SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Hanukkah Affirms History Over Fantasy

Dec 14, 2017, 1:28 PM

Hanukkah, Jerusalem...

Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman lights candles during Hanukkah at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

(AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

During the eight-day festival of Hanukkah, it’s worthwhile to connect the celebrations to recent controversies surrounding Jerusalem. The joyous holiday celebrates the purification and re-dedication of Jerusalem’s Second Temple in 164 BC, but today the official Palestinian position denies that this Temple ever even existed. That absurd notion not only contradicts hundreds of references in both Old and New Testaments, but also goes against incontrovertible historical and archaeological evidence.

This unbending extremism under-girds Palestinian insistence that Jewish people have no valid claims to any portion of Jerusalem—and their furious reaction to President Trump’s recognition of the Holy City as Israel’s capital. Neither the Trump administration nor the Israeli government rules out the idea that peace negotiations might one day establish a Palestinian capital in some section of Jerusalem. But until Islamic extremists recognize the region’s actual history and drop the ridiculous fantasy of “Temple Denial,” there can be no progress—and no peace.

President Donald Trump, from right, and first lady Melania Trump attend a tea with China's Presiden...

Associated Press

Trump asked China’s president if he wants to buy US arms, ambassador says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has justified the pending U.S. arms sale to Taiwan to Chinese President Xi Jinping by downplaying it as just one of many sales Washington makes around the world — even asking Xi if he’d be in the market for U.S. arms, Trump’s ambassador to China said on Sunday. David […]

38 minutes ago

Ohio Sen. Jon Husted speaks at the Republican convention in Dallas, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026. (AP P...

Associated Press

Trump to travel to Ohio to stump for Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican faces competitive challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to visit Ohio on Saturday in support of Sen. Jon Husted as the Republican tries to fend off a competitive challenge from Democratic former Sen. Sherrod Brown. The trip to Vandalia, just north of Dayton, is scheduled to come after stops in Oklahoma on Thursday and Alabama on […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Sheriff: 12 teens wounded in a shootout at a birthday party in Georgia park

MACON, Ga. (AP) — Two groups of people shot at each other during a birthday party at a Georgia city park, resulting in gunshot wounds to 12 teens, a sheriff said Sunday. The shootout occurred early Sunday morning, shortly after midnight, at Carolyn Crayton Park in Macon, Bibb County Sheriff David Davis said during a […]

3 hours ago

President Donald Trump pumps his fist on the first tee box prior to the Presidents Cup golf tournam...

Associated Press

Trump administration begins airing 2024 Trump campaign ad in latest taxpayer-funded messaging

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is using taxpayer funds to air a television advertisement from Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign in the latest in a series of ads promoting the president ahead of the midterms that the White House maintains are “public service announcements.” The 30-second video, which is virtually identical to one that […]

4 hours ago

FILE - A Walmart sign stands outside a store, Sept. 3, 2019, in Walpole, Mass. (AP Photo/Steven Sen...

Associated Press

Walmart says it’s not using personal information to set prices as it expands digital shelf labels

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is aiming to assuage customers’ fears about its new pricing technology as it rolls out digital price labels at its stores. In a statement posted on the company’s website, Walmart Inc.’s CEO John Furner vowed that the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer isn’t using personal information like income, shopping history or a […]

5 hours ago

Associated Press

Hurricane Nolo gains speed as it moves away from Hawaii, but high winds, flash floods are still risk

HILO, Hawaii (AP) — Hurricane Nolo was moving away from the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday, but the threat of heavy rains, flash flooding and strong winds persisted in areas recovering from previous storms. By early Sunday, Nolo was about 260 miles (418 kilometers) southwest of Hawaii’s southernmost point and was moving away from the Big […]

7 hours ago

Hanukkah Affirms History Over Fantasy