Islamizing the Temple Mount

[Mark]

Islamizing the Temple Mount

It’s the House of God. For centuries, Jews have remembered the destruction of the holy Temple in Jerusalem by crushing a glass at weddings or leaving unpainted a patch of wall in their homes. The Temple Mount is the magnificent edifice that has served the faithful as a symbol of God’s glory for 4,000 years. It’s Mount Moriah mentioned in the Book of Genesis. It’s the site where humanity received the gift of monotheism. It’s where God’s “shechina,” or presence, dwelt. Even the secular imagination, Jewish or not, has been shaped by the “Holy of Holies,” the most sacred site of the Jewish people. It’s there that King David raised a sanctuary for the Ark of the Covenant and King Solomon and Herod built the Temples. The Roman emperor Hadrian covered those ruins with a pagan temple to Jupiter; the Crusaders used it as a garbage dump to defile its Jewish significance and turned the area into a stable for their horses; the Arabs later built their own Islamic holy sites on top of those of their defeated enemy.

Many devout Jews today don’t set foot on the Temple Mount, afraid that they may be stepping on the ground covering the ruins of the Holy of Holies, allowed only to the High Priest on Yom Kippur. That is enough to keep them away. But there are those who believe they have a right to pray on the grounds where the Temple stood, particularly on Tisha be’Av, the anniversary of its destruction (Maimonides too prayed there). Though many respected rabbis forbid praying on the Mount, other very important Jewish leaders permit it. And there is a growing and brave movement, led by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Professor Hillel Weiss, which is trying to build awareness among the Israeli public on the Temple Mount. They are leading a historic battle for the rights of the Jews in their most holy site.

In theory, Israel currently controls the Temple Mount. In reality, since 1967, when the Israeli army seized the “holy basin” from Jordanian forces, the Jewish State gave up religious freedom for the Jews. Immediately after the liberation of Jerusalem, then Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan handed over the keys of the Temple Mount to the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust that serves as custodian of the site, which includes four Muslim minarets.

Historically it should be noted that only under Israeli rule was the site open for everyone, Muslims, Christians and Jews. The Islamic Waqf is now attempting to deliberately destroy all evidence of Jewish claims to this site, while using terror and intimidation to impose its exclusive claim to the sacred mountain. The Waqf has proceeded on two fronts: de-Judaize the Mount by archeological destruction and to Islamize it by preventing the Jews from praying there.

Freedom of worship for all religions, including free access to the holy places of all faiths, has always been a cardinal principle of Israel. And by and large, Israel has honored this principle, even under extremely difficult circumstances. It is ironic that Judaism’s holiest site should be the only place in Israel where this principle is violated.

Nothing justifies the infringement of religious rights to the Temple Mount. That infringement undermines respect for the rule of law in Israel by making a mockery of the law that guarantees freedom for all faiths. The Islamic Waqf has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the site. At the entrance, an Arab sign says: “The Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and everything in it is Islamic property.” Today, Jews are barred from praying on the Mount and are not even allowed to carry any holy articles with them. With Muslim clerics supervising visits, Israeli police have frequently arrested Jews for various violations, such as singing or reciting a prayer even in a whisper.

A few days ago Israeli police issued new draconian instructions for non-Muslims who ascend to the Mount. Non-Muslims are now not even permitted to close their eyes while on the Mount or do anything that could be interpreted as praying. Jewish women have been arrested following claims by police and Waqf officials that they were praying on Temple Mount.

Why is it a crime for a Jew to mention God’s name on Temple Mount? And why is the State of Israel complicit in enforcing this anti-Semitic rule?

Lies are obsessive: the Jews, said late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, have never been in Jerusalem and the Temple never existed. This canard has been repeated ever since. Chief Palestinian Justice Sheik Taysir Tamimi declared that the Jewish temples “never existed.” In October 1990, the mere sight of a dozen would-be Jewish worshipers (who had actually been turned away) triggered a blood-drenched Temple Mount riot. The Hebrew language dailies Yediot Aharonot and Arutz Sheva recently revealed that Israel’s “valuable remnants from the two Jewish Temples were thrown away to an improvised garbage dump by members of the Waqf.” Most of the damage was done to the underground space that the Crusaders had termed “Solomon’s Stables.” Located under the Mount’s surface, it was used by ancient Temple priests to store vestments and items. The small room is now used for Muslim prayer. Israeli authorities did not negate the Waqf’s proposal to convert the “stables” into an Islamic praying area, called a “massalam.” An underground chamber with two pillars and an arch from the Second Temple period has already been turned into a mosque, and there are rumors of plans to unify the mosques so as to cover the entire outdoor area. The Waqf also destroyed stonework done by Jewish artisans 2,000 years ago in the underground “double passageway.” The Israeli authorities bowed to the Waqf’s desire to create an emergency exit, only to find that the Islamic body had punched through the outside wall of the Temple Mount.

