- US Supreme Court is to decide whether an American Jew born in Jerusalem can list Jerusalem, Israel as his place of birth on his US passport.
- If Jews don't have a right to Jerusalem in spite of their thousands-of-years-old connection to that city, why would descendants from Muslim invaders from the Saudi peninsula have more rights to it?
- Lawyers for the Obama administration compared Israel's ownership of Jerusalem to the Russian takeover of Crimea - in spite of the 3700 years of continuous Jewish relationship with Jerusalem.
- In other words, the White House is legitimizing the invasion and occupation by Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and Turks - and delegitimizing the true owner of the land all along: the Jews.
- Thus we have a the absurdity of a government ruling a country with only a few hundred years of history, built on native land, telling the Jews that they don't have the right to their ancient capital, Jerusalem.
- In a rather bizarre turn Judge Sotomayor appeared to argue that president Obama's belief that Jerusalem does not belong to Israel supersedes the central argument of whether Jerusalem is Israeli or not. She said putting Israel as country of birth would imply the president was lying, since he does not believe it.
- The irony: The current US administration has countered that allowing to put Jerusalem, Israel as place of birth on passports, would harm President Obama’s “credibility” in global affairs - naively implying that there is still any credibility left to protect, after the abysmal failure to protect minorities being ethnically cleansed all over the Mideast. and the increasing mistrust of the US in that part of the world.
Video - JERUSALEM - 4000 years of history in five minutes
Video produced by the Jerusalem Center
Lawyers for the Obama administration compared Israel’s control of Jerusalem to Russian claims over the Ukrainian territory of Crimea during oral arguments this week before the Supreme Court in a case concerning the rights of U.S. citizens to list Jerusalem as part of Israel on their passports.
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| The Zivotofsky family |
U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, who is rumored to be in the running to replace outgoing Attorney General Eric Holder, drew the comparison on Monday while he attempted to convince the Supreme Court that Jerusalem is not officially part of Israel.
The controversial case hinges around Menachem Zivotofsky, who was born in Jerusalem in 2002.
Zivotofsky’s parents requested that Menachem’s U.S. passport bear “Jerusalem, Israel” as his place of birth, a request that was denied by the Obama administration on the basis of its longstanding policy to not recognize the holy city as part of Israel.
The Zivotofsky family sued following the decision and the case has been stuck in judicial limbo since. The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case and initial arguments by both sides were presented this week.
Read more about this case, an outline of the history of Jerusalem, and whether Islam has any legitimate claim to the city.
Additional analysis here:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-jerusalem-passport-case-congressional-role-in-foreign-policy-questioned/
Obama administration lawyers argue that the case infringes on the president’s executive right to conduct foreign policy. By acknowledging Jerusalem as Israeli territory, the White House would lose its credibility in the peace process, as well as its jurisdiction to manage foreign affairs, the government maintains.
Lawyers for the Zivotofsky family disagree.
They argue that a portion of a 2002 law permitting U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to have “Israel” listed as their birthplace supersedes the Obama administration’s policy position on Jerusalem. While the law was signed by former President George W. Bush, he and President Barack Obama have both issued signing statements to avoid implementing the measure.
During Monday’s arguments before the court, Solicitor General Verrilli maintained that a formal acknowledgment of Jerusalem being part of Israel would be tantamount to the United States putting “Crimea, Russia” on a citizen’s passport.
Verrilli was referring to the Ukrainian region of Crimea, which Russia forcefully seized earlier this year.
“The position of the executive [Obama] is that we recognize, as a practical matter, the authority of Israel over West Jerusalem,” Verrilli argued, according to court transcripts. “With respect to the rest of Jerusalem, the issue is far more complicated.”
“I do think, for example, Your Honor,” Verrilli said to Justice Samuel Alito, “if [we] were to start issuing passports to people born in Crimea tomorrow that identified Russia as the country of birth, that would carry obvious implications for our foreign policy position, and it would contradict the foreign policy position in a way that could be quite deleterious.”
As with the disputes over Crimea’s status, stating that Jerusalem is part of Israel also would interfere with the White House’s policy positions, Verrilli argued.
As arguments proceeded in the case, the justices appeared to split along the justices’ traditional conservative and liberal lines.
At multiple points, Justice Sonia Sotamayor appeared to argue that it would be a “lie” for the U.S. government to acknowledge on a passport that Jerusalem is in Israel. Putting “Jerusalem, Israel” on a U.S. passport is a lie since the executive branch does not believe it to be true as a matter of policy, Sotamayor said.
