Presentation by D. Kelly Ogden about the miracles and the construction of the Jerusalem Center for Near Easter Studies
“At peak construction time, there were about 300 workers onsite. About 60% Arab and 40% Jew. All through the years of the constructions and the operation of the Center, somebody had to show the rest of the people in the Near East, that it is possible to live and work together peacefully. So we have always had Jews and Arab Palestinians and Christians, Latter-day Saints, working together in that Center for years.”
“Mayor Teddy Kollek, one of the most famous mayors ever, in the history of the world, for 27 years was mayor of Jerusalem. He was a strong defender of our cause, that we had a right. He sees Jerusalem as a pluralistic place, that every group has a right to be represented with their building, their institutions, in the the Holy City. He defended our right to be there with an educational facility. He got a lot of letters from all over that land and all over the world, from Jews, wondering what he was doing in supporting what they said was a missionary center… They had all of their placards and posters. Everyday for weeks they would stand outside his office, protesting.
“They even decided that if Mayor Kollek was going to be such a friend of the Mormons, then why doesn’t he run for mayor of Salt Lake City? So they plastered stickers like this all over hundreds of cars all over Jerusalem.”