Unsurprisingly, Iran often seemed to exist for Obama not as a threat to U.S. interests but as a historical victim of Western imperialism, which supposedly overthrew a “democratically elected” Iranian prime minister and installed the shah. Iran’s repressive theocratic regime seemed less notable for its blatant offenses against its own people, or its efforts to destabilize neighboring states, than for its role as the bête noire of warmongering neoconservatives in the United States, who supported a regional structure that put America on the side of troublemakers such as Israel and Saudi Arabia. Faced with the choice between the Islamic Republic and its enemies, Obama found it surprisingly easy to take the side of the mullahs—putting himself and the United States crossways both to U.S. interests and the hopes and dreams of the Iranian people.
Obama’s big Iran play, which continues to shape U.S. regional policy to this day, was therefore neither “values-driven” nor purely pragmatic. His apparent goal was to extricate the United States from a cycle of endless conflict—one of whose primary causes, as he saw it, was Western imperialism. In doing so, Obama sought to be the first anti-imperialist American president since Dwight Eisenhower, who had backed Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser against the British, French, and Israelis in the 1956 Suez war. (Eisenhower later admitted that backing Nasser and abandoning the United States’ traditional allies had been one of the biggest mistakes of his presidency.)
Yet the Iranians were not, in fact, powerful enough to play the “balancing” role Obama envisioned for them, as their failure to stabilize Syria proved. He therefore stood aside, willingly or not, as the Russians intervened on the Iranian side to bomb the Syrian resistance. For rescuing the Islamic Republic and its allies in Syria, Putin was allowed to invade Crimea and the Donbas with minimal opposition from the Obama administration.
Anti-imperialist narratives were clearly important to Obama, and make sense as products of his unique upbringing. The fact that they utterly failed to correspond to regional realities caused multiple problems on the ground in the Middle East. Obama’s policy of trying to put the United States on the side of his own preferred client states created a slaughter in Syria that in turn led to multiple other slaughters throughout the region. The rise of ISIS was fueled partly in response to vicious Iran-backed attacks against Iraqi and Syrian Sunnis. The shocking rise of the Islamic State required Obama to send U.S. troops into Syria and back into Iraq. It also emboldened Putin, who invaded Ukraine for the third time in 2022.
Obama’s ongoing and catastrophic policy failure, which has blocked the Biden administration from developing any kind of workable strategic vision for dealing with current realities in Iran and throughout the region, demonstrates that substituting American narratives about purity and guilt for hard-power realities is a dangerous business. Ideologically driven anti-Western narratives led the United States to place dangerous and wrongheaded bets on Sunni Islamists and Shiite theocrats at the expense of our own interests and friends. Poorly executed policy led to a fatally flawed nuclear agreement that continues to bedevil the Biden administration and America’s European and Middle Eastern allies. The JCPOA was a big mistake. The longer we refuse to admit that, the higher the price we will continue to pay.
A confidential leaked document, composed by the EU mission in east Jerusalem, shows that the Europeans are actively working with, and on behalf of, the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of the West Bank -- although the area was clearly agreed on, by both Israel and the Palestinians, until further negotiations, to be under Israeli control.
"[T]he EU... insists that its positions are based on meticulous compliance with international law, EU law and charter, and also the Oslo Accord. This claim is surely defied by the leaked document in which we can see an activist EU striving to help the Palestinians take over Area C, the very area that is designated to Israel's control per the Oslo Accord which the EU claims to uphold." — Jenny Aharon, Jerusalem Post, December 28, 2022.
Aharon noted that while the EU was insisting that Israel abide by the Oslo Accords and that a Palestinian state should be established within the framework of a comprehensive peace agreement, the EU, at the same time, is trying to strip Israel of its rights according to that same agreement, which gave Israel responsibility over security, public order and all issues related to territory, including planning and zoning, in Area C.
The EU, in short, is encouraging the Palestinians not to return to the negotiating table with Israel. Instead, the EU is telling the Palestinians that the EU will help them steal land as an alternative to reaching a peaceful settlement with Israel through negotiations.
