Today is the anniversary of Jerusalem being united and Jews being able to return to our holy places. It's the first time for be to be in Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day. Special. Tonight it was really festive in my synagogue. Singing the special Hallel set of prayers with musical instruments and spontaneous dancing. I just wish that I didn't have to go to work tomorrow so that I could party all night.
I much prefer thr 9th of December, the day that the Australian Light Horse liberated Jeruselum from the Turks in 1917. (PS It wasn't Lawrence and his gang of thugs despite the propaganda that followed). For a completely unvarnished outsider's account of what the country was like in the pre-Balfour days try and get hold of "The Desert Column" by Ion Idress an Australian lighthorseman who kept a diary of his time in the war.
It wasn't my intention to make this political, but that may be unavoidable. A big difference between now and then is that the Mufti isn't in charge to make deals with people like Hitler.
I'm talking about the war before that one. The politics I was alluding to are colonial era British Empire politics.