The Temple Mount status quo that never was

Haaretz has an article on a photo exhibition showing pictures of the Temple Mount since the dawn of photography at Jerusalem’s David Citadel Museum. (The article can be seen for free here.)

The article notes:

In the years to come (after 1967) the Temple Mount was photographed by countless Israelis who toured the place. In those years the Waqf didn’t seem to uphold the current so-called “modesty” regulations. Many men and women are seen strolling on the site in shorts, some holding souvenirs or bags after shopping in the Old City.

In the ‘70s the site was used by photographer Mula Eshet as a set for fashion photos for Gottex. In the display, a model wearing a blue dress is photographed on the background of the blue decorations of the Dome of the Rock – a scene hard to envision today.

These details show that the "status quo" of the Temple Mount that is supposedly upheld by the Jordanian Waqf never was. The restrictions on Israelis and Jews visiting the site that exist today, both in terms of clothing and in terms of carrying bags, didn't exist.

One more thing about that 1976 photo of the model.

I have noted on occasion that the Dome of the Rock has throughout the centuries been overrun with weeds, hardly how one would expect a Muslim holy site to be treated. Here's an example from the 1950s:

The Gottex model picture shows that there were weeds pushing through the pavement in the area even as late as 1976.

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