James Blunt Quotes
This will be my first visit [to Israel]. I've heard it's a special place, that Tel Aviv is exciting and that the atmosphere is excellent....I hope I'll have time to visit the holy places.
Barnea, Or. "James Blunt: I hear Tel Aviv is exciting." Ynetnews, Yedioth Internet, 4 Feb. 2008.
The Israeli’s signed a similar agreement at the same time and have honored it ever since. However, the Arabs quickly reneged and would not give Israeli Jews access to the Wailing Wall and the other Jewish Holy sites. When the Arabs again attacked Israel, they were beaten back out of the Holy sites in Jerusalem. The Israel’s have given access to the Holy sites to all religions ever and even allow the Muslims control of the Al Axa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Egypt and Jordan have negotiated peace treaties with Israel.
The Western Wall of the original Jewish Temple in Jerusalem is the holiest place for Jewa. When it was controlled by Jordan, Jews were not allowed to visit and pray at the Wall. However in 1967 the Arab states again attacked Israel in force and when the Israelis defeated the Arabs, the took the portion of Jerusalem that contained the Western Wall. At that point Jews would have access to the wall for prayer or historical purposes. However, in the convoluted politics of Israel where minor religious parties often can topple the government, the administration of the Wall was turned over to an Ultra Orthodox organization, and they barred Women from the Wall. The government would not intervene and the case ended up in the Israeli Supreme Court which ruled that women had to have equal access. The government then offered to create an area where women could pray at the wall while orthodox men could could have their segregated area where they would not risk contact with women. The ultra orthodox still objected as they believed that it was a desecration for women to pray at the wall, so the government stalled, and it took almost a decade before there was progress in having the women’s area opened.
James Hillier Blount, better known as James Blunt, is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. A former reconnaissance officer in the Life Guards regiment of the British Army, he served under NATO during the 1999 Kosovo War. After leaving the military, he rose to fame in 2004 with the release of his debut album Back to Bedlam, achieving worldwide fame with the singles "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover".
