[Rubin Report] Barry Rubin - Rumors that Jews were about to seize the Temple Mount led to inflammatory sermons in mosques, followed by massive Arab riots - in August 1929. More than 105 Jews were killed by Arabs; not a single Arab was killed by a Jew. The exact same thing happened - albeit with far fewer casualties - in 1996, 2000, 2009, and at several points in between. Last month, the visit of a French tourist group set off wild rumors that Jews were going to seize the Temple Mount. Passions were inflamed by Islamic clerics who were appointees of the Palestinian Authority and organized by Fatah, Hamas, and Hizb al-Tahrir. Again, days of rioting were set off. In 2000, a brief tour of the Temple Mount by Ariel Sharon - he merely walked through for about an hour, looked around, and then left - was the rationale used to set off an intifada that lasted five years and cost several thousand lives. The salient fact is that 80 years after the 1929 riots, the same scenario has prevailed of demonization and lies about Jews, deliberately inflamed by Arab political and religious forces, which led to Arab violence. The writer is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal.
2009-10-16 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive