President Dr Lazarus Chakwera said he is sticking to his plans of opening a Malawi embassy in Jerusalem despite dissatisfaction expressed by some Malawians on the matter.
During his recent Question Time in Malawi Parliament , Chakwera said opening an Embassy in Jerusalem will help the country to acquire advanced knowledge from Israelites in various areas such as Agriculture, Engineering and Defence among others.
Some Malawians question Chakwera’s idea to open the Embassy in Jerusalem over other cities such as Tel Aviv in Israel.
Jerusalem is a centre of conflict in the middle east because of its religious and political history..
According to Reuters, Jerusalem is a city sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and each religion has sites of great significance there.
The holy city has been fought over for millennia by its inhabitants, and by regional powers and invaders including the Egyptians, Babylonians, Romans, early Muslim rulers, Crusaders, Ottomans, the British Empire and by the modern states of Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Reuters say Israel’s government regards Jerusalem as the eternal and indivisible capital of the country, although that is not recognized internationally.
Palestinians say East Jerusalem must be the capital of a future Palestinian state if the two states agreement may be actualised.
Jews call the city Jerusalem, or Yerushalayim, and Arabs call it Al-Quds (“The Holy”).
At the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City is the hill known to Jews as Har ha-Bayit, or Temple Mount, and to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, or The Noble Sanctuary.
It was home to the Jewish temples of antiquity but all that remains above ground is a restraining wall for the foundations built by Herod the Great. Known as the Western Wall, this is a sacred place of prayer for Jews.
Within yards of the wall are two Muslim holy places, the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which was built in the 8th century. Muslims regard the site as the third holiest in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.
The city is also a pilgrimage site for Christians, who revere it as the place where they believe Jesus Christ preached, died and was resurrected.
President Dr Lazarus Chakwera’s idea to have an Embassy in Israel but opening it in Egypt will continue bringing mixed reactions as the city is the centre of chaos.
The only notable country that has an Embassy in Jerusalem is United States of America.
