Thread: Before we dive in, letโs address a critical issue: There are some people around the world who perceive Jerusalem as an Arab area, including the ICJ, with some even advocating for it to be handed over to the Palestinians as the capital of their prospective terror state. This view overlooks the profound and unbroken Jewish connection to Jerusalem. Letโs review how Jerusalem is intrinsically Jewish and how its history has been hijacked and rewritten.
1/ ๐ Jerusalem: The Eternal Capital of the Jewish People ๐
Jerusalem has been the heart and soul of the Jewish people for over 3,500 years. Despite countless challenges and adversities, the Jewish presence in Jerusalem has remained unbroken, underscoring a deep-rooted and unwavering connection to this sacred city. From the days of Joshua and King David to the modern era, Jerusalem has been a constant in Jewish life, culture, and religion, symbolizing the enduring spirit and resilience of the Jewish people.
2/ ๐ฐ๏ธ Ancient Beginnings ๐ฐ๏ธ
The history of Jews in Jerusalem dates back to ancient times, even before King David. Joshua, the biblical leader who succeeded Moses, conquered the land of Israel, including Jerusalem, around the 13th century BCE. This marked the beginning of a significant Jewish presence in the city. Later, King David established Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish nation around 1000 BCE. This monumental decision solidified Jerusalemโs status as not just a political center but also a spiritual and cultural heart for Jews. His son, King Solomon, built the First Temple, making Jerusalem the focal point of Jewish worship and pilgrimage. The Temple served as the epicenter of Jewish religious life, drawing Jews from all corners of the land to partake in rituals and festivals, thus embedding Jerusalem deeply in Jewish identity.
3/ ๐ Exile and Return ๐
Even after the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, the Jewish connection to Jerusalem did not wane. Jews returned to rebuild and renew their bond with the city, demonstrating their resilience and unyielding faith. The completion of the Second Temple in 516 BCE was a significant event, symbolizing a new era of Jewish religious and communal life. Despite subsequent invasions and occupations, the Jewish people continuously sought to restore and maintain their presence in Jerusalem, highlighting their enduring attachment to the city.
4/ ๐๏ธ Roman Destruction and Diaspora ๐๏ธ
The Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE marked a profound moment of loss for the Jewish people, yet their connection to Jerusalem endured. Even as Jews were scattered across the globe in the ensuing diaspora, Jerusalem remained at the core of Jewish religious life and longing. Daily prayers, rituals, and cultural practices consistently oriented towards Jerusalem, preserving its significance in Jewish consciousness. Throughout centuries of dispersion, Jews always yearned for their return to Jerusalem, keeping the cityโs memory alive in their hearts and minds.
5/ ๐ Medieval and Ottoman Eras๐
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Ottoman rule, Jewish communities in Jerusalem faced periods of hardship and revival. Despite various conquerors and shifting political landscapes, Jews never abandoned their spiritual and historical ties to the city. During the Ottoman era, from 1517 to 1917, Jewish life in Jerusalem experienced significant changes. The Ottomans, recognizing the historical Jewish connection to the land, allowed Jewish refugees from Spain and other regions to settle in the city. This period saw a revival of Jewish communal life, with the establishment of new synagogues, schools, and community institutions, further cementing the continuous Jewish presence in Jerusalem.
6/ โก๏ธ The Jewish Quarter โก๏ธ
The Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem has been a vibrant center of Jewish life for centuries, a microcosm of the broader Jewish experience in the city. Its synagogues, schools, and homes are living monuments to the continuous Jewish presence and the communityโs resilience in the face of adversity. Over the centuries, despite periods of destruction and renewal, the Jewish Quarter has remained a focal point of Jewish cultural and religious life, embodying the steadfast connection of Jews to their ancient capital.
7/ ๐ซ Temple Mount Restrictions ๐ซ
Today, Jews face restrictions on visiting the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism. Control by Muslim authorities has prevented Jews from freely accessing the area, highlighting ongoing tensions and challenges. The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples once stood, remains a profoundly significant site for Jews. However, the complex political and religious dynamics have resulted in limitations on Jewish worship and presence, reflecting broader issues of religious freedom and historical rights.