“What they’re asking you [the Zivotofskys] to do is to look—they’re asking the government to lie,” Sotamayor said. She repeated this argument again later in the arguments.
“How could you tell me it’s not a lie?” Sotamayor asked Alyza Lewin, the lawyer representing the Zivotofsky family. “You, the United States, are being asked to put on the passport that you believe the place of birth of this individual is Israel, and the government—and the executive has said, no, we don’t think it was Israel, we think it was Jerusalem.
Lewin maintains that the addition of “Israel” to the passport in question does not constitute official U.S. government “recognition” of Jerusalem as belonging to Israel, and, therefore, does not breach foreign policy pronouncements.
The Obama administration has countered that such a declaration would harm President Obama’s “credibility” in global affairs.
“Foreign governments, foreign peoples will not be able to have complete confidence that the position that the president announces on behalf of the United States is, in fact, the position of the United States,” Verrilli argued.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wondered why the administration would not just submit to the request with an added clarifier stating that it does not reflect official U.S. policy.
Justice Alito also was skeptical that there could be any reasonable “misunderstanding” of the executive branch’s position. “So why will there be any effect on foreign policy except by people who will misunderstand the situation, either because they really don’t understand it or they will exploit it in some way?” he asked.
Court observers have paid particular attention to the case since it focuses on one of the world’s most intractable and hot button problems.
“This case manages to combine two of the things that this administration dislikes the most: Congress and Israel,” Adam J. White, a D.C.-based lawyer and writer, told the Washington Free Beacon.
“The administration’s fundamental position is that if the State Department is required to comply with the statute, then there may be confusion about what President Obama’s position is on the state of Israel,” White explained.
However, “that argument could be politely classified as a ‘legal fiction,’ because no one really questions what President Obama’s policy is toward Israel,” he said. “His administration has made that painfully obvious, and no matter what the Supreme Court decides in this case, President Obama’s position will continue to be obvious throughout the Middle East.”
Source
Additional analysis here:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-jerusalem-passport-case-congressional-role-in-foreign-policy-questioned/
A view of Jerusalem from the Tower of David - Photo National Geographic
Outline of Jerusalem history
The following list of twenty-one dates is a summary of the 3,700-year-old relationship of the Jewish people to Jerusalem.
1738 BCE The first Jew goes to Jerusalem
Abraham, the founding father of the Jewish people, was sent by God to Israel. After arriving in Israel, Abraham went to Jerusalem where he received a blessing from king Melchizedek.
1676 BCE The binding of Isaac
One of the most important events in early Jewish history was when Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac. This took place on Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem.
1590 BCE Jacob’s dream
One of the most important experiences in the life of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, was his mystical dream about a ladder that reached to heaven. This dream took place in Jerusalem.
866 BCE Jerusalem becomes the capital of Israel
King David established Jerusalem as the capitol city of Israel.
825 BCE The first Temple in Jerusalem
King Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple stood for 400 years until being destroyed by the Babylonians.
423 BCE Destruction of first Temple
The Babylonians conquered Israel, destroyed the Temple and exiled the Jews
352 BCE The second Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple was rebuilt and stood for another 400 years.
70 CE The second Temple is destroyed
The Romans destroyed the second Temple.
312 Christianity expels Jews from Jerusalem
The Christians ruled Israel for 300 years and made it illegal for Jews to live in Jerusalem.
638 The Muslims conquered Jerusalem
The Muslims conquered Israel and Jerusalem. Though they allowed Jews to move back into Jerusalem, they also built their mosques atop Judaism’s holiest site—the Temple Mount.
1099 Christians return to Jerusalem
The Christians defeat the Muslims and kill all the Jews in Jerusalem.
From the time of the destruction of the Temple, no foreign ruler paid much attention to Jerusalem and it became a poor, run down city that suffered from a lack of clean water, from disease, and from robbers.
Despite this, Jews everywhere dreamed of returning to Jerusalem and many literally risked their lives to travel and settle there. The Western Wall, the last remnant of the Temple, was the holiest place in Jerusalem for prayer.
1267 A new synagogue in Jerusalem
The Ramban was a great rabbi who was forced to flee Christian persecution in Spain. He went to Jerusalem where he re-established the first synagogue in 150 years. That synagogue became the center of a small new Jewish community and was used for 300 years.
1500 Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura
Though Jews were scattered all over the world, many made heroic efforts to move to Israel and settle in Jerusalem. Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura was a great scholar who moved to Jerusalem.
1517 The Turks conquer Jerusalem
The Turkish empire conquered Israel and Jerusalem and ruled for 400 years until the end or World War I.
