Palestinians keep freaking over possibility of Israel dividing up the Temple Mount

For decades, every since Israel divided up the Tomb of the Patriarchs into Muslim and Jewish sections to avoid bloodshed, Palestinians have been warning that Israel plans to do the same with the Temple Mount, dividing it up "temporally and spatially." 

Last week, an obscure Likud MP named Amit Halevi gave them lots of ammunition.

A Likud lawmaker is proposing a plan to divide Jerusalem’s Temple Mount between Muslims and Jews and to remove Jordan’s custodial status over the holy site.

Speaking to the Zman Yisrael Hebrew news site, Knesset member Amit Halevi outlined a plan whereby Muslims would control the southern end of the 37-acre complex which contains the Al-Aqsa mosque, while Jews would receive the central and northern area, where the Dome of the Rock sits.

It would also allow Jews to enter from any gate, and it would get rid of the Waqf as custodian of the site. 

Palestinian sites are reporting this as a "draft law" (it isn't) and they are certain that the current Israeli government is planning to do this.

In his weekly cabinet meeting, Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said "taking this step would cause overwhelming anger whose results cannot be controlled, because of the sanctity and religious value that Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes for the Palestinian people and for Arabs and Muslims." 

President of the Palestinian National Council, Ruhi Fattouh, called it "a fascist step by the racist settlement government to impose its control over the city of Jerusalem and its religious and historical places, especially the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque." He also called this a prelude to a religious war that will  ignite the region.

Hamas media today quotes an analyst who says that this plan proves that they were right all along about Israel planning to divide up the area. And there have been daily articles across all Palestinian media railing against this idea. 

The chances of such a plan becoming law is just about zero.  It probably won't even be drafted. 

Not that it is a bad idea. It would be more fair than the absurd situation now. But there is no way it would ever happen. Halevi is a marginal figure in Likud, and I haven't seen any grassroots support for the plan by anyone. 

It is to Palestinians what the "Palestine is Jordan" plan is to Jordan - something they are intensely worried about but for which there is no realistic path. But it gives them endless nourishment for outlandish conspiracy theories. 

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