The Temple Mount – What next?

The rallying call “al-Aksa Mosque is in danger” didn't just randomly appear here a few weeks ago – in fact, it was a planned statement that has been uttered repeatedly since the 1920s and '30s when the infamous Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini – the same mufti that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently spotlighted as a major force behind Hitler's Final Solution – used it to incite violence against Jews. Husseini's family members have been involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the years. One of his nephews, Abd el-Kader el-Husseini, fell in the battle for Kastel, near Jerusalem. Another one was the last national leader of the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the territories – Faisal Al-Husseini, who died in 2001. The whole family has long been deeply linked with the Muslim holy sites, including the Temple Mount and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. In his publication The al-Aksa in Danger Libel: A Profile of a Lie, scholar and journalist Nadav Shragai states that the first time the libel was launched by the mufti was back in the early 1920s, against the Zionist Movement, against the Jews in the Holy Land and later on, against the State of Israel. Shragai emphasizes that the accusation has no grounding in reality, since not only do Israelis refrain from planning or attempting to damage or destroy the mosque, but rather, “on the Temple Mount, the first and most holy site for the Jews – and the third in its importance for the Muslims – the State of Israel has carefully protected the religious rights of the Muslims, through forbidding the same rights of the Jews, who were never granted the right to pray there, since the outcome of the Six Day War.” Despite the chronic unsubstantiated claims that Israelis plan to damage the site, Israel has consistently acted to preserve and improve the site. For example, Israel facilitated the refurbishing of the Dome of the Rock's signature dome in 1993 with 80 kilograms of gold donated by King Hussein of Jordan. In fact, the only operational change Israel has made on the site has been to allow non-Muslims – including Jews – to visit the place (something forbidden until then), provided that the non-Muslim visitors do not pray there. Almost everyone involved – scholars, religious figures and journalists – agrees: the fear of Israel and/or members of movements promoting the right of Jews to pray on the Mount is a key factor behind the riots and the terror attacks, not only in recent weeks, but throughout the years for nearly a century. It is still too early to say whether Netanyahu's recent statement pledging Israel's re-commitment to the status quo – namely that Muslims may pray at al-Aksa and on the Mount, and Jews and others can visit but not pray – will restore the calm. Asked how he feels about the prime minister's declaration, Yehudah Glick, the most famous activist for prayer rights for Jews, asserts he is more than satisfied. “That is exactly what we have been asking and expecting for the past two years. We didn't expect any significant change in the status quo,” says Glick, adding that for him and most of his companions in the struggle, this will bring all the parties back to the time before the 2013-14 riots and violence on the Mount. The figures are far from being on the Jewish side, he notes: “In 2014 alone, about 3 million Muslims came to al-Aksa and prayed. In the same period of time, barely 12,000 Jews visited the Mount.” With the way things are now, what Glick doesn't say is that he sees things calming down and the violence stopping. “I believe that the Muslim activists behind all this want to set us back to the situation in the 2000s, when for three years, Jews were totally prevented from coming to the Mount. We shouldn't enable that.” Regarding the right to pray at such a crucial site, Glick doesn't sound too concerned. “When a Jew wants to pray, to say a prayer that comes from the bottom of his heart, does he really need to move his lips or bow? Not really; God can hear my prayer even if my lips are sealed. “There are no police in the world that can prevent that prayer. That's the most important point and the reason why I fight to bring as many Jews as possible [to the Temple Mount] every day.”

The Temple Mount – What next?

The State of Israel has carefully protected the religious rights of the Muslims at the Temple Mount, through forbidding the same rights of the Jews.

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The Temple Mount – What next?

The State of Israel has carefully protected the religious rights of the Muslims at the Temple Mount, through forbidding the same rights of the Jews.

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