1699 Yehuda Hachassid
Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid led 1,000 Jews from Poland to Israel where they settled in Jerusalem. The Yehuda Hachassid synagogue was in use for over 200 years until it was destroyed in1948 by the Jordanians. It is currently being rebuilt.
1742 Rabbi Chaim ibn Attar moves to Jerusalem
Rabbi Chaim Attar, a great scholar and mystic, moved with his family and many of his students from Morocco to Jerusalem.
1777 The Baal Shem Tov
The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, inspired many to emigrate to Israel. In 1777, Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk led a group of 300 Russian Jews to Israel.
1809 The Vilna Gaon
Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna (known as the Vilna Gaon) encouraged his students to move from Lithuania to Israel. From 1809 to the late 1830’s approximately 200 people a year left Lithuania for Israel where most of them settled in Jerusalem. The Vilna Gaon himself tried twice to make the move but was unsuccessful.
1917 The British conquer Jerusalem
England defeated the Turks in World War I and conquered Israel and Jerusalem.
1850 - 1948 The great return to Jerusalem
Over the centuries the Jewish population slowly grew until there were 10,000 Jews living in the city in 1850. (There were also 6,000 Arabs and 4,000 Christians living in the city.) At the end of World War I, the British promised to help the Jewish people rebuild a homeland in Israel. By 1948 there were 650,000 Jews living in Israel and 100,000 in Jerusalem.
1948 The Jordanians destroy the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem
In 1948 Israel fought and won the War of Independence, but it lost Jerusalem to the Jordanian forces. All of the Jews who lived within the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem were either killed or driven out by the Jordanians.
The Jordanians destroyed all of the synagogues in the city and would not allow any Jews to live in Jerusalem or even visit the Western Wall to pray. Israel established its capitol in the new city of Jerusalem that was outside of the walls of the ancient city of Jerusalem.
Computer-generated of Jerusalem in the first century AD with what researchers think the Jewish temple looked like.
Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Quran and Mohammed never set foot on Its soil.
In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire.
More important was the power struggle within Islam itself. The Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphs who controlled Jerusalem wanted to establish an alternative holy site if their rivals blocked access to Mecca.
To enhance the prestige of the ‘substitute Mecca,’ the Jerusalem mosque was named al-Aqsa. It means ‘the furthest mosque’ in Arabic, but has far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of the Quran called “The Night Journey.”
In that passage, Mohammed arrives at ‘al-Aqsa’ on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah, after which Mohammed returns to Mecca.
Still, for 1,300 years, various Islamic dynasties (Syrian, Egyptian and Turkish) continued to govern Jerusalem as part of their overall control of the Land of Israel, disrupted only by the Crusaders.
What is amazing is that over that period, not one Islamic dynasty ever made Jerusalem its capital.
By the 19th century Jerusalem had been so neglected by Islamic rulers that several prominent Western writers who visited Jerusalem were moved to write about it.
French writer Gustav Flaubert, for example, found “ruins everywhere” during his visit in 1850 when it was part of the Turkish Empire (1516-1917).
Seventeen years later Mark Twain wrote that Jerusalem had “become a pauper village.”
Indeed, Jerusalem’s importance in the Islamic world only appears evident when non-Muslims (including the Crusaders, the British and the Jews) control or capture the city. Only at those points in history did Islamic leaders claim Jerusalem as their third most holy city after Mecca and Medina.
That was again the case in 1967, when Israel captured Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem (and the Old City) during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Oddly, the PLO’s National Covenant, written in 1964, never mentioned Jerusalem.
Only after Israel regained control of the entire city did the PLO ‘update’ its Covenant to include Jerusalem.
During their occupation of Jerusalem until the city's liberation in 1967, the Jordanians used Jewish tombstones from Mount of Olives cemetery as latrines, pavement, and other construction.
Arabs destroy Temple Mount Jewish antiquities
Israeli authorities have done nothing to stop them
Arabs used bulldozers to destroy Jewish antiquities, and then disposed of them in garbage dumps. That's where archaeologists found them
Read more
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp483.htm
1967 The Six-Day War and Jerusalem-Yom Yerushalayim
Though the modern state of Israel was born in 1948, for twenty years, Jews were cut off from the heart of Jerusalem. In the spring of 1967, the Arab countries that surround Israel were planning to attack and destroy the Jewish state. Instead of suffering defeat, Israel won the war in just six days.
On June 7, 1967—after almost 2,000 years— Jerusalem was united and the Old City of Jerusalem was once again the capital of the Jewish homeland.
