A Celebration of Truth in the City of Peace

For 27 unforgettable months—from July 2019 to September 2021—my wife and I called Jerusalem home. Eight months before COVID-19 changed the world, and the rest during it. To live in Jerusalem during that extraordinary period was to be immersed in the complexity, resilience, and profound beauty of one of the most remarkable cities on earth.

Each year, Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) is celebrated on the 28th of Iyar in the Hebrew calendar—this year falling on 27 May 2025. It marks the reunification of the city in 1967, when Israeli forces gained control of East Jerusalem and, for the first time in millennia, ensured full access to the Old City for people of all faiths. While much of the world obsesses over narratives of division, those of us who have lived in Jerusalem know it is, in fact, a model of religious coexistence—however imperfect—unequalled in the region.

One of the most powerful realities that struck me during my time in Israel was the freedom of worship in Jerusalem. Unlike Mecca and Medina—Islam’s two holiest cities—where non-Muslims are strictly forbidden to enter, Jerusalem welcomes Christians, Muslims, Jews, Baháʼís, and many others. The city is administered by the State of Israel, and under Israeli governance, adherents of all three Abrahamic faiths are free to practise their religion openly and without fear. The status quo on holy sites is maintained with great care. Churches operate freely. The Muslim Waqf manages the Al-Aqsa Mosque. And the Jewish people, after centuries of exile, can again return to the Western Wall.

It goes further. Israel also protects the rights of minorities often forgotten elsewhere in the Middle East: the Baháʼí—whose global centre is in Haifa—and the Circassians, Sunni Muslims originally from the Caucasus, who live peacefully as Israeli citizens with full rights. In a region too often torn apart by sectarianism, Jerusalem under Israeli governance stands as a living rebuke to those who claim religious harmony is impossible.
And yet, the world does not see it that way.

When I lived in Jerusalem, I became increasingly aware of what can only be described as confected outrage directed at the city from afar. I recall reading with incredulity an Australian news article decrying the supposed horrors unfolding in Sheikh Jarrah—a suburb in East Jerusalem. That very night, I had been in the area, farewelling a dear colleague: a remarkable Armenian woman from Jordan who had worked alongside me in a sensitive and high-stakes international mission. The quiet civility of that evening bore no resemblance to the sensationalised accounts peddled by so-called correspondents, many of whom rarely ventured beyond the confines of their ideological echo chambers at the American Colony Hotel.

The same applied to reports about violence at the Damascus Gate or on the Temple Mount. What I witnessed on the ground was usually starkly at odds with the headlines I would later read in Western newspapers. It was as though certain journalists—whether from the BBC, Al Jazeera, or Australian outlets that once had credibility—were actively invested in distorting the truth. Their narratives served not their readers, but their prejudices.
It was during this time that I began to understand the wisdom of the old saying, “You can fool some of the people all of the time.” And many of those being fooled are sitting in newsrooms, universities, and political chambers across the West. This realisation helped spark what is now the 2023 Foundation, a non-Jewish-led initiative I founded to counter antisemitism through lived experience, not lazy dogma. Our model is simple: introduce reasonable, open-minded people to the reality of Israel—its complexity, its challenges, its humanity. We don’t preach. We immerse.

To those seeking a dispassionate and apolitical account of the city’s past, I can’t recommend highly enough Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore. His masterful chronicle of this ancient city’s tumultuous history makes clear that Jerusalem has always been at the crossroads of faith, identity, and empire. Its contemporary status is not a historical aberration, but the latest chapter in an unbroken—and often violent—saga spanning more than 3,000 years.

And yet, Jerusalem endures. The ancient stones of the Old City bear witness to tragedy and triumph alike. On Jerusalem Day, Israelis of all backgrounds—religious and secular, Jewish and Arab—walk its streets, waving flags, singing songs, and affirming a commitment to unity. Yes, there are tensions. Yes, there are flashpoints. But walk the length of Jaffa Road, through the Mahane Yehuda Market, or past the churches of the Holy Sepulchre, and you will see what too few Western pundits ever bother to witness: a city that works.

For my wife and me, Jerusalem was never merely a place of work. It was our happy home. And though we have since returned to Australia, a part of us will always remain there. As the sun sets behind the golden Dome of the Rock, casting its glow over Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives, it becomes clear that Jerusalem is not just a city. It is a living story. And like all great stories, it deserves to be told with honesty.

This Jerusalem Day may more of the world learn to see it not as the caricature drawn by ideologues, but as it truly is: a city of faith, freedom, and fierce resilience.

Colonel Michael Scott CSC is the CEO and Founder of The 2023 Foundation, a charity focused on combatting antisemitism and fostering peaceful coexistence.