In my closet is a glass-framed poster with a drawing of Jerusalem on it. Beneath the drawing is a sentence that reads "Peace of Jerusalem." I think of the irony of the sentence since it can be read both "peace of Jerusalem" and "piece of Jerusalem." It is so interesting how Israeli culture usually produces notions related to "peace" and Palestinian culture usually produces notions related to "piece." Truth be told, you never see cultural items coming from Palestinian spheres speaking about "peace of Jerusalem.

Anyway, this got me to thinking. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the account of King Solomon and the two women. Both of them went up to him holding a baby with the claim that the baby was theres. Considering that they could each have been lying, King Solomon simply suggested that the baby be cut in half and that each woman get half of him. At that moment, one of the women cried out that the baby should be given to the other, and at that point King Solomon gave the baby to her. Since she screamed for the life of the baby, King Solomon reasoned that the baby was hers, and she received her child.

Now, if we make an analogy, King Solomon can be seen as a metaphor for G-d, the two women can be seen as metaphors for Israeli's (Jews) and Palestinians (Muslims) and the baby can be seen as Jerusalem. Both of the nations come up to G-d claiming that Jerusalem belongs to them, so G-d suggests that Jerusalem be split in half and each half be given to the respective peoples. Upon this suggestion, the majority of the Israeli people suggest that land be given to the Palestinians in the name of peace, and for this reason G-d gives them Jerusalem. It is because Jews create posters saying "Peace of Jerusalem" that we will get Jerusalem in one piece.