Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday at the AIPAC conference: The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today, .... Jerusalem is not a settlement; Its our capital.Juan Cole, professor of history at University of Michigan, specializing in Middle Eastern history: "... if historical building of Jerusalem and historical connection with Jerusalem establishes sovereignty over it as Netanyahu claims, here are the groups that have the greatest claim to the city:A. The Muslims, who ruled it and built it over 1191 years.B. The Egyptians, who ruled it as a vassal state for several hundred years in the second millennium BCE.C. The Italians, who ruled it about 444 years until the fall of the Roman Empire in 450 CE.D. The Iranians, who ruled it for 205 years under the Achaemenids, for three years under the Parthians (insofar as the last Hasmonean was actually their vassal), and for 15 years under the Sasanids.E. The Greeks, who ruled it for over 160 years if we count the Ptolemys and Seleucids as Greek. If we count them as Egyptians and Syrians, that would increase the Egyptian claim and introduce a Syrian one.F. The successor states to the Byzantines, which could be either Greece or Turkey, who ruled it 188 years, though if we consider the heir to be Greece and add in the time the Hellenistic Greek dynasties ruled it, that would give Greece nearly 350 years as ruler of Jerusalem...."Cole's more detailed account: http://www.juancole.com/2010/03/top-ten-reasons-east-jerusalem-does-not.htmlHere is a Ha'aretz account of Netanyahu's DC visit: http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1158341.htmlHere is Bernard Avishai on East Jerusalem: "I confess feeling a twinge of pathos when I heard on Reshet Bet radio this morning how Benjamin Netanyahu told his AIPAC audience in Washington that the Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3000 years ago, would continue doing so today, and then hearing the crowd roar its delight. These are not stupid people. They are serious people. They know, surely, that the construction in contention is in East Jerusalem neighborhoods that threaten to entirely cut off 300,000 Palestinians from their families and commercial opportunities in the West Bank. They know that any effort to keep these neighborhoods, or preserve the status quo, will result in Bosnian style violence. They know that this violence would further undermine American interests in the region."Read all of it: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/23/aipac_agonistes/#moreEnough terrorists to go around: MJ Rosenberg noting the frequent mention of the Palesinians memorializing one of their terrorists has this to say. "At the AIPAC confab today, both Secretary of State Clinton and Prime Minister Netanyahu deplored a Palestinian memorial to a vicious terrorist who killed 38 innocent Israelis in 1978. A lovely park was named after the killer. And who would argue with their condemnation? One has to be sick to commemorate the killer of innocent civilians."Of course, the Israeli government allows settlers (Netanyahu's favorite Israelis) to commemorate Dr. Baruch Goldstein. He is the a mass murderer who, in 1994, killed 29 Palestinians while at prayer at one of Islam's (and Judaism's) holiest sites: the mosque where Abraham is buried. Goldstein's grave is a shrine just like the memorial square to the monster who killed innocent Israelis. One would think the government would tear down the shrine. It doesn't. And, even if it did, the settlers and their ilk would celebrate the great killer."What's the difference? None."You can read it here: http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/22/bibi_forgot_israelis_celebrate_murderer_of_29_pray/#more