8/ ๐ Historical Hijacking ๐
The Temple Mount, where the First and Second Temples once stood, has been at the center of a significant historical hijacking. Today, many around the world view it primarily as a Muslim site, overshadowing its profound Jewish significance. Despite its deep roots in Jewish history, the site has been rebranded, with many now referring to it exclusively by its Islamic name, Al-Haram Al-Sharif. The reality is that Jerusalem holds a marginal place in Islamic tradition compared to its central role in Judaism. The Quran does not mention Jerusalem, and its association with Islam primarily stems from later historical developments. This rebranding diminishes the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, a place where Jews have prayed and yearned for thousands of years. The ongoing restrictions on Jewish access and worship at this sacred site underscore the broader struggle for recognition of Jerusalemโs true historical and religious narrative.
9/ ๐ Jewish Presence Through the Ages ๐
Over the last 1,800 years, Jews have consistently lived in Jerusalem and throughout Israel, even under various foreign rulers. For example, in the 9th century, Jewish scholar Saadia Gaon wrote extensively about Jewish life in Jerusalem. In the 11th century, Spanish-Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela documented thriving Jewish communities in the city. By the 16th century, under Ottoman rule, Jerusalem saw a revival of Jewish life with the arrival of Jewish refugees from Spain. The 19th century witnessed the establishment of new Jewish neighborhoods outside the Old City walls, symbolizing the growth and resilience of the Jewish population. These examples illustrate that, despite hardships and displacements, Jews have maintained a continuous presence in Jerusalem, contributing to its cultural and religious landscape.
10/ ๐๏ธ Jerusalem Today ๐๏ธ
Today, Jerusalem stands as a thriving city, embodying the spirit and resilience of the Jewish people. Despite ongoing challenges and political complexities, the eternal bond between Jews and Jerusalem remains unbreakable, reflecting millennia of history, faith, and determination. Jerusalem continues to be a center of Jewish religious, cultural, and political life, symbolizing the unyielding connection of the Jewish people to their ancient capital. The cityโs vibrant life and continuous development are testaments to the enduring spirit of the Jewish community and their unwavering commitment to Jerusalem.
๐ Conclusion ๐
Jerusalem is not just a city; it is the heart of Jewish identity and heritage. For 3,500 years, Jews have lived, prayed, and thrived in Jerusalem. Despite numerous challenges and adversities, their connection remains steadfast, a testament to the enduring spirit of the Jewish people. The history of Jerusalem is a story of resilience, faith, and an unbreakable bond that has withstood the test of time. Today, as we honor this profound connection, we also look towards a future where Jerusalem continues to be a symbol of hope, unity, and peace for all who hold it dear.
๐งต๐งตA Mayor for Gaza, in the City of Jews๐งต๐งต
Thread: There is something extremely alarming happening in New York right now.
Zohran Mamdani is running, and according to expectations, he could become the next mayor of a city that holds the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
Yet somehow, his campaign has made his hatred toward Israel one of its defining features.
It almost feels as if he is running for mayor of Gaza, not New York. Because how else do you explain making your central message one that alienates nearly a million Jews in your own city?
But, this is actually a test of memory.
Because New Yorkโs Jewish history is about survival.
Every street in this city carries a piece of Jewish endurance.
Every building, every synagogue, every school was built by people who rebuilt themselves.
Generation after generation, Jews came here with nothing and started again while the rest of the world looked away from their suffering.
To understand how serious this is, you have to understand what New York has meant to the Jewish people for more than three hundred years.
Part I: The Beginning of a New World.
The Jewish story in New York begins in 1654. Twenty-three refugees arrived from Brazil, Portuguese Jews who had already fled the Inquisition once and were now running again, this time from forced conversion under Dutch rule.
When they landed in New Amsterdam, they met Governor Peter Stuyvesant, who tried to kick them out. He called Jews deceitful and unwelcome. But the Jewish settlers fought back and won. They stayed, built a small synagogue, and formed Shearith Israel, the first Jewish congregation in North America.
It was a humble beginning, but it set the pattern for everything that followed: resistance, survival, and faith in a place that was not sure it wanted them.
For generations afterward, Jews in New York lived quietly. But they stayed. And when the doors of Europe closed, this city became their last open gate.
Part 2: The Flood of Souls.
Between 1880 and 1920, more than two million Jews arrived in America, and most came through New York. They came from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Galicia, and Russia, from towns where their synagogues had been burned and their children spat on.
