FORGOTTEN WARRIOR -- Twice In One Day

By:  Resa LaRu Kirkland

***This is the much, much, much longer version of the article posted at the WASHINGTON TIMES -- woot! -- This Memorial Day Weekend, 2011.  Tell everyone!***

When you have stories like that of Richard Rowland Kirkland hanging from your family tree, you understand the importance of justice and doing right for no other reason than it is right.  Hard to ignore a life that spawned statues, paintings, books, organizations, and, as of last year, a movie.  His acts of valor in our North vs. South war are worthy of every accolade.

He was not forgotten.  In fact, he has reached legend status.

  Painting honoring Richard Rowland Kirkland

One of the things that had always gotten to me the most were his final words:  "Save yourselves, men, and tell Pa I died right."

 How does one “die right?”  I thought I understood after reading Richard’s story and that old saying, “A hero dies once, but a coward dies 1000 deaths.”  I came to know it even better thanks to another “Richard” whose North vs. South war came later, but whose story is barely a footnote in history, in spite of its unique magnificence.

I would come to realize that this stranger, too, died right…twice…in the same day.

                                                    Statue honoring Richard Rowland Kirkland

So it was this ancestral foundation that had primed me for that warm summer night in 1991 when I perused my dad’s old scrapbook on a peaceful Sunday and was introduced to that other “Richard,” the one I’d never heard of.

But my dad had known him.  That night I, too, met his best friend, PFC Ricardo Carrasco, when I carefully opened a yellowed Reader's Digest article from the November 1959 issue, penned by Hollywood “Starmaker” Hal Wallis. The title across the yellowing article read The Movie Star You Never Saw.  

That’s how it all began. 
People are always wanting to know why I’ve pursued this story across two decades now.  Well, I’m not sure I’m wise enough to answer such a simply complicated question, but I love a challenge and will at least make the attempt.

One would think that Ricardo’s story would be explanation enough. I agree; however, it sat for forty years collecting dust and slowly fading from memories. This disturbed me greatly. How could so perfect, so beautiful a sacrifice be forgotten?

Why?

I came to find out that it was forgotten because the full story had never been known in the first place. The truth of it was more stunning, more inspiring than anything man could have imagined.

                                                  Ricardo Carrasco,1952 High School graduation

Ricardo Carrasco arrived in Korea and landed on Old Baldy Hill in late March, 1953, just in time to join Company "A" of the 32nd Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division in a battle extraordinaire against Chinese Communist Forces on Old Baldy Hill. Baldy and its sister, the infamous Pork Chop Hill, would be his world for the next three months.

He was 19, and had lived all of his life in El Paso, TX. Ricardo Carrasco and Robert Talmage Kirkland were best friends from the time they met at Davey Crockett Elementary School in September, 1945 until graduation from Stephen F. Austin High School, El Paso, TX, in May, 1952. Both joined the military – Robert in the Navy and Ricardo in the Army – and intended to make it a career.

Lucky for them we were at war again.

Born during the depression and raised during WWII, Ricardo and Robert would cut their teeth on this first war against communism. Ricardo was the sixth of eight kids, and had wanted to be a career soldier like those men he had so admired in the newsreels of WWII. He received a terrible blow when he learned he could not be part of his beloved 82nd Airborne as he’d always dreamed; he was slightly nearsighted, and with no particular skills, was assigned to the infantry.

He was cocky at boot camp, his letters gently teasing friends back home for not volunteering like he had. But his first day in Korea knocked the macho right out of him. His letters home now begged friends not to join up, and he grew to despise Korea. Oh, he liked the people, and the Republic Of Korea (ROK) soldiers, but he was restless with the fear of failing his “fellahs,” as he would refer to them, terrified and a million miles from those he loved.

What happened next should have been a Godsend – a big old, silver-screen, Hollywood-in-its-heyday Godsend. For while Ricardo was fighting, his future was actually unfolding back home in a remarkable way.

                                                  Owen Crump, Director/Writer of CEASE FIRE!

Director Owen Crump knew war. He had filmed much of WWII in the Army Air Corps and was a full-bird by the end of the war. However, something about this new war ate at him, and he finally realized what it was. They weren’t showing the war from the viewpoint of the ones who matter the most:  the American soldier.

He wanted to do just that, but wasn’t sure how. His inspiration came in the form of a newspaper article written by Scripps-Howard war correspondent Jim Lucas. One simple line would inspire an entire movie:  "It was a quiet day on the front with limited patrol action."

Knowing war as he did, Crump knew there was no such thing as a "quiet day" for front-line soldiers. He wondered how those front-liners would write that line, and decided to do it for them. He had a revolutionary idea.

Paramount Pictures Producer Hal Wallis

Crump approached Paramount Pictures producer Hal Wallis for help. He pitched his idea for the first movie ever filmed entirely on the front lines of a war. It would be in black and white to give it a documentary feel. Every soldier would be played by--of all things--a real front-line solder. No actors for this movie. Every explosion, every bullet would be the real, government-issued thing. Wallis loved the idea, and sent Crump and a skeletal crew to Korea to pick their men for the movie’s plot.

The movie was to be set on the last day of the war. A squad of 14 men, knowing that the cease fire would be declared that night, must take a hill and set up an observation post. The men are ordered to set up an observation post on Red Top Hill … a "movie" hill that was loosely based on the infamous Pork Chop. These are the most intense, most frightening moments of any war:  the cease fire was to go into effect that night, that frightening time in war when the decision has been made and the actual cease fire goes into effect, when fighting continues and men die, just inches from the finish line. 

It is one of many heartbreaking aspects of war:  the anguish of coming so close to the end, then dying anyway.  Crump wanted the world to know the loss. To drive home this point, one of the Americans in the fiction movie would die within hours of that cease fire.
One of the men that the audience would come to know and care about would die in the effort.

The agony of dying in the last hours of the war summed up in 80 minutes. Wallis loved it.



So it was that in mid-June 1953, Crump walked among the frontline troops, choosing each soldier, 13 Americans and one ROK, who would be a part of the fictional "Easy Patrol." Every "actor," every uniform, every bullet, every explosion was the real Government Issue thing. No fake Hollywood stunts for this film.  The 14 GI's-turned-actors were whisked off to the War Correspondent's building in Seoul, where they slept in real beds, ate dinner at tables with linen cloths and waiters, and had all the cigars and whiskey they wanted. Raised on John Wayne and World War II, these men knew the double excitement of being a movie star and getting out of the hell of war. Everyone there knew that the cease fire was only a few days away – the summer would out-live the fighting.

Roberto Carrasco, left, and his favorite brother Ricardo, early 1953

Among those chosen was PFC Ricardo Carrasco. He would be the American to die in the movie in those final hours of active war.

The movie would eventually be named Cease Fire!

Ricardo was livid at being chosen for the movie, but it was written up as a TDY, so he obeyed and went. He’d been squad leader when Crump had informed him of his new assignment, and he worried incessantly about his men.  He would be plagued by thoughts of them for the remainder of his Hollywood experience.

It was mid-June, 1953, when filming of Paramount Pictures’ Cease Fire! began, and everyone knew the summer would out-live this war. It was over. All but one reveled in the deliciousness of their incredible turn of events; Ricardo could scarcely bare it. The 19-year-old from Texas was quiet – moodier than his comrades, and every day he would ask the same question: "When can I go back to my fellahs?"

Ricardo knew of the Chinese desire to take Pork Chop, where he had been fighting, and their habit of nighttime attacks. Every morning at the War Correspondents Building in Seoul he would run to a reporter and ask if the Chinese had attacked Pork Chop yet. Every night his prayers were the same: Please, God. Please don’t let the Chinese attack before I can get back.

Pork Chop Hill, where Ricardo would see most of his fighting

So far, he had been "lucky"--at least in his way of thinking. He knew that hill, and he knew the horror. The thought of his "fellahs," as he called them, fighting and dying while he was getting the star treatment sickened him. He felt that he was shirking his duties, letting down his friends. The war had become for Ricardo what it becomes for all good men: it was no longer about freedom, America, or even the damned hill--it was about his love for his friends. He could never live with himself if one of them died in his place or because he wasn’t there to help.

His love over-ruled his fear.

Ricardo, far right, in scene from Cease Fire!

The rumors of Chinese amassing around Pork Chop were flying as the filming began. Every day Ricardo begged Crump to "kill" his character off so he could get back to his fellahs. Every day Crump told him they weren’t ready to film that scene yet.

The other soldier/actors puzzled over this quiet, moody young man who had the opportunity of a lifetime. They loved this life! Good food served to them on tablecloths, by waiters no less, plenty of booze, and no one trying to kill them. They were as puzzled by Private Carrasco as Crump.

Scene from movie, checking for mines

Ricardo continued to pester the director, who firmly reminded him that he was to obey his orders. Crump liked the kid, but couldn’t reckon him. Maybe he loved the battle and terror, or maybe he was bucking for a promotion or a medal. Or maybe it was like he said; that his friends, his “fellahs,” were up there.

Then came Hal Wallis, ready to prove his nickname once again.

Hal Wallis autobiography,appropriately named

Crump figured the Carrasco problem would be solved one day in early July when he received a wire from producer Hal Wallis. Wallis had seen the first rushes of the and had been so impressed by one young man in particular that he wanted Crump to get the boy to sign a contract with Paramount. Wallis knew a star when he saw one. In fact, in Hollywood he was referred to as "The Starmaker"; everyone he’d ever tagged to be a star had become one. And now he had Ricardo Carrasco pegged as the next star he would mold and create.

Crump grinned as he ordered Ricardo aside from the other men. As he explained that Hal Wallis wanted to make the young man a star, he held his breath and waited for the reaction: a yelp, weak knees, all the color draining from his face…something to indicate his shock and excitement. But Ricardo stood still, the only movement being that of his head slightly lowering. Crump furrowed his brow, but before he could say anything, Ricardo spoke.

"No thank you, sir.  Actually, I was hoping you could kill me off in the next day or two."
                                                                                                                                        
Now it was Crump who lost all color. He asked for an explanation. How could this kid turn down such an incredible offer from the most powerful producer in Hollywood, the man who had produced Casablanca, Gunfight at the OK Corral, and even the delightful Martin and Lewis comedies? And how the hell was he supposed to tell Wallis?

 
At first Ricardo skirted the question, simply saying that it was time to get back and they didn’t really need him here to make the movie, even though his part was a pivotal one. Crump could see that it was something else, and finally pried it out of the boy. Why did he want his character killed ahead of schedule? Why was he turning down once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to go back and fight in a war that would be over in a matter of days now? Why had he nagged the director from day one to get back to the mud and the digging and the fighting and the dying?

 Why?

Ricardo’s voice was low and husky. After an eternity, he raised his head up and looked the director in the eye. He just had to go back. Crump had to let him go back. The director was angry now. Was the kid a martyr? Why was he beating a dead horse? 

The "Why?" had to be answered, but Ricardo’s explanation would do little to quell his angst and frustration with this odd young man.

He told Crump that the men at the front were under his command. There was no hiding the tenderness he felt toward those men, or the responsibility. He pleaded with the director to let him go back and help his friends in the final battle he knew was brewing on Pork Chop. That was infinitely more important to him than a movie. The respect and safety of his fellahs meant so much more. He could not bear the thought of them up there, fighting and dying, while he was back in a safety zone being treated like royalty. It was not right.

Crump and Carrasco argued for the next hour. The director finally gave up and dismissed the private. He wired back to Hal Wallis that his offer had been declined.

Movie scene, racing up "Red Top Hill"

Wallis was furious. He’d never been turned down before, especially not by a punk kid on some glory kick! But after he calmed down, he decided that since the war was going to be over soon, he’d give the boy a chance to serve his country and fulfill his sense of obligation; then he’d bring him home and make him Audy Murphy.

The young, lone private continued to ask the director to kill him off, in spite of that scene being about two weeks away from shooting. Crump finally gave up. They began shooting his death scene that same week, and finished the close-ups on the morning of July 6. Ricardo was enormously relieved when he learned that the Chinese had not yet made the rumored attack on Pork Chop, but he knew his luck would not hold for long. So that very afternoon he insisted on going back. Fellow actor Otis Wright drove the jeep, cussing Ricardo out the whole way for being a "damned fool." But Ricardo was quiet, only smiling or nodding his head, occasionally speaking of his mother, the coming football season and El Paso athletics, his friends back home. They arrived in the late afternoon; Ricardo turned to wave goodbye over his shoulder. His "luck" had held; he was back with his men before the final assault. He let out a sigh of relief. He’d made it back in time…but barely.

Ricardo's original death scene, later removed by Owen Crump out of repsect for the Carrasco family and re-shot at Paramount, using an extra

After darkness fell, Chinese Communist Forces began the final attack on Pork Chop Hill. It was brutal, and the cost for it would be high. So high, in fact, that American military leaders made a moral decision to pull off on July 10, only four days later.

It would not be in time for Ricardo. At about 2330 that night of July 6, a scant 12 hours after wrapping up his movie death, a mortar round took out the left side of his head, wrapping up his life, his "reel" death and his "real" only hours apart.

 Not many men can say they died twice in one day.  PFC Ricardo Carrasco can.

The trench on Pork Chop Hill where Ricardo gave all

I don’t know what happened that night. Oh, I have the casualty report and some documentation. But what has made the past 20 years of research into this story so agonizing is that I’ve yet to find anyone who knew Ricardo and was with him that night. I must find someone. I must know if his going back made any difference to them that night. More importantly, I want them to know what Ricardo sacrificed to be there for them.

Through my research and tracking down men (It took 5 years to find them all), and getting a copy of the never-released movie from Paramount's legal department (It took two years of almost weekly faxes and snail mail from 1992-1994 before I wearied them enough to give me a copy!), I have been astonished to learn that none of his fellow temporary thespians knew that he had been offered that contract from Wallis. I’m willing to bet that the men for whom he sacrificed such an opportunity do not know just how much he gave up to be there with them that night. I’ll bet they don’t know that he didn’t have to be there that night, wasn’t supposed to be there that night, and had nagged and pestered and "killed" himself off early so he could be there that night. I’ll bet they don’t know the eeriness of him dying in both "reel" life and "real" life, on the very same day. I’ll bet they don’t know that he did what he did out of his love and concern for them.

I’ll bet they don’t know why.

Some of the cast of CEASE FIRE! with Mr and Mrs. Bob Hope at the LA Premiere

"Cease Fire!" came out in November of 1953 with its all- soldier cast. Most of the men were flown to the New York and Los Angeles premieres in high style. They appeared on Ed Sullivan and the Gary Moore Show. But Ricardo was rarely mentioned. Out of respect for the Carrasco family, Crump re-shot the death scene later using an extra. He knew that watching her son die on the screen would be too much for Mrs. Carrasco to bear. He also edited Ricardo out of as many places as he could in the film, but his part was too important. He could not be totally eliminated.

Mrs. Carrasco took it hard. In one of his last letters home discussing the making of the movie, Ricardo had written a line that now seemed ominous and foreboding: "Don’t worry when you see me die, Mom, it’s only acting." Her heart broke, and 18 months later, she, too died. She was only 47, two years older than I am now.

Paramount would be there to film Gen. Mark Clark signing the armistice only 21 days after Ricardo died. At one of their last meals together, the cast and crew of "Cease Fire!" raised their glasses to "the one who isn’t here." He was rarely mentioned thereafter.

Why?

Why would he go back to fight in a war that was over anyway? He had been under orders; no one would have thought less of him. In fact, no one had expected him back before the end of the war. They assumed when he was chosen in mid-June that he would be gone the rest of the summer. So why did he go back to fight in a war that was almost over, however tenuous that ending might be? Why would God allow one such as Ricardo to give up so much, but have his sacrifice virtually unknown by the very ones for whom he did everything?

I’ve pondered that long and hard myself.

Why?

I once listened with great interest to a man explain his interpretation of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. The question had been posed: If God is omniscient, then he knew what Abraham would do. He knew this faithful son loved Him more than even his own long-promised son, and would give him up at his Father’s command. Then why the test at all? Why did God ask Abraham to do what He already knew he would do?

Why?

Then came the answer that to me seemed so perfect, so beautiful in its simplicity that it had to be right. God had to prove to Abraham just how strong he was. It wasn’t that God doubted Abraham’s capability…it was that being mortal, Abraham doubted himself. Abraham had to know what Abraham could do. Like everything God does, it was not for His benefit, but for ours. I loved it! This is so very characteristic of our Father in Heaven…to show us, weak as we are, that we have within the seeds of godhood, Deity’s DNA. That we are capable of turning evil that we do or that is done against us into something divine is what makes us most like God; a "God Moment," as I often call magnanimous acts of mere mortal men.

This analogy is the warrior spirit defined. I have always felt that man is at his most spiritual when he is at war. Now this puzzles many who have heard me say this. Surely war is an evil, murderous event in our existence for which we are punished by God, right? How can it then also be good?

Why?

I have been studying the men of the Korean War for twenty years now. These valiant servants of both God and man hesitate to speak of what they’ve seen, what they’ve done. I have seen their tears, slow and trembling on the edge of graying eyelashes, slipping down care-worn cheeks as they recount their tales of war. I have strained to hear their voices, so low with the agony of this cross they bear. Many of their tears are for the brutality and horror inherent in war…the dead and mangled bodies of beloved friends, boys barely old enough to shave now forever frozen in time, never aging another moment in the memories of those who watched them die.

But what has touched me most is their anguish at what they hesitate to share…and that is the memories of what that war forced them to do. These gentle men, who lovingly cup the face of a child or make love with tenderness and sincerity to the woman they adore, sob over the clear and unforgiving images of those they were forced to kill. It is the memories of these long gone screams, these tears, this enemy pain that often haunt them most as the years go by. For all of the hatred and anger they may have felt against the enemy, it is still a hard thing to kill another man. However they may have understood the need to kill the enemy, the need to win the war, the price they pay is still the greatest to bear. They did what they had to do, and would do it again if faced with it, but the price such action exacts from a tender soul is no small thing.

This is a most glorious testament to manhood and the warrior spirit…that they bear this arduous burden with quiet dignity so those they love won’t have to. The beauty of this selfless act leaves me in awe. I have long understood the willingness to die for a friend…after all, that is the epitome of what Christ did, whose life we strive to emulate.  He died that we might live.  But those who must live with the memories not only of dead friends but butchered enemies are the closest we, as weak, wretched beings born into this veil of tears, can ever come to knowing what Christ bore. The memories of war are the price that the good man pays; it is out of his deep love for others that he spares them this particular agony.  
It is not a choice made lightly, but once made, it is set in stone forever. In my 20 years of interviewing hundreds of veterans, I have found this commonality:  my beloved warrior brothers feel that the real heroes died over there.  But I submit to you that their moment of agony was short. Now they are free and know all the answers, the why’s and wherefores. I do not intend to diminish or dishonor the glory of what they gave—and gave up—for their friends at all.  They’ve earned their crown.

But it is those who must live the next several decades with the torment of memories – you are my heroes, because you bear the awful burden every day so I won’t have to. There is no love like it – no gift more precious – and we have too often treated you poorly for your priceless gift. I am so sorry … you deserved better. You deserved a return at the very least equal to what you gave us, what you gave up for us, for most people are willing to give for a friend.  The true mark of charity is in what you’re willing to give up for a friend, a stranger, or even, as in Richard’s case, a suffering enemy.    

I have yet to measure up to what they gave, yet to suffer, yet to deserve. The thought that a mere mortal boy could be offered the greatest human acknowledgment known to flesh in the form of fame, fortune and power, and turn it down for war, terror, blood and death is an exact similitude of the sacrifice that saved us all when our perfect Brother gave up everything.  The warrior is the only mortal I've ever known who even comes close to comparing to the gift that saved humanity. It isn't that they are perfect – it is that in spite of their own personal weaknesses, they achieve a type of selfless sacrifice that can only compare to the gift God Himself gave the world.

The Korean War Veterans who went on to live instead of dying on that distant soil are acutely aware of such suffering. They came home to nothing--no "Thank you’s", no recognition--just nothingness. America acted as if the Korean War had never happened, in spite of it being the only war from the twentieth century that is still being waged. This was unimaginable to these men who had seen WWII and the honor bestowed upon their fathers, their older brothers, or even themselves. Their homeland wouldn’t even give them the decorum of calling their campaign a war. And yet it is a direct result of what they gave--and gave up--for what they believed and for those they loved that made possible my own existence. I sit and write today because of what they stood and gave yesterday.

Is the soldier man at his most base animal or most spiritual God? Is it the monster coming out in us, or the Deity weaving its way in?

This is what I see when I look into the eyes of our warrior brethren. Thrown into the most horrifying concoction of man’s inhumanity to man, it is the fact that these mortals are capable of such unselfish, beautiful acts of humanity--no, Divinity--that reaches the heart and soul of those left behind in a dust-cloud of wonder. Of all God’s children, surely He must relate to and glory over the American soldier.  God bless the warrior, and forgive our treatment of them. Their vigilance is our only hope, for in the course of awful, painful, heartbreaking, glorious human events, they make the stands that save the souls.

Why?

Greatest of all warriors on earth, the American soldier is capable of fighting fiercely, loving gently, living nobly, and forgiving totally. These are not the war-mongers that the Hippy Press, feminists and Hollywood have tried desperately to portray; these are gentle, loving creatures who want nothing more than to be free to go on living and loving. It is this desire that enables our brothers to choose to step out of their own selfish tendencies on behalf of another.

Why?

Just like with Abraham, God was showing Ricardo just how good, how magnificent he truly was capable of becoming. God was willing to sacrifice His son because He knew there were good men out there like Abraham and Ricardo--and most good soldiers--and He wanted them back with Him.

They know what life is all about.  Richard summed it up when his last words were for his dad.  Ricardo summed it up with these final words for his mother, written in his last letter home:  “Don’t worry when you see me die in the movie, Mom.  It’s not real.”  

They know how to live worthy and “die right;” sometimes, more than once.

Whether it requires dying for a friend or living with the memories, the order of the day for the American soldier is and always has been that of sacrifice. For them, "life, fortune, and sacred honor" are not only words. They know this meaning by their wounded hearts; no one has to tell them why.

Keep the faith, bros, in all things courage, and no substitute for VICTORY.

CAST OF "CEASE FIRE"

 
  

Lt. Thompson – Capt. Roy Thompson 

Sgt. Goszkowski – Cpl. Henry Goszkowski

   












Elliott – Sgt. Richard Karl Elliott(No pic uploaded yet)

"One Ton" – SPC Albert Bernard Cook

  

Mayes – Pvt. Johnnie Lee Mayes

  

   


 

Kim – Bong Chul Pak

Strait (Radio Man) – SPC Howard E. Strait

"Bad News" – Pfc. Gilbert L. Gazaille (No Pic uploaded yet)

Hofelich (Wounded Boy) – Pfc. Harry Hofelich

  











 

Owen – Cpl. Charlie W. Owen

Pruchniewski – Cpl. Edmund G. Pruchniewski

 










 



Wright – Pvt. Otis Wright (No Pic uploaded yet)

Carrasco (KIA) – Pfc. Ricardo Carrasco

  

WASHINGTON FREAKIN' TIMES ONLINE TODAY, PRINT EDITION ON MONDAY!

...And it only took 20 years!   

On Monday I will post the longer, more detailed version that includes dozens of gorgeous black and white pics, so come back or I'll find you. Please follow the link to the article, and feel free to LIKE it and leave a comment, maybe share it with a few hundred friends...

KIRKLAND: Killed in Korea twice in one day;  A forgotten warrior dies rather than leave his ‘fellahs’ at the front

“Warchick” Resa LaRu Kirkland to join The Conservative Diva on BTR

Please join Diva Ellen and me tomorrow night — Friday, May 27 at 8 p.m. Eastern as we welcome military historian, Tea Party activist, Islammunism expert and one of the driving forces behind the effort to release the film, The Path to 9/11, Resa LaRu Kirkland on The Conservative Diva on Blog Talk Radio.

The driven, dedicated and determined Kirkland is also an accomplished author, whose recent Kindle release Vision, I featured on our blog. Her intrepid articles and blog posts have also appeared on prominent rightwing sites including Liberty Pundits and well as on her own blog America’s Warchick.

We will talk with Resa about her important work and welcome you to call in with your questions at 619-639-4605. Please tune in tomorrow night for The Conservative Diva with Resa LaRu Kirkland!

