Thread by @lennybendavid

#JerusalemDay today, commemorating the reunification of the Holy City in the 1967 war on this Hebrew date.
It wasn't always like this.

The Jews were exiled from #Jerusalem in 70 CE when the Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount and took Jews to Rome as slaves.
Longed to return - "Next year in Jerusalem" was their prayer.

Some Jews never left the Holy Land, and they eked out a living over the years. But in recent centuries they began their return. Jews were a majority in #Jerusalem for at least 170 years.

Arab attacks and pograms against #Jerusalem's Jews forced them to flee the Old City in 1929 and 1938. They returned to the Old City but not for long.
Pics 1929 and 1936

In 1948, Jordanian Legionaires invaded #Jerusalem's Old City, exiled or imprisoned its Jews, and destroyed Jewish schools & synagogues.
Not one Jew was left in the Old City. The Jewish Quarter was destroyed.

This is how the Western Wall looked after 1948, with a Jordanian soldier and policeman protecting the "judenrein" status of the Kotel.
Until 1967, and Jordanian guns opened fire on the Jewish "new city" of #Jerusalem. Israel responded.

#Jerusalem Day today. Celebrations at the Western Wall. The Holy City is open to worshippers of all faiths today.
/End

I hid a fictional figure in one of the pictures. After thousands of hits only 1 person found it!!