In a letter to the Security Council, the Palestinian Authority representative to the United Nations recently addressed a letter of complaint against the State of Israel, saying that "for the past fifty-two years there has been an illegal occupation in Jerusalem that causes suffering and distress among the Palestinian people."
He also called on Council members to promote activities for what he called "the independence of his people in the State of Palestine whose capital is East Jerusalem."
Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon responded to the allegations in a letter he sent to Kuwaiti Ambassador to the United Nations Mansur al-Otayevi, who is Security Council President this month, explaining to him the eternal connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish People.
"Since the days of King David 3,000 years ago, the Jews had always lived in, built, and defended the Holy City. Generation after generation the Jews kept their presence in Jerusalem. When the Arabs rejected the UN resolution in 1947, they attacked the Jewish Quarter and expelled the Jewish population and for nineteen years the Old City was separated from its western neighborhoods. Only in 1967, when Israel overcame another Arab attempt to harm the Jewish State, did Israel succeed in reuniting Jerusalem and liberating it.
"For the past 52 years, Jerusalem has been a city that protects the right of all worshipers of all faiths to pray in peace," Danon concluded, adding that "the time has come for the international community to recognize that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel."