Quarter.

The Arab population of East Jerusalem has increased between 40 -50 per cent in the last twelve years. Some say that’s a deliberate increase. Certainly, it’s consistent with the Arabs’ political goals for Jerusalem. They want to claim the Jewish capital as their own. A growing Arab demographic doesn’t hurt that claim.

Second, East Jerusalem is the part of Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority (PA) claims it must have as part of any ‘peace’ agreement with Israel. It claims that Jerusalem must be the capital of its new ‘Palestine’.

Third, East Jerusalem is where Judaism’s holiest place on earth—the Temple Mount—is located. The Temple Mount is a flashpoint for Arab violence.  

Arabs want all of East Jerusalem not just for its capital (they’ve already got an operating seat of government in Ramallah, some 21 kilometres (app 13 miles) north of Jerusalem). They want East Jerusalem because that’s where the Temple Mount is located.

If they get the Temple Mount, they’ll make it Jew-free (“Abbas Calls to Stop Jews Visiting Temple Mount Using ‘All Means’”, Arutz Sheva, October 18, 2014). If they do that, they’ll claim Islamic supremacy; Islam will have conquered Judaism.

The Arabs can smell success in Jerusalem. Their riots demonstrate their power: by now it’s clear that Jews don’t control Arab East Jerusalem.

5,000 attacks against Jews every month (above) are changing Israel. Jews are confused. They’re afraid. Arabs are feasting on that fear and confusion.  

The longer Israeli officials remain confused about what to do, the closer Arab violence gets to spilling over into Jewish sections of Jerusalem. If that happens, this ‘unnamed Intifada’ will change. It’ll no longer be about ‘resisting Israeli aggression’ (“Riots break out across East Jerusalem”, Times of Israel, October 25, 2014). It’ll be about taking over.

Right now, Arab leaders incite to escalate the violence, then accuse Israel of ‘escalating violence’ in Jerusalem. They call for more violent aggression against Jews in Jerusalem, then rush to the UN to accuse Israel of ‘aggression’ in Jerusalem.

The nations of the world sit up when they hear those accusations. They take the Arab seriously. They are disgusted with the Jews. They are almost ready to act against Israel.

If one more Arab dies in these riots, the call may sound to ‘destroy Israel for peace’.  Many will answer that call.

The G-d of Israel has a Story for you. That Story is the unfolding of the Final Jewish Redemption. Arab attacks in Jerusalem are part of that Story. International support for those attacks is part of that Story.

Read your Tanach. Study the commentaries. It’s all there.

Stay tuned. The G-d of Israel won’t disappoint you.