"The EU's reported clandestine activity to undermine Israeli control in Area C and to advance illegal Palestinian development in those areas constitutes a clear and present threat to the security of the State of Israel, and is an act of blatant hostility and aggression." — Letter from the Israel Defense and Security Forum, consisting of 16,000 former military, security and police officers; i24 News, December 21, 2022.
"As this document confirms, Europe's use of labels like support for 'civil society' and 'human rights' were designed to hide the millions of euros given every year to selected allied NGOs, particularly in Area C, to create facts on the ground." — Dr. Gerald Steinberg, quoted by JNS, January 5, 2023.
These revelations show that no one should be surprised when the E.U. condemns the new government for trying to save land in Yehuda and Shomron [the West Bank] — they [the EU and Palestinians] are the ones responsible for stealing it. – Dr. Eugene Kontorovich, quoted by JNS, January 5, 2023.
In 2022, illegal Palestinian construction in Area C increased by 80%. The report documents 5,535 new illegal structures built in 2022, compared to 3,076 structures in the same period in 2021. — Regavim, October 11, 2022.
The Sages said: “There are three places about which the nations of the world cannot deceive Israel and say we have stolen them out of their hands, and they are the Cave of the Patriarchs, the Temple and the Tomb of Joseph.” All three sites were purchased by our forefathers, Abraham, Jacob, and King David, at a fair price.
“There are three places about which the nations of the world cannot deceive Israel and say we have stolen them out of their hands, and they are the Cave of the Patriarchs, the Temple and the Tomb of Joseph.”
The Sages
The First Temple stood proudly on the Temple Mount, 1,500 years before the Prophet Muhammad was even born.
It goes without saying that security and diplomatic acumen are extremely important, but we cannot forget the basic facts. We Jews are not guests on the Temple Mount; we are its original owners. No other nation shares this history, no other nation has had the same capital for 3,000 years and has never had another one, and Jerusalem was never the capital of any other nation.
The criticism aimed at Israel is ludicrous and outrageous. It ignores the 3,000-year connection between the people of Israel and Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
Jordan’s audacious response of summoning the Israeli ambassador for a reprimand is particularly egregious. What is the Jordanian royal house anyway? A Saudi Arabian family that ruled the Islamic holy places in the Hejaz, Mecca and Medina, for hundreds of years. When it was defeated almost a century ago by the Al Saud family, it fled.
The British, to whom the family offered its services against the Turks in World War I, found it a new job and established the “Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” in a bid to maintain an open route to the oil fields in Iraq. The royal family, which lived very well at the expense of the British taxpayer, protected British interests in the region.
The peace agreement between Israel and Jordan stipulates that Jordan has a “special role” at holy shrines in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.
That’s ridiculous. What is Jordan’s connection to the Temple Mount? Does the fact that Jordan conquered east Jerusalem in the War of Independence, razed the Jewish Quarter along with its synagogues, and ruled over it for 19 years give it some sort of special privileges?
Dear President Abbas: Mazal Tov, Mabrouk and Congrats on entering the ???????? ???????? of your ?? ???????? term as Palestinian President. ????
A member of Jordan's parliament on Wednesday said that Jordanians would become "suicide bombers" for the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in response to the previous day's visit to the Temple Mount by Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Using an antisemitic reference to Jews as "the sons of monkeys and pigs," Yanal Abd al-Salam Nour al-Din al-Fraihat said in a speech at Jordan's national assembly in the capital Amman that "the response of the Palestinian and Jordanian people at the moment is only talk, but this is a volcano and soon the response will be with lead bullets."
Here's the video with Hebrew subtitles.
He wasn't the only Jordanian lawmaker who used the "monkeys and pigs" phrase.
MP Khalil Attia condemned the "stinky-yahu" government (apparently an Arabic pun on Netanyahu) for Itamar Ben-Gvir's peaceful walk on the Temple Mount, also referring to him as the "grandson of monkeys and pigs" who "infiltrated Al Aqsa like women."
He said this while a woman MP was sitting right in front of him.
