Around 2th millennium BC Melchizedek king of Salem and Abraham smoked the pipe of peace (Gen.14:18) and 3000 years ago King David on that same spot in a lyric mood, writes a poem (psalms 125:2) "Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the lord surrounds his people", meanwhile the mountains are not so vacant anymore and everyone claims to be "Lord's people". David conquered the fertile valley from the Jebusites, settled and build his new capital uniting the 12 tribes of Israel and called it Jerusalem, the city of Salem, Shalom, a peaceful city, at least that was the intention.
There is no doubt that the claim of the people of Israel after thousand years in exile to recognize Jerusalem as capital is legitimized, founded and based on unprecedented written and physical archaeological material which proves that Jerusalem was always the center of Jewish faith after the Jebusites were exterminated or assimilated, long before Christianity or Islam existed. So do we really need a world recognition or an American approval for Jerusalem as our capital? Probably not but it feels always good to get affirmation. The historical claim versus the reality on the ground is a total different issue, for Christians and Muslims Jerusalem became significant at 4th century and 7th Century BC. Christianity do follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ in the holy land and the Islam the revelation of Mohammed receiving his prayers at Al-Quds, Arabic for Jerusalem. Sura 17 made it the third holiest city for Islam. Israel as a democratic free country has the obligation to respect the freedom of religion and does it like no other ruler ever did in history.
Jerusalem is an open minded métropole, where you find Jews Christians and Muslims of all streams, Mormons, Salafis, Messianic Jews etc... working, living and praying in a city we're even a Gay parade is held annually.
The Palestinian exigence for an independent state and part of Jerusalem as capital should not be ignored. The local Arab population in Jerusalem (Palestinians) after losing the war that they and the Arab countries initiated and after rejecting UN resolution 181 which was indeed a Nakba a catastrophe, a wrong decision.
East Jerusalem was conquered by the Jordanians in 1948 and who for 19 years didn't gave a damn about establishing a Palestinian Jerusalem and we all lost an opportunity that could have been a game changer. Most Israelis do support a two state solution. A peaceful Palestinian and Israeli state side by side and Jerusalem perhaps as an open city can be a solution when leadership from all religions will leave behind fundamentalism and call for a march of love, embrace humanism and inshallah peace will come. "May those who love you be at peace" (psalm 122:6).
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