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Palestinians' "Temple Denial" Is Deeply Offensive to Jews

(Times of Israel) Dr. Emmanuel Navon - Jerusalem is commonly designated in Islamic sources as Bayit al-Maqdis, which is the Arabic transliteration of the Hebrew Beit Hamikdash (which means "temple"). A travel guide published by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1924 described the Temple Mount as the ancient site of Solomon's Temple. The Palestinians' "Temple denial" is therefore a new phenomenon that contradicts Muslim tradition. It flies in the face of historical evidence (such as Flavius Josephus' The Jewish War, written in 75 CE), and it is deeply offensive to the Jewish faith. The Palestinians' historical denials remain a major obstacle to an agreement on the final status of Jerusalem. Disrespect for other faiths leads to the desecration of their holy places. When east Jerusalem was under Jordanian rule, Jews were denied access to the Western Wall, dozens of synagogues were destroyed, and the Mount of Olives cemetery was desecrated. In the 1990s, the Palestinian Authority vandalized Jewish antiquities underneath the Temple Mount as it built two large mosques there. Only Israeli sovereignty has guaranteed religious freedom and the preservation of the holy places for all. The writer teaches at Tel Aviv University and IDC Herzliya.
2017-12-15 00:00:00
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