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The Temple Mount in Jerusalem

(New York Times) Shmuel Rosner - The area of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been controlled by Israel since the Six-Day War in 1967. But the Waqf, a Muslim body affiliated with Jordan, handles the day-to-day management of the Mount itself. Unlike most other past conquerors of Jerusalem, Israel did not use the pretext of victory in the war to take full control over the Mount. The Palestinians keep building a campaign of lies around the Temple Mount - by denying any Jewish connection to the site and alleging that Israel seeks to dismantle the mosques on top of the Mount. This campaign presents the Jews as a colonizing force that has no historic, religious or cultural claim to the land. And it has a practical component: utilizing a made-up threat to rally the Arab street against Israel. Jews visiting the Temple Mount are not allowed to pray, to carry with them demonstrably religious objects, to make a blessing, to bow down. Lip movements are monitored. Jews are forced to channel religious expressions to the Western Wall - namely, they are barred from the site where the Temple stood and are relegated to a secondary remnant of a supporting wall of the Mount. The writer is a fellow at The Jewish People Policy Institute.
2014-11-11 00:00:00
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