WARCHICK on #writestream with Daria DiGiovanni May 26, 2011, 8 am Pacific 11 am Eastern!

THE INCOMPARABLE AND INEXHAUSTIBLE DARIA DIGIOVANNI'S WRITESTREAM TALK SHOW WILL FEATURE THE LATEST WARCHICK ENTERPRISES PRODUCTION, FICTION BOOK VISION, ON TOMORROW'S SHOW...DON'T MISS IT, WARCHICK KNOWS WHERE YOU LIVE!

From her awesome blog, she flatters me so (isn't she just adorable?):

Please join me this Thursday, May 26 at 11 a.m. Eastern as I welcome author and military historian Resa LaRu Kirkland to the Writestream author chat! Resa, whose articles have appeared in a variety of prominent websites and on her own Warchick Blog recently released her first book — a psychological thriller called Vision, under the pen name Aubrey Talmage.

Additionally, Resa created a complementary book trailer for Vision, an effort I plan to discuss with her at length, knowing how popular these trailers have become in the marketing of a novel. Check it out here: Vision Trailer.

We’ll discuss Resa’s first novel, her forthcoming “Forgotten Warrior” series and her thoughts on the publishing industry. As always, we welcome your calls at 909-362-8228 and your participation in live twitter chat using #Writestream. Please join us for Writestream on Blog Talk Radio on Thursday, May 26 at 11 a.m. Eastern!

You heard Daria...march to!

Let there be NO doubt where I stand

A re-run from 2003...worth repeating!

WHY I PROUDLY WEAR THE STAR OF DAVID
By:  Resa LaRu Kirkland

I stand with Israel. I said it, I mean it and I don't care who knows it.

My reason is the best one of all – because not only is it right, but because Israel is right, and Islam – and for that matter, anyone who lines up against Israel – is so wickedly wrong.

Look at some harsh facts here. First, the land of Israel has been the target of Arab nations since its recent re-inception in 1948 – yes, in spite of People Magazine's claims this past year, it did exist before the 20th century – and Jews in general worldwide since the 1920s. Not only does Islam and the entire Arab world despise with a red-hot hatred the nation and people of Israel, they go beyond that by refusing to recognize Israel's right to exist! That is not only in outright defiance of logic and reason, it is way in the outfield of any token of sanity. Hating them is one thing ... refusing to recognize the first inalienable right – the right to life – is sheer madness. Standing with Israel and against Islam, therefore, becomes a matter of sanity vs. insanity.

By this first reason, Islam is meshuga – crazy.

Second, Islam's religion specifically states that in order to be a member in good standing, in order to please Allah, they must kill not just Jews, but all Israel, and anyone who supports Israel. For those of you who have forgotten, Israel encompassed 12 brothers, of which Judah was only one. There are 11 other brothers out there, and given the massive branches that the House of Israel has, I am willing to bet that there isn't a modern-day people outside of the Arab world who doesn't have lineage back to the House of Israel somewhere within their genealogy. That means that eventually, Islam's ire could – and given their history, will – be turned against you and me. Standing with Israel and against Islam, therefore, is a matter of self-preservation.

By this second reason, Islam is our oyev – enemy – a fact they have proven in attacks against America at home and abroad.

Third, it is an absolute impossibility to separate Judaism from Christianity. I know many Christians who have tried, but they can never get past a certain point ... the birth of Jesus Christ. There never would have been Christianity without Judaism first, because the man at the center of Christianity was born through Judah's line and raised in the Jewish religion. Judaism is the foundation of Christian belief, and if you remove the foundation, the rest cannot stand.

My Jewish friends have asked me why I, as a Christian, am so fervent in my devotion to Judaism and Israel. It is because we really aren't that different in what we believe. When you get past the different prayers, chants and religious rhetoric, the foundation of both is exactly analogous: Both religions believe that the Son of God – the Messiah – will be born through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through Jacob's son Judah, and that He will come to save us. Christians believe He has already been born and is coming for the second time; Jews believe He has yet to be born. The only difference in this basic cornerstone of both religious beliefs is the timing.

By this third reason, standing with Israel is a matter of emunah – faith, and achvah – brotherhood.

My fourth reason became even clearer in recent times. Two years ago, I met a dear woman I have grown to love named Andy, and it is she who inspired this article. Andy is Jewish, and her son Michael has chosen to go to Israel and fight for the Israeli Defense Force. How is it that a boy raised in North America in American neighborhoods playing Nintendo chose to fight for Israel?

Some would say it is because he is a Jew. I say it is because Michael – taught by a good mother – knew that Israel was not the aggressor, not the evil one here. Michael – taught by a wise mother – has a soul that recognizes justice. Michael chose a life dedicated to the fight for right. Way to go, Andy.


By this fourth reason, fighting for Israel is mutsdak – justified, by a mother's torot – teachings, and a son's unselfish brayrah – choice.

Then there is the plethora of reasons such as the constant attacks by Palestinians / Islam against the civilians of Israel – not the IDF or military targets, but everyday people going to work, school, or to play – the regular promises to stop said perpetrators, only to stall for time and attack again, and their illogical justifications of igniting the world's anger against Jews when Israel has the nerve to defend itself. Israel has shown remarkable restraint despite being surrounded and vastly out-numbered by a backward and vicious people hell-bent on their annihilation.

Six months ago, I bought a small, sterling silver Star of David to wear around my neck. You see, not only do I fully support Israel because they are right, but because I, too, come through that mighty House. If you'll travel back in time for a moment to Sunday School, it should ring a bell in your mind that Judah had a little brother named Joseph. You remember him ... kind of a dreamer, dressed colorfully, held a high political office (eventually) in Egypt, and saved his family from a devastating famine? I come through his line, through his son Ephraim. So if Islam succeeds in destroying Judah, what will stop them from next targeting Joseph? Or Levi? Or Gad? Or Dan? Or the tribe from which you descended?

The truth of this is that Israel has been repeatedly attacked and murdered by one evil enemy after another – between communism and Islam, they should have died out long ago. But they didn't. They have not only survived, they have flourished. Why? How is this possible when so many have plotted and sought their demise? They are so much smaller than those who want them wiped off the face of the earth ... what has kept them so resilient?

That one is easy: God. You see, unlike Jimmy Carter, I do believe that God, being on the side of Israel, is more than enough reason to support them. God has made it abundantly clear that He is madly in love with the line of Judah, and terrifyingly clear what will happen to anyone – including us – who raises their hand against His chosen. Face it, Hamas ... God has chosen, and it ain't you.

But even without God, here are the facts: It is Muslims who have repeatedly broken the cease fire. It is Muslims who have repeatedly attacked – unprovoked, no less – the peaceful Israel night. It is Muslims who have made it abundantly clear that they will only be stilled when Israel is no more. It is Islam, people, not Israel.

Israel has consistently gone above and beyond; Islam has proven that they will sink to the lowest depths. The writing is on the wall as to who is most definitely in the right here. I can read and comprehend – it is plain to see and time to choose sides. As for me and my house, we stand with Israel – not because we fear God, but because we love Him, because He loves Israel and because Israel is in the right.

So given the recent – and fully deserved – response by Israel to that evil bombing by Hamas, I have these words: Ani itach Yisra'el – I am with you, Israel.

And to the wretched Palestinians who continue to break the cease fire, I also have some words: Lech La'azazel – Go to hell.

Keep the faith, bros, and in all things courage.

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May 20, 2011, ISLAMMUNISM BECOMES OFFICIAL

THE ABOMINATION WHICH MAKETH DESOLATE

THE COMBINATION IS NO LONGER SECRET, FOR IT HAS BARED ITS TEETH.

Ahem...Jerusalem is Israel's Capital!

FROM WIKIPEDIA:


Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎‎ (audio) (help·info), Yerushaláyim, ISO 259-3 Yrušalaym, "Abode of Peace"; Arabic: القُدس (audio) (help·info), al-Quds [al-Sharif], "The Holy Sanctuary", أُورشَلِيم, Ūrshalīm)^[ii] is the capital of Israel, though not internationally recognized as such.^[iii] If the area and population of East Jerusalemlargest city^[1] in both population and area,^[2] with a population of 763,800 residents over an area of 125.1 km² (48.3 sq mi).^[3][4][iv] Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City.

Note the wording...see anything at all about the phony baloney, don't even exist Palestinians?  "Israel's capital," "Israel's Largest City."

During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.^[12] The oldest part of the city was settled in the 4th millennium BCE, making Jerusalem one of the oldest cities in the world.^[13] The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were introduced in the early 19th century.^[14] The Old City was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger by Jordan in 1982.^[15]

Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel annexed East Jerusalem (which was controlled by Jordan following the 1948 war) and considers it a part of Israel, although the international community has rejected the annexation as illegal and considers East Jerusalem to be Palestinian territory held by Israel under military occupation.^{[16][17][18][19]}Jerusalem Law of 1980. Israel, however, considers the entire city to be a part of Israel following its annexation of East Jerusalem through the

Settled in the 4th BC, one of the oldest cities in the world...Jerusalem, NOT Al Quds.


All branches of the Israeli government are located in Jerusalem, including the Knesset (Israel's parliament), the residences of the Prime Minister and President, and the Supreme Court. Jerusalem is home to the Hebrew University and to the Israel Museum with its Shrine of the Book. The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has ranked consistently as Israel's top tourist attraction for Israelis.<sup>[23][24]

Couldn't be anymore clear than if it was made up of God's water supply.</sup> 

A city called Rušalimum or Urušalimum (Foundation of Shalem)^[25] appears in ancient Egyptian records as the first two references to Jerusalem, in c. 2000 BCE and c. 1330 BCE respectively.^[26][27][28] The form Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) first appears in the Bible, in the book of Joshua. This form has the appearance of a portmanteau (blend) of Yireh (an abiding place of the fear and the service of God)^[29] and the original root S-L-M and is not a simple phonetic evolution of the form in the Amarna letters. The meaning of the common root S-L-M is unknown but is thought to refer to either "peace" (Salam or Shalom in modern Arabic and Hebrew) or Shalim, the god of dusk in the Canaanite religion.<sup>[30][31][32]

Where in the koran is Jerusalem or AlQuds mentioned?</sup> 

Ceramic evidence indicates the occupation of City of David, within present-day Jerusalem, as far back as the Copper Age (c. 4th millennium BCE),^[13][44] with evidence of a permanent settlement during the early Bronze Age (c. 3000–2800 BCE).^[44][45] The Execration Texts (c. 19th century BCE), which refer to a city called Roshlamem or Rosh-ramen^[44] and the Amarna letters (c. 14th century BCE) may be the earliest mention of the city.^[46][47] Some archaeologists, including Kathleen Kenyon, believe Jerusalem^[48] as a city was founded by Northwest Semitic people with organized settlements from around 2600 BCE. According to Jewish tradition, the city was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of Abraham. In the biblical account, Jerusalem ("Salem") when first mentioned is ruled by Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham (identified with Shem in legend). Later, in the time of Joshua, Jerusalem lay within territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28), but continued to be under the independent control of the Jebusites until it was conquered by David and made into the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel (c. 11th century BCE).^[49][50][v] Recent excavations of a Large Stone Structure and a nearby Stepped Stone Structure are widely believed^{[by whom?]} to be the remains of King David's palace. The excavations have been interpreted by some archaeologists as lending credence to the biblical narrative.^[51]
According to Hebrew scripture, King David reigned until 970 BCE. He was succeeded by his son Solomon,^[52] who built the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon's Temple (later known as the First Temple), went on to play a pivotal role in Jewish history as the repository of the Ark of the Covenant.^[53] For more than 400 years, until the Babylonian conquest in 587 BCE, Jerusalem was the political capital of the united Kingdom of Israel and then the Kingdom of Judah. During this period, known as the First Temple Period,^[54] the Temple was the religious center of the Israelites.^[55] On Solomon's death (c. 930 BCE), the ten northern tribes split off to form the Kingdom of Israel. Under the leadership of the House of David and Solomon, Jerusalem remained the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.^[56]
When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom. The First Temple period ended around 586 BCE, as the Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and laid waste to Solomon's Temple.^[54] In 538 BCE, after 50 years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple.^[57] Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple.^[58][59] In about 445 BCE, King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued a decree allowing the city and the walls to be rebuilt.^[60] Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship.

No commentary necessary.

