On Thursday, Vatican representatives for eastern churches Leonardo Sandri and Francesco Patton visited the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa compound.
Cardinal Sandri gave a speech reiterating the Vatican positions on Jerusalem, including this quote from Pope Francis from last March:
We believe it is important to preserve the Holy City of Jerusalem as a common heritage of humanity and above all for the faithful of the three monotheistic religions, as a meeting place and symbol of peaceful coexistence, in which mutual respect is cultivated and dialogue.In response, Sheikh Mohammad Azzam Al-Khatib Al-Tamimi, director general of the Waqf and the Al-Aqsa mosque, responded with an anti-Israel statement that also denied any Jewish connection to Jerusalem at all:
To this end, the specific multi-religious character, the spiritual dimension and the peculiar cultural identity of Jerusalem must be preserved and promoted.
We hope, therefore, that in the Holy City the full freedom of access be granted to the faithful of the three monotheistic religions and the right of each to exercise their own worship, so that in Jerusalem is raised, by their faithful, prayer to God, Creator of all, for a future of peace and fraternity on earth.
I thank the Franciscan delegation of Jerusalem, the Vatican delegation, for this visit and for your solidarity with the authority of the Waqf in Jerusalem, which is experiencing a difficult time due to the continuing Israeli violation against the Al-Aqsa mosque.The "three monotheistic religions" of the Vatican message has been reduced by one by the Muslim representative. He is saying that the Jews have been attacking the holy sites of Jerusalem - and have no right to be there.
Today's meeting has a historical significance and we can say that it follows the previous visits of the Supreme Pontiff Francis, to our properties (Waqf) and to our Al-Aqsa mosque, and it is a clear and solemn message based on Christian-Muslim coexistence and your continued support for preserving the historical status quo in Islamic and Christian shrines according to the agreements established before the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967.
The model of peaceful, Islamic and Christian coexistence in Jerusalem has lasted for 1400 years, but unfortunately we cannot forget, but condemn the wars and attacks against houses of worship, against the faithful and the innocent inhabitants of the Holy City and consider these acts an anomaly in the history of Jerusalem.
He then makes it worse:
This pact, which is known in Arabic as the al-ʿUhda al-ʿUmariyya, has been questioned as to its authenticity, and many versions exist. The seemingly most authoritative version, recorded by al-Tabari, includes:
We take the occasion of this meeting to emphasize our adherence to the principles of the Omar pact, which established the form of the Christian-Muslim relationship on the basis that the Al-Aqsa mosque is exclusively a place of prayer for Muslims, just like the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is of the Christians.
This is the assurance of safety [aman] which the servant of God Umar, the Commander of the Faithful, has given to the people of Jerusalem. He has given them an assurance of safety for themselves, for their property, their churches, their crosses, the sick and healthy of the city and for all the rituals which belong to their religion. Their churches will not be inhabited by Muslims and will not be destroyed. Neither they, nor the land on which they stand, nor their cross, nor their property will be damaged. They will not be forcibly converted. No Jew will live with them in Jerusalem.*When al-Tamimi refers to Umar's promise to Christians he is further erasing Jewish history.
The Vatican officials are of course too polite to object to explicit antisemitism by the Waqf representative in a ceremony meant to celebrate commonality between the two religions. Throwing Jews under the bus is a small price to pay.
Oh, and Arab news sites are reporting Tamimi's words as if the Vatican agrees.
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*Was the antisemitic section really part of Umar's Assurance? Tamimi seems to be saying it is. US-based Islamicity argues it could not have been, but then destroys Tamimi's insistence of Muslim exclusivity on the Temple Mount!
While there is a clause in the treaty regarding the banning of Jews from Jerusalem, its authenticity is debated. One of Umar’s guides in Jerusalem was a Jew named Kaab al-Ahbar. Umar further allowed Jews to worship on the Temple Mount and the Wailing Wall, while the Byzantines banned them from such activities. Thus, the authenticity of the clause regarding Jews is in question.Other sources say that Umar never visited Jerusalem at all, but witnesses saw that Jews were allowed on the Temple Mount and even helped build the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.