As early as 1970, the Waqf destroyed the eastern wall of the Herodian Temple complex. Other severe episodes of archeological destruction took place in 1999 and 2007. It was the most massive movement of earth on the Temple Mount in recent times. Remnants of the archeological record have been fished from the Kidron Valley stream bed where the Waqf dumped the earth it removed from the Mount. Instead of working its way down through the site under the close supervision of Israeli archaeologists, the Waqf sent in bulldozers and then trucks to remove the earth by the ton-load. Much of the damage cannot be reversed.

A wall from the outer courtyard of the Second Temple is believed to have been completely pulverized. According to Gabi Barkai, recipient of the Jerusalem Prize for Archaeology, the dirt in the surrounding area is filled with Jewish history from many periods: the Canaanites, the First Temple, the period of the return to Zion from Babylonia, the Second Temple, including the Hashmonaim period and King Herod, and up to now. Finds have included fragments of stone decorated with ornaments from the Second Temple Period, arrowheads from Nebuchadnezzar’s army and also from the Romans, as well as coins and decorations from many periods, jewelry made of various materials, stone and glass squares from floor and wall mosaics. Among the most exciting finds were seal rings, ostracons written in ancient Hebrew script, terra-cotta figurines and a bronze coin dating to the Great Revolt against the Romans bearing the Hebrew phrase, “Freedom of Zion.” The list of the treasures include pot shards, pendants, rings, bracelets, earrings and beads, amulets, icons and statuettes, decorated wall hangings and fragments of decorations from buildings, seals and many other items. The most striking find was a seal impression with letters in the ancient Hebrew script of the last days of the First Temple.

While the Waqf would never allow an archaeological dig on the site, its own destruction continues unabated. The intention is to turn the 36-acre Temple Mount compound into an exclusively Islamic site by erasing every remnant and memory of its Jewish past. It’s an archaeological crime which has been called “cultural Holocaust.” That’s why there is the urgent need of an international campaign aimed to protect Jerusalem’s most holy site. This is the most important battle to any cultured person, regardless of his political and religious identity. It’s the biggest crime against truth.

http://frontpagemag.com/2012/05/31/islamizing-the-temple-mount/2/

[Mark]

Police Ignore Temple Mount Damage, Disrespect

Once again, children are playing soccer on the Temple Mount - and activist Michael Pu'ah is demanding it stop.

On the Temple Mount visitors are often witness to picnics, weddings – and soccer games, with Arab children competing in a sweaty, curse-filled game at the holiest site in Judaism. Many Jewish visitors have complained to authorities about this, with little intervention on the part of police.

On Monday, Michael Pu'ah, a director of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction of the Likud, filmed a soccer game that took place on the Temple Mount. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Pu'ah said that he had complained about this a year ago to Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich, who promised to halt the practice “in accordance with orders by the High Court” that such games not be permitted, Pu'ah said.

In addition to the soccer game, Pu'ah said that he had seen a new set of water faucets – installed in the facade of an ancient building. Such “improvement” require the approval of a special committee, but the Muslim caretakers of the site did not inform anyone that they were going ahead with the work, said Pu'ah. Such work is illegal, as it damages valuable archaelogical treasures, said Pu'ah, “but the police continue to ignore the law and to allow the Waqf, the Muslim trust that controls the Mount, to do as it wishes.”

Earlier Monday, the Knesset Interior Committee's Subcommittee on Temple Mount Issues, led by MK David Tzur, held its first meeting. Speaking at the meeting, Temple Mount rights activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, who is on a hunger strike because of a police order preventing him from visiting the Mount, said that “Jews on the Temple Mount are subject to being arrested for illegal assembly just for being there, to being victims of riots, and to being forced to flee becase of unrest.”

Glick was detained several weeks ago on the Temple Mount after he videotaped a Muslim man who hurled obscene curses at him. After Glick took photographs on the Mount and shared them on the internet, police confiscated his cellular phone and detained him. Only when he agreed to stop sharing photos did police give back his phone. Since then, he has been banned from the site.

“The Temple Mount is the center of my life,” he told MKs. Glick, a professional guide who takes groups up to the Mount, said that “April is my busiest month. I was supposed to lead 20 groups on a visit, and I had to cancel them all. I am on a hunger strike because I expect the members of the committee to do something about this.”

Despite being the holiest site in Judaism, Jewish access to the Temple Mount is very limited - including a blanket ban on Jewish worship there - in what activists condemn as a capitulation to Muslim extremism. Israeli police, in an attempt to appease the Muslim Waqf which was left in charge of the compound after the 1967 Six Day War, ban Jews from praying or performing any other form of worship.

Police sometimes close the Mount to Jews altogether in response to Muslim riots - for days or weeks at a time - despite evidence that such violence is usually planned in advance for the specific purpose of forcing Jews out.

The Waqf's campaign to "Islamize" the Temple Mount by purging any Jewish connection to it has also extended to the vandalism and destruction of ancient Jewish artifacts at the site, which once housed the two Holy Temple of Jerusalem.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179370#.U0LedlehFyI

[Mark]

Hamas Vows Fight to 'Last Drop of Blood' on Temple Mount Friday
Despite Israel's 'gesture' letting 500 Gazans pray on holy site - where Jews forbidden to pray - Hamas calls for Muslim violence.

Apparently Israel's "gesture" to allow 500 Gazans to pray on the Temple Mount on the Eid al-Adha "sacrifice of Ishmael" - which fell on Yom Kippur and Shabbat - wasn't enough to appease the terrorist group Hamas.

Hamas on Thursday threatened to attack Israel on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, this Friday during the Muslim day of rest.

"We will fight till the last drop of blood," Hamas declared in its call for Muslims to gather at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and "defend it."

That call comes shortly after Jerusalem district police decided Thursday to limit entry on Friday to Muslim visitors, allowing only men over 50-years-old out of fear of renewed riots and violence. Police added that forces will be spread out in the eastern parts of the city and the Old City from the morning to prevent rioting.

The latest round comes after Muslim rioters hurled rocks and fireworks at police on Wednesday ahead of the first day of Sukkot, wounding at least four officers.

Jordan, whose Waqf (Islamic trust) maintains de facto control over the site and forbids Jews to pray there, condemned Israel for arresting the attacking rioters.

Arab rioters likewise attacked before Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year), and have recently been stepping up their violence on the holiest site in Judaism as part of a general "silent intifada" that has been hitting Jerusalem hard.

As for Hamas's threats to act on the Temple Mount, their influence on the site has already been revealed.

Shabak (Israel Security Agency) revealed in May that senior Hamas terrorist Mohammed Toameh had been captured and admitted in investigation that the group funds violent riots on the Temple Mount.

Toameh stated that Islamist groups in Israel launder Hamas cash and "donate" it to young Muslims to "study Islam" on the Temple Mount - in fact, they were earning between 4,000 and 5,000 shekels a month to throw rocks when Jews visit the site so as to block Jewish access.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/185998#.VDqKVxYQeeN

[Mark]

Liberate the Temple Mount for Israel's Survival
If Israel does not do something about freedom of prayer on the Mount, its survival is at stake.

Arab spokesmen, unlike their Israeli counterparts, are not ashamed to be “intransigent” or to cherish territory.

Arab spokesmen, unlike most of their Jewish counterparts, are not ashamed to make the Temple Mount the center of their new war against Israel.

Arab spokesmen care so much about the site that they can claim that Abraham wasn’t a Jew, that Jews never had a Temple in Jerusalem, that Jews in Biblical Israel are “the descendants of monkeys and pigs”.

Arab spokesmen were so skillful and able to manipulate history that today the UN, Europe, America and the chattering classes, which have no religion at all, are all reinforcing the Arab claim that any who died on the Temple Mount were martyred defenders of holy places, mowed down by savage, unprovoked “Israeli settlers”.

But the world's feeble attempts to erase Jewish history from Jerusalem and the Land of Israel don't cut the mustard. The contrary proof is simply undeniable and overwhelming. And those who advocate the Arab view are liars and charlatans.

But at this point, only people like Moshe Feiglin can peacefully liberate the Temple Mount. Because Israeli as a nation and as a state is losing the holy site. Those who ascend, like Feiglin and other brave people, are the only obstacle to the Temple Mount's final islamization.

One of those heroes once told me: "I would sell my mother to have a minute of freedom in the Temple Mount".