With the annexation of Jerusalem by Muhammad Ali of Egypt in 1831, foreign missions and consulates began to establish a foothold in the city. In 1836, Ibrahim Pasha allowed Jerusalem's Jewish residents to restore four major synagogues, among them the Hurva.^[89] In the 1834 Arab revolt in Palestine, Qasim al-Ahmad led his forces from Nablus and attacked Jerusalem, aided by the Abu Ghosh clan, entered the city on May 31, 1834. The Christians and Jews of Jerusalem were subjected to attacks. Ibrahim's Egyptian army routed Qasim's forces in Jerusalem the following month.^[90]

Ben-Zakai Synagogue in 1893

Ottoman rule was reinstated in 1840, but many Egyptian Muslims remained in Jerusalem and Jews from Algiers and North Africa began to settle in the city in growing numbers.^[89] In the 1840s and 1850s, the international powers began a tug-of-war in Palestine as they sought to extend their protection over the region's religious minorities, a struggle carried out mainly through consular representatives in Jerusalem.^[91] According to the Prussian consul, the population in 1845 was 16,410, with 7,120 Jews, 5,000 Muslims, 3,390 Christians, 800 Turkish soldiers and 100 Europeans.^[89] The volume of Christian pilgrims increased under the Ottomans, doubling the city's population around Easter time.^[92]
In the 1860s, new neighborhoods began to develop outside the Old City walls to house pilgrims and relieve the intense overcrowding and poor sanitation inside the city. The Russian Compound and Mishkenot Sha'ananim were founded in 1860.^[93] In 1867 an American Missionary reports an estimated population of Jerusalem of 'above' 15,000, with 4,000 to 5,000 Jews and 6,000 Muslims. Every year there were 5,000 to 6,000 Russian Christian Pilgrims.^[94]

British Mandate

Further information: British Mandate of Palestine

General Edmund Allenby enters the Old City of Jerusalem on December 11, 1917

In 1917 after the Battle of Jerusalem, the British Army, led by General Edmund Allenby, captured the city,^[95]League of Nations at the Conference of Lausanne entrusted the United Kingdom to administer the Mandate for Palestine, the neighbouring mandate of Transjordan to the east across the River Jordan, and the Iraq Mandate beyond it. and in 1922, the
From 1922 to 1948 the total population of the city rose from 52,000 to 165,000 with two thirds of Jews and one-third of Arabs (Muslims and Christians).^[96] The situation between Arabs and Jews in Palestine was not quiet. In Jerusalem, in particular, riots occurred in 1920 and in 1929. Under the British, new garden suburbs were built in the western and northern parts of the city^[97][98] and institutions of higher learning such as the Hebrew University were founded.^[99]

Division and reunification 1948–1967

Further information: 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and Siege of Jerusalem (1948)

See also: UN General Assembly Resolution 194, Occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan, and East Jerusalem

Israeli policemen meet a Jordanian Legionnaire near the Mandelbaum Gate

As the British Mandate for Palestine was expiring, the 1947 UN Partition Plan recommended "the creation of a special international regime in the City of Jerusalem, constituting it as a corpus separatum under the administration of the United Nations."^[100] The international regime (which also included the city of Bethlehem) was to remain in force for a period of ten years, whereupon a referendum was to be held in which the residents were to decide the future regime of their city. However, this plan was not implemented, as the 1948 war erupted, while the British withdrew from Palestine and Israel declared its independence.^[101] The war led to displacement of Arab and Jewish populations in the city. The 1,500 residents of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City were expelled and a few hundred taken prisoner when the Arab Legion captured the quarter on 28 May.^[102][103] The Arab Legion also attacked Western Jerusalem with snipers.^[104] Arab residents of Katamon, Talbiya, and the German Colony were driven from their homes. By the end of the war Israel had control of 12 of Jerusalem's 15 Arab residential quarters. An estimated minimum of 30,000 people had become refugees.^[105][106]
The war of 1948 resulted in Jerusalem being divided, with the old walled city lying entirely on the Jordanian side of the line. A no-man's land between East and West Jerusalem came into being in November 1948: Moshe Dayan, commander of the Israeli forces in Jerusalem, met with his Jordanian counterpart Abdullah el Tell in a deserted house in Jerusalem’s Musrara neighborhood and marked out their respective positions: Israel’s position in red and Jordan's in green. This rough map, which was not meant as an official one, became the final line in the 1949 Armistice Agreements, which divided the city and left Mount Scopus as an Israeli exclave inside East Jerusalem.^[107] Barbed wire and concrete barriers ran down the center of the city, passing close by Jaffa Gate on the western side of the old walled city, and a crossing point was established at Mandelbaum Gate slightly to the north of the old walled city. Military skirmishes frequently threatened the ceasefire. After the establishment of the State of Israel, Jerusalem was declared its capital. Jordan formally annexed East Jerusalem in 1950, subjecting it to Jordanian law.^[101][108] Only the United Kingdom and Pakistan formally recognized such annexation, which, in regard to Jerusalem, was on a de facto basis.^{[109][110][111]} Also, it is dubious if Pakistan recognized Jordan's annexation.
After 1948, since the old walled city in its entirety was to the east of the armistice line, Jordan was able to take control of all the holy places therein, and contrary to the terms of the armistice agreement, Israelis were denied access to Jewish holy sites, many of which were desecrated. 34 of the 35 synagogues in the Old City, including the Hurva and the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, were destroyed over the course of the next 19 years, either razed or used as stables and hen-houses. Many other historic and religiously significant buildings were replaced by modern structures.^[112] The Jewish Quarter became known as Harat al-Sharaf and was occupied by refugees from the 1948 war. In 1966 the Jordanian authorities relocated 500 of them to the Shua'fat refugee camp as part of plans to redevelop the area.^[113]
Jordan allowed only very limited access to Christian holy sites.^[114] During this period, the Dome of the Rock^[115] and al-Aqsa Mosque underwent major renovations.

