Tension on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount isn’t
new. The site of both the First and Second Temples in ancient times and al-Aqsa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine today has the potential for friction
built-in.
But what we are increasingly seeing are cynical attempts
to exploit the holy site for a different purpose, for
propaganda rather than peaceful religion. The Palestinian rioters
who desecrated the site by throwing rocks and firecrackers at police and on the
Jewish worshipers gathered at the Western Wall below the Mount, did not go to
the area Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) or al-Aqsa
compound for a spiritual Ramadan experience.
Video footage of clashes between Israeli police and security
forces and Palestinian rioters at the site have gone viral and are often
difficult to watch. There certainly seem to be cases of police overreacting and
attacking Palestinians who appear to be unconnected to the violence.
Nonetheless, what needs to be kept in mind is cause and effect.
The Muslims who stockpiled stones, rocks, logs and firecrackers
in al-Aqsa did not do so for religious purposes. They prepared for a riot – to
attack police and Jewish worshipers – not for prayers. Police did not storm
al-Aqsa Mosque to “conquer” it. They broke in to arrest the rock throwers who
had barricaded themselves inside after Friday prayers. Some of the masked
Palestinians waved Hamas flags and praised arch-terrorist Muhammed Deif as they
tried to bombard the Jewish worshipers who had come to pray at the Western Wall
at the start of the Passover holiday.
With their unholy actions, the rioters are disturbing the
freedom of prayer of everyone, including other Muslims. The vast majority of
the 50,000 or so Muslim worshipers in the al-Aqsa area on Friday came with the
peaceful intention of prayer at Islam’s third holiest site. The fact that so
many thousands were able to gather there shows that Israel is intent on
protecting freedom of worship for the Muslims.
It is Jewish worship that is limited at Judaism’s holiest site.
The Muslim extremists object to any Jewish presence on Temple Mount and now
refer to the entire area as “al-Aqsa” and yesterday they threw rocks at buses
traveling to the Western Wall. Jews who ascend Temple Mount note, however, that
part of the area serves as a soccer field, far from serving religious needs.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority have all accused
Israel of carrying out “provocations” and an “assault” at the site. They are
hoping to turn it into a battle cry. It is easy to rally Muslims everywhere
around the lie that al-Aqsa is in danger and needs defending. The terrorist
organizations are hoping that this becomes as self-fulfilling prophesy.
Stockpiling rocks and weapons in a mosque is a desecration, not
a way of elevating its religious status; similarly, launching rockets in the
direction of Temple Mount does absolutely nothing to “protect” it. On the
contrary.
The Temple Mount is significant to all three monotheistic
religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Thousands of Muslim worshipers
were able to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday, during Ramadan, as a few hundred
Jews also went up to Temple Mount, on Passover, while Christians could be seen
celebrating Easter in Jerusalem.
Israel cannot allow a minority of violent rioters to desecrate
the holy site. Anyone who supports freedom of religion and truly cares about
the Temple Mount should condemn the Arab rioters, not the police.
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