A few weeks ago, Yehuda Glick was almost murdered for having tried to pray as a free Jew on Temple Mount. Terrorists also planned to target Feiglin and other figures related to the Temple Mount movement. But the Israeli authorities, instead of showing braveness and attachment to their own history, appeased the Arab-Islamic fury and closed the Temple Mount again. It is as if nothing happened in Jerusalem in the past month.

But Jews are stronger than their leaders. A few weeks ago, I visited Jerusalem and I wanted to see the synagogue in Agassi street, Har Nof, where four rabbis had been killed by Israeli Arabs. In the synagogue of the massacre I met a rabbi, Avraham Nadler, who told me: “The terrorists targeted us because we, the religious Jews, are the symbol of unity of the country. We must grow and get stronger after the attack”.

The Israeli authorities must show the same fortitude and moral clarity in front of anti-Semitism and terrorism, which is now focused on Temple Mount.

In 1967, during the Six Day War, after the Arab Legion had placed its batteries on the Temple Mount, but Israel recaptured the holy site. We all know the electrifying cry of Commander Motta Gur: “The Temple Mount is in our hands! The Temple Mount is in our hands”.

But Moshe Dayan handed the keys to the Muslims. He ia said to have done it to ensure freedom of worship, while in fact with that decision he disappointed the expectations of the entire Jewish people. He gave up a goal pursued for 1800 years.

That was the root of the current “status quo”: namely, that only Muslims can pray there and religious Jews are followed by the police and arrested even if they whisper a Psalm, if they stop praying, if they bring religious books, if they take out a paper from their wallet or even if they close their eyes.

This is anti-Semitism. Pure and simple.

Had Israel insisted on Jewish rights of prayer on the Temple Mount in the places judged to be permissible for prayer as Rabbi Goren suggested, or, since not all Torah scholars agree with his findings, insisted on excavations to be sure of the exact places where Jews are allowed to pray, the Jews would be in a different and better situation today.

But it is not too late.

The question of survival that had obsessed the Jews since the destruction of the Second Temple has not been resolved by the establishment of the State of Israel. And it will not be resolved if Israel does not liberate the Temple Mount and let Jews pray there.

Bring freedom to the House of God or prepare to lose the entire State of Israel. Everybody wants to control those few sacred acres. Will the Jews take what is theirs? 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/16149#.VI7bnsmhFyI

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/islamic-leader-urges-muslims-visit-jerusalem-132634249.html
1/5/15
Islamic leader urges Muslims to visit Jerusalem holy site

JERUSALEM (AP) — The head of the world's largest Islamic organization on Monday paid a rare visit to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, urging Muslims to follow suit to strengthen Palestinian claims to the holy site.

The visit by Iyad Madani, secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation, came at a sensitive time following months of tensions surrounding the spot in Jerusalem's Old City. The hilltop compound is revered by Jews and Muslims and is a frequent flashpoint of violence.

Madani is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, an Arab country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and is the guardian of Islam's most important sites. Al-Aqsa is Islam's third-holiest site, after places in the Saudi cities of Mecca and Medina.

"Coming to the mosque is a right for me as well as every Muslim," Madani said. "It is our right to come here and to pray here. No occupation authority should take this right from us."

Israel captured east Jerusalem, including the Old City, in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed the area in a move that is not internationally recognized. The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The hilltop compound housing Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of the dispute over Jerusalem. Known to Jews as the Temple Mount, it is their most sacred place, revered as the home to the ancient Hebrew temples.

The conflicting claims to the site have often spilled over into violence, most recently late last year as visits to the compound by nationalist Jews fueled rumors that Israel was plotting to take it over. Israel angrily denied the claims, but the tensions led to violent protests by Palestinians, Israeli restrictions on Muslim access and a wave of Palestinian attacks that killed 11 people.

While Madani's predecessor, a Turk, also visited Jerusalem, visits by Saudi dignitaries are rare and need to be coordinated with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has encouraged Muslims to visit Jerusalem in solidarity with the Palestinians, despite claims by some religious leaders that the city should be avoided while under Israeli control.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=36322
DAY OF RAGE: HAMAS DECLARES START OF NEW INTIFADA AGAINST ISRAEL
Geoffrey Grider | October 9, 2015 | 15 Comments

“THIS IS FRIDAY, THE DAY OF RAGE. IT IS A DAY THAT WILL REPRESENT THE START OF A NEW INTIFADA IN ALL THE LAND OF PALESTINE” – HAMAS LEADER ISMAIL HANIYA

Israeli troops have opened fire on Palestinian protesters along the Gaza border fence, killing at least six of them, while a Hamas leader proclaimed the start of a new intifada uprising and the two sides braced for protracted confrontation.