They settled in the Lower East Side, one of the most overcrowded neighborhoods on earth. Ten people to a room. Beds rented by the hour. Kids working in garment factories. Mothers sewing late into the night. But even in that poverty, there was something precious they had never known before: safety.
In the Lower East Side, a Jew could walk freely wearing a yarmulke. He could open a Yiddish newspaper, build a synagogue, start a union. The streets buzzed with Jewish life, with the hum of sewing machines and the sound of Hebrew prayers.
Yes, it was poor and chaotic, but alive. Out of that poverty came strength, community, and identity. The kind of identity that would carry Jews through the darkest century ahead.
Not that we have to even slightly justify our existence in this country, but letโs entertain a thought experiment for the people who fantasize about โremoving the Jewsโ from America.
๐งต๐งต๐งต
Here are just some of the companies, hospitals, universities, and cultural institutions built or led by Jewish Americans.
Now imagine the U.S. without them. ๐งต
1 - Goldman Sachs, founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman, a German-Jewish immigrant, and later joined by his son-in-law Samuel Sachs, started as a small commercial paper business. It grew into a global investment bank influencing U.S. markets, policy, and corporate growth for over 150 years.
2 - Lehman Brothers (1850), created by Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman, Jewish immigrants from Bavaria. They began as dry goods merchants in Alabama, eventually moving to New York and becoming a central player in American finance, helping fund railroads, industry, and innovation for more than a century.
๐งต๐งตYou want to use words like genocide, holocaust, famine, ethnic cleansing? ๐งต๐งต๐งต
Fine. Let me show you what those words actually mean.
This thread contains real photos. Not made with AI. Not filtered. Real human beings, who were starved to bones, dumped in piles, burned, gassed, shot, exterminated like rats, for no reason at all.
This is what a genocide looks like.
Not a war, not a siege, and not a conflict.
But an actual system built to erase Jews from existence.
๐งต๐งตThread: Before the Jewish return, the land of Israel was a land without industry or infrastructure, ravaged by neglect and poverty under Ottoman rule. Visitors dismissed it as barren, lifeless, and forgotten.
In 1867, Mark Twain saw it with his own eyes and called it barren, lifeless, and hopeless.
This thread breaks down what he saw, what it meant, and why Zionists were right to quote him ๐งต๐งต
1/10
Twainโs visit to Palestine in 1867, documented in The Innocents Abroad, was part of a luxury cruise through Europe and the Ottoman Empire. He wasnโt on a political mission. He was writing for an American audience hungry for satire, travel commentary, and biblical reflection.
But his words left a deep impression: he called Palestine โa desolate country,โ a place where โwe never saw a human being on the whole route,โ with โbarren hills,โ โunsightly deserts,โ and โno solitary village for thirty miles.โ
Zionists have rightly cited these words to show that the land was far from flourishing before Jewish pioneers arrived to revive and rebuild it.
2/10
Palestine in the mid-19th century was part of crumbling and decaying Ottoman Empire. It had no real economy, no national identity, and no development vision. The roads were dangerous, infrastructure was nearly nonexistent, and large stretches of land were either abandoned, overgrown, or infested with malaria.
Twain arrived at the end of the dry season, in September, when even the fertile regions appeared scorched and barren. He was reacting to what he saw and what he didnโt see: people, life, movement, productivity. Compared to the biblical scene he had imagined as a child in Missouri, the actual Holy Land felt ruined and forgotten.
His disappointment was genuine, not political. Twainโs blunt, unfiltered descriptions reflect the reality Jewish pioneers later confrontedโa land in desperate need of revival, exactly what Zionism set out to achieve.
๐งต๐งตThread: How Newspapers Helped Kill 6 Million Jews๐งต๐งต
The Holocaust didnโt begin with Auschwitz, cattle cars, ghettos, or death marches.
It began years earlier, with headlines, street posters, and newspapers displayed in glass cases for children to read on their way to school.
Before Jews were hunted or deported, they were redefined and dehumanized.
Day by day, word by word, the German society was trained:
๐น To fear their neighbors
๐น To laugh at their suffering
๐น To feel nothing when they vanished
This wasnโt hidden rhetoric. It was state-sponsored journalism.
And it happened in broad daylight on every street corner.
The goal wasnโt just to hate the Jew.
It was to unsee the Jew as human.
This thread is about how Nazi newspapers like Der Stรผrmer and Vรถlkischer Beobachter made genocide not just possible but actually popular.
And why their methods still matter today.
1/12 โ How Nazi Newspapers Paved the Road to Genocide
Joseph Goebbels, head of the Ministry of Propaganda, understood that public opinion could be shaped long before violence ever began. He knew that if people saw Jews not as individuals, but as threats to society, it would become easier to justify discrimination, exclusion, and eventually mass murder.
To achieve this, the Nazi regime used newspapers as a primary tool for dehumanization. The two most influential publications were:
1 โ Der Stรผrmer, a weekly paper filled with crude antisemitic cartoons, conspiracy theories, and inflammatory headlines. It appealed to emotion, fear, and hatred.
2 โ Vรถlkischer Beobachter, the official newspaper of the Nazi Party. Unlike Der Stรผrmer, it presented itself as a serious and intellectual publication, using political and economic arguments to portray Jews as a danger to Germanyโs future.
Together, these two papers reached millions of Germans each week. They didnโt simply report eventsโthey shaped how those events were understood. Through constant repetition of antisemitic themes and moral framing, they slowly shifted the publicโs perception of Jews from citizens to enemies.
This was not passive information. It was active indoctrination.
So yes, before the physical destruction came the psychological one.
2/12 โ Der Stรผrmer: Hate on Every Corner
Der Stรผrmer was edited by Julius Streicher, a fanatical antisemite and early Nazi.
It was crass, sensational, and borderline p*rn*graphic. And it was everywhere.
Streicherโs headlines usually screamed lines like:
โThe Jew is the Worldโs Misfortuneโ
โJewish Murder Lustโ
โThe Parasite Among Usโ
Its cartoons were obscene. Its articles accused Jews of blood libel, s*xual perversion, financial treason, and everything in between.
And you didnโt even need to buy it.
Nazi display boxesโStรผrmer-Kรคstenโwere mounted across towns and cities. Children passed them on the way to school. Housewives on their way to the market. There was no escape, everyone saw it, and everyone read it.
The more grotesque the paper became, the more normalized the message became.
๐งตThis July 4th, letโs honor the Jewish patriots who helped secure Americaโs independence.
Though only 2,000โ3,000 Jews lived in the colonies, they made huge contributions, from financing the war, fighting on the front lines, to advocating for liberty, and helping lay the groundwork for religious freedom.
Here are some of the Jewish heroes of the American Revolution ๐บ๐ธ๐
1/ Haym Salomon โ The Financier of the Revolution
Born in Poland in 1740, Haym Salomon was a Sephardic Jew who immigrated to New York. Fluent in several languages, he used his skills to work as a broker and translator for foreign merchants, and later for the Patriot cause.
During the war, Salomon became a prime financier for the Continental Congress. He helped sell war bonds and raised personal loans from wealthy French and Spanish Jews to support Washingtonโs army when Congress lacked funds.
He personally gave over $650,000, more than $14 million in todayโs money, including $20,000 for the final campaign at Yorktown, without which the decisive victory may not have happened.
Captured twice by the British as a suspected spy, he bribed his way out of prison and resumed his efforts, even helping British-held prisoners escape.
Despite his immense contribution, he died in 1785 nearly penniless, having sacrificed everything for the American cause. His gravestone reads: โAn American patriot.โ
2/ Francis Salvador โ The Paul Revere of the South
Francis Salvador was born into a wealthy Sephardic Jewish family in London and later emigrated to South Carolina, becoming a plantation owner. In 1774, he made history as the first Jew elected to public office in the American colonies.
A passionate revolutionary, Salvador represented South Carolina in the Provincial Congress, where he pushed for independence from Britain and advocated strongly for colonial unity.
When Cherokee forces, encouraged by the British, attacked Patriot settlements in 1776, Salvador famously rode 30 miles through the night to warn local militiasโsimilar to Paul Revereโs ride.
He joined the militia to defend his community and was mortally wounded in a skirmish with the Cherokees. He was scalped by their British-allied warriors and died at age 29.
He became the first Jewish soldier killed in the American Revolutionโa martyr for a country that still hadnโt fully accepted him.