The restoration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel 2,800 years after King David first made it the capital, and 2,000 years after it’s destruction by the Romans, just might be the most incredible event in all of world history.
Source
Computer-generated of Jerusalem in the first century AD with what researchers think the Jewish temple looked like.
Does Islam have any connection to Jerusalem
- Other than their conquest and occupation?
Islam's tenuous connection to Jerusalem
by Eli E. Hertz
Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Quran and Mohammed never set foot on Its soil.
Despite 1,300 years of Muslim Arab rule, Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab entity, nor was it ever mentioned in the Palestine Liberation Organization’s covenant until Israel regained control of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. Overall, the role of Jerusalem in Islam is best understood as the outcome of political exigencies impacting religious belief.
Mohammed, who founded Islam in 622 CE, was born and raised in present-day Saudi Arabia and never set foot in Jerusalem. His connection to the city came years after his death when the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque were built in 688 and 691, respectively, their construction spurred by political and religious rivalries.
In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire.
In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire.
One reason they wanted to erect a holy structure in Jerusalem was to proclaim Islam’s supremacy over Christianity and its most important shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
That was important because the Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, was (and remains today) one of the Five Pillars of Islam. As a result, they built what became known as the Dome of the Rock shrine and the adjacent mosque.
To enhance the prestige of the ‘substitute Mecca,’ the Jerusalem mosque was named al-Aqsa. It means ‘the furthest mosque’ in Arabic, but has far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of the Quran called “The Night Journey.”
In that passage, Mohammed arrives at ‘al-Aqsa’ on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah, after which Mohammed returns to Mecca.
Naming the Jerusalem mosque al-Aqsa was an attempt to say the Dome of the Rock was the very spot from which Mohammed ascended to heaven, thus tying Jerusalem to divine revelation in Islamic belief.
The problem however, is that Mohammed died in the year 632, nearly 50 years before the first construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque was completed.
Jerusalem never replaced the importance of Mecca in the Islamic world. When the Umayyad dynasty fell in 750, Jerusalem also fell into near obscurity for 350 years, until the Crusades. During those centuries, many Islamic sites in Jerusalem fell into disrepair and in 1016 the Dome of the Rock collapsed.
Still, for 1,300 years, various Islamic dynasties (Syrian, Egyptian and Turkish) continued to govern Jerusalem as part of their overall control of the Land of Israel, disrupted only by the Crusaders.
What is amazing is that over that period, not one Islamic dynasty ever made Jerusalem its capital.
By the 19th century Jerusalem had been so neglected by Islamic rulers that several prominent Western writers who visited Jerusalem were moved to write about it.
French writer Gustav Flaubert, for example, found “ruins everywhere” during his visit in 1850 when it was part of the Turkish Empire (1516-1917).
Seventeen years later Mark Twain wrote that Jerusalem had “become a pauper village.”
Indeed, Jerusalem’s importance in the Islamic world only appears evident when non-Muslims (including the Crusaders, the British and the Jews) control or capture the city. Only at those points in history did Islamic leaders claim Jerusalem as their third most holy city after Mecca and Medina.
That was again the case in 1967, when Israel captured Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem (and the Old City) during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Oddly, the PLO’s National Covenant, written in 1964, never mentioned Jerusalem.
Only after Israel regained control of the entire city did the PLO ‘update’ its Covenant to include Jerusalem.
Author Eli E. Hertz is the president of Myths and Facts, an organization devoted to research and publication of information regarding US interests in the world and particularly in the Middle East. Mr. Hertz served as Chairman of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting.
His website - http://www.mythsandfacts.org/
Tags: Jerusalem Basic Law
Source - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14878#.U1dsfJuPKM8
RELATED
Recommended: Short and factual video about the fundamental significance of Jerusalem and Temple Mount for Jews and its very weak link to Islam - in history and doctrine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU9CauJP4Pg
Muslims have no genuine religious respect for the sacredness of the site, which is routinely used as a soccer field and where Arab families go to picnic.
Video of Arab youngsters playing soccer and using dirty language on the Temple Mount
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBv1ARu_8gA
- http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141657#.U1d5D5uPKM8
Tags: Jerusalem Basic Law
Source - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/14878#.U1dsfJuPKM8
Jerusalem at night
RELATED
Recommended: Short and factual video about the fundamental significance of Jerusalem and Temple Mount for Jews and its very weak link to Islam - in history and doctrine
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU9CauJP4Pg
Muslims have no genuine religious respect for the sacredness of the site, which is routinely used as a soccer field and where Arab families go to picnic.
