To put this in historic context, before 1967 (the year Palestinians and their Western allies like pretend history began) Jews were barred from these sites, which were often abused and neglected. Even today, access to holy sites within Arab-majority areas is unsafe without armed protection.

So when the Obama administration refuses to acknowledge that Jerusalem is located in Israel, as it recently did in the official press release of the president’s remarks at Shimon Peres’ memorial, it feeds this conflict. Peres, a dove who was willing to bend for “peace” more than most of Israel’s political establishment, had plenty to say on this issue, by the way. In 2007, he argued for a Jewish majority in a unified Jerusalem wherein holy sites “must remain under our control.”

According to Jewish tradition, the Temple Mount is where God found the dust that was used to create Adam, where God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, where King Solomon built the First Temple, which was later rebuilt and then expanded by Herod and destroyed by the Romans. Aside from that, nearly every time experts dig in the area they excavate evidence of an ancient Jewish presence in Israel — often confirming biblical accounts. It’s going to take some heavy lifting to untether thousands of years of Jewish history from Israel. And it’s going to take a much more competent organization than the United Nations to get it done.