In the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s old city, tensions were high as Palestinian residents chafed at Israeli restrictions on who could enter Islam’s third holiest site, the al-Aqsa mosque, and voiced fears they would become the objects of Israeli reprisal attacks for the killing of two people including a settler rabbi, Nehemia Lavi, last Saturday. Seven Israelis were injured in four stabbing attacks on Thursday and an Israeli teenager was slightly wounded in Jerusalem.

hamas-says-start-of-new-intifada-israel-jerusalem-palestine
Israeli security forces fire tear gas grenades towards Palestinian demonstrators during clashes in Bethlehem
In the southern Israeli town of Dimona, an Israeli man stabbed four Arabs, wounding two of them seriously, in what was seen as a revenge attack. In the Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied West Bank, a policeman was stabbed and wounded by a Palestinian who was shot dead by other officers. In the northern town of Afula, security forces shot and wounded an Arab woman after she brandished a knife and tried to stab a security guard, police said.

The violence’s immediate cause is the Palestinian perception that Israel is trying to impose Jewish prayer at the expense of Muslim primacy at al-Aqsa, which is on a site Jews revere as having housed the biblical temples. Israel denies changing the status quo and accuses Palestinian leaders of “inciting” the violence.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that 200 Palestinians approached the border hurling rocks and rolling burning tires at the fence. Troops “responded with fire to the main instigators to prevent their advance and disperse the riot. We can confirm 11 hits. The riot is still ongoing”.

HAMAS CALLS STABBING ATTACK AGAINST ISRAELIS “NEW INTIFADA”



Palestinian witnesses said those killed and wounded had been fired on by army snipers from guard posts along the fence, Reuters reported. Israel imposes a security zone running about 300 metres into the Gaza Strip.

The killings raised the possibility that Hamas or other groups would retaliate with rocket fire from the Strip, creating a second front of the confrontation which has thus far rocked Jerusalem and the West Bank – over 900 Palestinians have been wounded in clashes with Israeli troops. “This level of conflagration and casualties has the prospect for escalation without a doubt,” said Yossi Alpher, former director of the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies. The violence started on 1 October when a settler couple was killed in a shooting in the northern West Bank.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, speaking before the fatalities occurred, said: “This is Friday, the day of rage. It is a day that will represent the start of a new intifada in all the land of Palestine.”

According to Reuters, he described those carrying out stabbings of Israelis as “heroes”. In the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, a sign written apparently by settlers and left at the site of Nehemia Lavi’s killing proclaimed: “Here Stood Accomplices to Murder.” Pointing to it, Palestinian pastry shop owner Mahmoud Sbeih said: “That’s why I’m afraid. They think this whole street is responsible.”  source

[Psalm 51:17]

[Mark]

UNESCO Plans to Declare Temple Mount Holy to 'Muslims Only' -

“Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Yisrael: because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon; Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.” Isaiah 30:12-13 (The Israel Bible™)

Israel on Thursday was outraged to learn that the U.N.’s heritage body was planning to adopt a resolution declaring the Temple Mount sacred to “Muslims only.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) 21-member World Heritage Committee is set to vote on the resolution, a joint Palestinian-Jordanian initiative, during its annual meeting in Istanbul, which began on Sunday and runs through next week. The resolution calls for a return to the “historic status quo” on the Temple Mount, which it sees as favoring Muslims.

In June, UNESCO adopted a resolution deciding to refer to the holy Jerusalem site only by the name of the Muslim mosque on its grounds—Al-Aqsa—in all official documents. The current resolution is far more radical, and to Israel’s surprise, it has received the European Union’s blessing.

Political sources told Israel Hayom that Brussels’ decision to back the move most likely stems from the ongoing crisis between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the EU, which seems to be escalating into an actual rift.

“Israel is very concerned by the EU intent to propose a resolution negating the Jewish people’s link to the Temple Mount. This would be an alternative proposal to the Palestinian draft currently being discussed by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee during its meeting in Istanbul,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The EU’s proposal continues to deny the Jewish people’s historic ties to Temple Mount, despite France’s apology in April, admitting it was wrong to support UNESCO’s decision to address the Temple Mount only as Al-Aqsa mosque.”

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/71978/unesco-plans-declare-temple-mount-holy-muslims/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=60478dcbd2-BIN_morning_7_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-60478dcbd2-86610633#IoFfBvTirQckIyRr.97