There Goes Jerusalem 2

What a fizzer Trump's speech on the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital was!

Completely ignoring what international law has to say on the matter (Israel is a "belligerent occupant"), Trump essentially said little more than that since Israel has occupied (he didn't use the 'o' word of course) East Jerusalem since 1967, far from having a problem with that, we recognise the fact. IOW: occupiers rule, OK?

As for what we'd been led to believe by the Guardian - that he would, in part, "base his decision on ancient history," the only mention of that came with a reference to Jerusalem as "the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times."

Not, of course, that what "the Jewish people" did or didn't do "in ancient times," has anything to do with the current status of East Jerusalem. Still, I was sort of hoping for a spot of light relief if Trump had gone down that path. Had he done so he would presumably have alluded to 'the Jerusalem of Kings David and Solomon.'

Only, of course, to be contradicted by the archaeological record. In the words of Israel's foremost archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein:

"But is the ridge south of the Temple Mount the location of the actual City of King David? This is one of the most excavated spots on the face of the earth, but so far fieldwork has not yielded any monuments from the 10th century BCE, the time of King David. Recent claims by an archaeologist working at the site regarding the supposed discovery of the palace of King David and the city-wall built by King Solomon are based on literal, simplistic readings of the biblical text and are not supported by archaeological facts." (In the eye of Jerusalem's archaeological storm - the City of David, beyond the politics and propaganda, Israel Finkelstein, forward.com, 26/4/11)

PS (8/12/17): The following nonsense appeared in The Australian of 7 November: "Archeological [sic] evidence objectively demonstrates the connection of Jerusalem to the Jewish people for more than 3000 years. Antiquities don't lie, relics don't have political agendas. Yet while the science of climate change is embraced as gospel by the UN, the scientific proof og ancient Jewish habitation of Jerusalem is not." (History backs Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Kate Ashmor)