Video of Arab youngsters playing soccer and using dirty language on the Temple Mount
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBv1ARu_8gA
- http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/141657#.U1d5D5uPKM8
- http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/2254/travesties-temple-mount/#gmyQT5S2ZADSlRjz.97
Israel National News archive of Temple Mount reports
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Tag.aspx/493
The Battle over Jerusalem and Temple Mount - Historical background
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=4&x_article=1404
VIRTUAL TOUR of the ancient Jewish Temple of Jerusalem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymffT1M5bg
PICTURES OF JERUSALEM TODAY
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429244/Explore-ancient-mysteries-Jerusalem-Stunning-images-capture-breathtaking-history-enigmatic-beauty-Holy-Land.html
Israel National News archive of Temple Mount reports
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Tag.aspx/493
The Battle over Jerusalem and Temple Mount - Historical background
http://www.camera.org/index.asp?x_context=7&x_issue=4&x_article=1404
VIRTUAL TOUR of the ancient Jewish Temple of Jerusalem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fymffT1M5bg
PICTURES OF JERUSALEM TODAY
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429244/Explore-ancient-mysteries-Jerusalem-Stunning-images-capture-breathtaking-history-enigmatic-beauty-Holy-Land.html
Mark Twain's impressions
When American writer Mark Twain visited Ottoman-occupied Jerusalem and surrounding areas in 1867, he found an impoverished land with very few Arabs.
Read more
Pictures of 19th Century Jerusalem
http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2013/12/19th-century-photos-of-jerusalem-now.html
Jerusalem, Israel's capital, today:
Jerusalem, Israel's capital, today:
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| Jerusalem - Temple Mount |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Muslims the world over pray facing Mecca (that's where the Arab invader originated from) and with their rears to Jerusalem's Temple Mount.
Photo - http://carolineglick.com/
MUSLIM DESECRATION OF SACRED JEWISH SITES
GOES ON TO THIS DAY
JORDAN USED JEWISH TOMBSTONES AS LATRINES
During their occupation of Jerusalem until the city's liberation in 1967, the Jordanians used Jewish tombstones from Mount of Olives cemetery as latrines, pavement, and other construction.
Read more
And here
Palestinians continually desecrate Mount of Olives Jewish graveyard in Jerusalem
Arab terrorists control part of Mount of Olives
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186589#.VFOoh5stCM8
Photos of Mount of Olives - Why it is still in danger - Recent vandalism
http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/02/mount-of-olives-3000-year-old-cemetery.html
Photos of Mount of Olives - Why it is still in danger - Recent vandalism
2014 - Film crew films Muslims dumping trash
on Temple Mount - Watch video
Police and top Israeli authorities are sometimes complicit with the Arabs desecration of Jewish sites and their takeover of Jerusalem.
Muslims claim to consider the Temple Mount a holy site, but have been caught doing some unholy things there - like dumping trash.
Muslims claim to consider the Temple Mount a holy site – but they have been caught doing some very unholy things there. From soccer games to picnics to vandalism, Muslims have historically shown little respect for the site.
But a Jewish group that ascended the Mount in recent days observed what may be the most egregious example of Temple Mount desecration yet – the dumping of trash right on the mount, just meters from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which Muslims claim as their third-holiest site.
The group observed a dump truck about to release its contents, and called police over to intervene. Instead of stopping the truck driver, police filmed the Jewish group, and demanded that they identify themselves. The Jewish group demanded to know the identity of the dumpers, who they said were committing a crime – but to no avail.
Tensions rose and shouting ensued between the police and the Jewish group, while Arabs stood by and observed. Police made no move to stop the Arabs, but began pushing members of the Jewish group off the Mount. Police also refused to identify themselves. Eventually, police detained members of the Jewish group and ushered them off the Mount.
The Temple Mount is Judaism's holiest site. It is the location of the two Holy Temples of Jerusalem - the latter of which was destroyed by the Romans in 70CE - and according to some Jewish traditions it is the point from which the creation of the world began.
Read more
Arabs destroy Temple Mount Jewish antiquities
Israeli authorities have done nothing to stop them
Arabs used bulldozers to destroy Jewish antiquities, and then disposed of them in garbage dumps. That's where archaeologists found them
Read more
http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp483.htm
PRIEST FROM NAZARETH TO THE UN:
ISRAEL ONLY MIDEAST COUNTRY NOT PERSECUTING CHRISTIANS -
Pleads for a stop to the campaign against Israel and to those who want to destroy it
Father Gabriel Naddaf speaking at the United Nations - Watch video
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