Map of East Jerusalem

In 1967, the Six-Day War saw hand to hand fighting between Israeli and Jordanian soldiers on the Temple Mount, and it resulted in Israel capturing East Jerusalem. Hence Jewish and Christian access to the holy sites inside the old walled city was restored, while the Temple Mount remained under the jurisdiction of an Islamic waqf. The Moroccan Quarter, which was located adjacent to the Western Wall, was vacated and razed^[116][117] Since the war, Israel has expanded the city's boundaries and established a ring of Jewish neighbourhoods on land east of the Green Line. Since 1967, Israel has gone to considerable lengths to make the sections of Jerusalem it captured in the Six Day War more Jewish.^[118] to make way for a plaza for those visiting the wall.
However, the takeover of East Jerusalem was met with international criticism. Following the passing of Israel's Jerusalem Law, which declared Jerusalem, "complete and united", the capital of Israel,^[119] the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that declared the law "a violation of international law" and requested all member states to withdraw all remaining embassies from the city.^[120]

Today

Further information: Positions on Jerusalem

The status of the city, and especially its holy places, remains a core issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Israeli government has approved building plans in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City^[121] in order to expand the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem, while prominent Islamic leaders have made claims that Jews have no historical connection to Jerusalem, alleging that the 2,500-year old Western Wall was constructed as part of a mosque.^[122] Palestinians envision East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state,^[123][124] and the city's borders have been the subject of bilateral talks. A strong longing for peace is symbolized by the Peace Monument (with farming tools made out of scrap weapons), facing the Old City wall near the former Israeli-Jordanian border and quoting from the book of Isaiah in Arabic and Hebrew.<sup>[125]

How could a wall of a group's mosque have existed 2500 years ago when the information above it clearly indicates they did NOT exist?</sup>


Under the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine passed by the United Nations in 1947, Jerusalem was envisaged to become a corpus separatum administered by the United Nations. While the Jewish leaders accepted the partition plan, the Arab leadership (the Arab Higher Committee in Palestine and the Arab League) rejected it, opposing any partition.^[162][163] In the war of 1948, the western part of the city was occupied by forces of the nascent state of Israel, while the eastern part was occupied by Jordan. The international community largely considers the legal status of Jerusalem to derive from the partition plan, and correspondingly refuses to recognize Israeli sovereignty in the city.

Kiryat HaMemshala government complex

On December 5, 1949, the State of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, proclaimed Jerusalem as Israel's capital,^[164] and since then all branches of the Israeli government—legislative, judicial, and executive—have resided there, except for the Ministry of Defense, located at HaKirya in Tel Aviv.^[165] At the time of the proclamation, Jerusalem was divided between Israel and Jordan and thus only West Jerusalem was proclaimed Israel's capital. However, immediately after the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel took control of East Jerusalem, incorporating it into the Jerusalem Municipality, making it a de facto part of the Israel. Israel confirmed its annexation and enshrined the status of the "complete and united" Jerusalem—West and East—as its capital, in the 1980 Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel.^[166] The status of a "united Jerusalem" as Israel's "eternal capital"^[164][167] has been a matter of immense controversy within the international community. Although some countries maintain consulates in Jerusalem, all embassies are located outside the city proper, mostly in Tel Aviv.^[168][169] Due to the non-recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, some non-Israeli press use Tel Aviv as a metonym for Israel.^{[170][171][172][173]}

Supreme Court of Israel

The non-binding United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, passed on August 20, 1980, declared that the Basic Law was "null and void and must be rescinded forthwith". Member states were advised to withdraw their diplomatic representation from Jerusalem as a punitive measure. Most of the remaining countries with embassies in Jerusalem complied with the resolution by relocating them to Tel Aviv, where many embassies already resided prior to Resolution 478. Currently, there are no embassies located within the city limits of Jerusalem, although there are embassies in Mevaseret Zion, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and four consulates in the city itself.^[169] In 1995, the United States Congress had planned to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem with the passage of the Jerusalem Embassy Act.^[174] However, U.S. presidents have argued that Congressional resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem are merely advisory. The Constitution reserves foreign relations as an executive power, and as such, the United States embassy is still in Tel Aviv.^[175]
On 28 October 2009, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that Jerusalem must be the capital of both Israel and Palestine if peace is to be achieved.^[176]
In 2010, Israel approved legislation giving Jerusalem the highest national priority status in Israel. The law prioritized construction throughout the city, and offered grants and tax benefits to residents to make housing, infrastructure, education, employment, business, tourism, and cultural events more affordable. Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon said that the bill sent "a clear, unequivocal political message that Jerusalem will not be divided", and that "all those within the Palestinian and international community who expect the current Israeli government to accept any demands regarding Israel's sovereignty over it's [sic] capital are mistaken and misleading".^[177]

View of modern Jerusalem

The Israeli government has placed almost all of its institutions in Jerusalem. The city is currently home to the Knesset,^[178] the Supreme Court,^[179] the official residences of the President and Prime Minister, the Cabinet, all ministries except the Ministry of Defense, and the Bank of Israel. Prior to the creation of the State of Israel, Jerusalem served as the administrative capital of the British Mandate for Palestine, which included present-day Israel and Jordan.^[180] From 1949 until 1967, West Jerusalem served as Israel's capital, but was not recognized as such internationally because UN General Assembly Resolution 194 envisaged Jerusalem as an international city. As a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, the whole of Jerusalem came under Israeli control. On June 27, 1967, the government of Levi Eshkol extended Israeli law and jurisdiction to East Jerusalem, but agreed that administration of the Temple Mount compound would be maintained by the Jordanian waqf, under the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Endowments.^[181] In 1988, Israel ordered the closure of Orient House, home of the Arab Studies Society, but also the headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization, for security reasons. The building reopened in 1992 as a Palestinian guesthouse.^[182][183] The Oslo Accords stated that the final status of Jerusalem would be determined by negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority, which regards East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.^[20][184] while Benjamin Netanyahu has similarly stated that Jerusalem would remain the undivided capital of Israel. Due to its proximity to the city, especially the Temple Mount, Abu Dis, a Palestinian town bordering Jerusalem, has been proposed as the future capital of a Palestinian state by Israel. Israel has not incorporated Abu Dis within its security wall around Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority has built a possible future parliament building for the Palestinian Legislative Council in the town, and all its Jerusalem Affairs Offices are also located in Abu Dis.^[185] Mahmoud Abbas has said that any agreement that did not not include East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine would be unacceptable,

^{Absolutely clear...Jerusalem was always set to be the capital, and has ONLY not become so due to #PoliticallyCastrated #Islammunist #fagatronics.  AMEN.}