Why does the State Department refuse to allow "place of death" on the death certificate of Ben Blutstein of Pennsylvania - who was killed last July when Arab terrorists bombed a Hebrew University cafeteria - to read, "Jerusalem, Israel"?



Why do the American passports of his children state that they were born in "Jerusalem," without mentioning the country of birth - namely, Israel?



In short, asks David Bedein, a Jerusalem-based investigative journalist of the Israel Resource News Agency, why does the US State Department refuse to recognize that Jerusalem is in Israel?



Bedein notes that the US Consul in Jerusalem, Jeffrey Feldman, asked Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lopolianski last month to end the construction of the Jewish neighborhood of Maaleh Zeitim, next to Mt. of Olives. The mayor politely rejected the American request, explaining that Jerusalem remains in sovereign Israeli territory. The US Consul did not accept that position, Bedein writes.



Interestingly, Arutz-7 has learned that BBC - in its website's Country Profiles section - has decided that Israel does not have a capital at all. Other countries' capital cities are classified, logically, as "capital" - but when it comes to Israel, BBC writes



> "seat of government" instead.



American sources told Bedein that a recent State Department policy directive in favor of a cessation of all Jewish construction in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza) actually includes Jerusalem as well. In short, Bedein writes, "The issue is clear. The US challenges Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem in a direct, unprecedented way... Israel's supporters should demand that the US recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel."



You can read Bedein's article on Arutz-7's Opinion Page.