Opinion: Why Jews Are Ashamed of Reclaiming Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day

This opinion piece from The Jerusalem Post examines the declining significance of Jerusalem Day within global Jewish communities. The author contrasts the current apathy or embarrassment surrounding the holiday with the profound unity and awe experienced after the Six-Day War in 1967. During that conflict, Israel's victory and the subsequent reunification of Jerusalem were viewed as miraculous civilizational achievements, ending centuries of Jewish exclusion from holy sites like the Western Wall. However, the article argues that hesitation began immediately when Israeli leadership returned administrative control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf. Today, the narrative has shifted; the liberation is often framed through lenses of colonialism and occupation rather than triumph. The author contends that this reframing has caused many Jews to lose their sense of historical pride and sovereignty, treating the return to Jerusalem as morally suspect rather than a historic redemption. The piece serves as a critique of modern Jewish identity politics and a call to reclaim the original emotional and historical weight of the event.