By Marney Blom
It is hard to imagine a 3000-year-old city on the chopping blocks as an attempt to secure lasting peace in the region.
In Israel today there are strong voices opposing the partition of Jerusalem.
Former Israeli Prime Minister and current Likud Party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu said, “If you want the peace of Jerusalem, keep Jerusalem united under Israel.
“If you want to break that peace – not only locally but internationally – amid the three great faiths, then proceed with what apparently is being done right now. They are carving up Jerusalem.”
Former Israeli counsel general of New York City Ehud Danoch said that the vast majority of the Jews in Israel would never want to see any separation in Jerusalem. “(The Jews of Israel) would never want to see our capital being separated or divided. God forbid.”
The sounds of opposition to the division of the holy city and hopes for a lasting peace are not only coming from right wing politicians, but from a chorus of Christian friends of Israel around the globe.
This year’s annual Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem attracted up to 50 million participants worldwide. As a crowd of 700 gathered on Jerusalem’s Haas Promenade, about 200,000 churches in more than 175 nations joined their prayers with tens of millions of viewers through GodTV’s live Internet broadcast.
“Bible believing Christians are not cut off from this city or this land or this people,” said Rev. Robert Stearns, Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem co founder. “We have a debt of gratitude and a responsibility of solidarity with the people of this land and we take that very seriously.”
Rabbi Jeffrey Kahn, a recent American immigrant to Israel, was encouraged by the event. “I think it sends a very powerful and strong message of love and support … that we are not here all alone; that we have many good friends outside of Israel, especially in the Christian world.”
“And we’re talking after all about the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” continued former Israeli counsel general Danoch. “And to see the strength of 200,000 churches – not people, churches – communities praying for the strength of Jerusalem, it is something that strengthens the heart of every Israeli.”
Messages of hope, prayers for peace and celebrations of joy and dance made it an extraordinary rally for prayer.
Jerusalem Pavilion Prayer Tower prayer coordinator Hilda Chen said the Father’s heart was being moved forward for His Kingdom to come. “It will greatly impact Jerusalem today. There will be a shift in the (heavens) today, as God’s Spirit will be poured out in this city.
“(The Day of Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem) will prepare the way in another dimension for (God) to take ruler-ship and ownership of this city.”
“And I want to announce in this hallowed spot in Jerusalem in the Haas Promenade, my beloved friends and partners,” said founder of the Center for Jewish-Christian Cooperation and Understanding in Efrat, Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Risken to an exuberant crowd of 700, “we are the united nations. Together not only will we survive, we will prevail.”
In a city renowned for centuries of conflict, the picture of Christian, Jewish and Arab Palestinian representation standing unified in prayer sent a powerful message of hope for the future and for the peace of the Jerusalem.
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