After a Qassam rocket explodes in Sderot, the police collect the remnants of the rockets’ containers and store them it turns out that some of them have writing in Arabic on them. The terrorists, before launching the rockets, write “regards” on them to the residents of Israel. When we moved to Sderot about ten years ago, I asked to see the remnants and saw that they had written on them the word القدس (al-Quds) – Jerusalem.

It is clear to every child in Gaza what the war is about. The war is not over territory nor economic resources the war is over Jerusalem!

“Jerusalem” is a play on the root of the word “shalem” complete, whole the recognition that there is perfection, or in other words, there is good in our world!

The war for Jerusalem is actually war between those who believe that good will prevail and are therefore busy building and creating and between those who want to destroy and dream of jihad.

The line of struggle for Jerusalem does not only cross Jews and non-Jews: the prophet Zechariah (14:14) describes, for example, that in the last days “Judah will also wage war against Jerusalem,” i.e., there also will be Jews who will try to damage the whole who will spread weakness and pessimism.

Despite this, “it shall be that all who remain from all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up&hellip to prostrate themselves before the King, the Lord of hosts” (ibid. 16). The line of struggle for Jerusalem crosses each of us within ourselves – whether we choose good or evil. The Jerusalemites choose good.

Happy Jerusalem Day!