Have you noticed that ordinary Palestinians are not rioting over this? All of the inflammatory rhetoric is coming from politicians and pundits who keep predicting an earthquake. And they seem a bit disappointed that it hasn't happened. It's been two days and their confident predictions are looking rather foolish.
The always moronic Jonathan Cook, writing in Middle East Eye, regretfully notes that "Ben-Gvir’s visit has passed, at least so far, without a significant Palestinian backlash" but claims that this only means that Ben Gvir is about to launch a "holy war" against Palestinians. He then gives this priceless piece of "analysis:"
The precedent he was drawing on was the visit to Al-Aqsa in September 2000 of then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon backed by 1,000 members of Israel’s security forces, over the opposition of the Jerusalem police.
That incursion triggered a Palestinian uprising, the Second Intifada, justifying years of crushing Israeli military repression.... Ben-Gvir might be angling to provoke a similar confrontation to provide a pretext for finishing off what’s left of the PA.
Cook thinks that Israel wanted and even planned the second intifada, sacrificing a thousand citizens just to weaken the PA. That is classic projection - the Palestinians may act that way, but Israel actually cares about the lives of its citizens.
Haaretz' Jack Khoury has a different theory. He writes, "The lack of Palestinian response in Jerusalem can perhaps be explained by the fact that it doesn’t depend on those leaders. Neither the Palestinian Authority nor Hamas have an organizational infrastructure in Jerusalem that can dictate the public agenda and bring masses out to the streets."
Which means he is admitting that those "spontaneous protests" are really scripted out by Hamas and the PA, and do not reflect the actual feelings of the people, who care as little about another Jew walking on the Temple Mount as they did about Trump's Jerusalem embassy move.
But don't worry, Khoury says: "What passed quietly on Tuesday is no guarantee for what may develop tomorrow or in the near future."
The third intifada has always had a large cheering section, trying to goad the people who would suffer from its effects into violence.
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The Arab Center in Washington, DC published a paper by Mounir Marjieh that described the "status quo" on the Temple Mount, and of course accused Israel of violating it.
Marjieh's honesty is suspect from the start:
Since the 19th century, the Al-Aqsa compound has been governed by a Status Quo arrangement, a modus vivendi that prevents discord among conflicting parties. Accordingly, Al-Aqsa’s administration belongs to a Muslim institution, the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, which is under the custodianship of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. This custodianship has repeatedly been reaffirmed and recognized by the international community, including the United Nations, UNESCO, the Arab League, the European Union, Russia, and the United States, and was officially recognized in the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan.
Actually, Israel 's treaty with Jordan doesn't say anything about "custodianship," only that Israel will "respect" Jordan's "special role" in Muslim (not Christian) holy sites in Jerusalem. The language makes clear that Israel is the one that makes decisions, not Jordan. Furthermore, the language implies that Jews can pray in the Temple Mount by referring to " freedom of access to places of religious and historical significance" and "freedom of religious worship, and tolerance and peace."
Jordan's signature on the treaty makes it binding international law.
Now let's look at his description of what the status quo supposedly is, which seems a bit inconsistent and contradictory.
After many disputes among European states in the 19th century for control over various holy sites in Jerusalem, the Ottoman Empire issued a series of decrees to regulate the administration of Christian holy sites by determining the powers and rights of various denominations in these places. The most important of these decrees was an 1852 firman by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I, which preserved the possession and division of Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and forbade any alterations to the status of these sites. This arrangement became known as the Status Quo.
In 1878, the Status Quo was internationally recognized in the Treaty of Berlin, which was signed between European powers and the Ottoman Empire following the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Article 62 of the treaty stated that: “It is well understood that no alteration can be made to the status quo in the holy places.” Article 62 of the Berlin Treaty extended the Status Quo to include all holy places and not only Christian sites. The Status Quo arrangement is a unique and delicate legal system that contains a specific set of rights and obligations that were created over centuries of practice and are now considered binding international law. It therefore supersedes any and all aspects of domestic law.
The Imperial Firman of 1852 only concerns itself with Christian holy places, not the Temple Mount.
The Treaty of Berlin does not refer to the firman in any way. It does mention a status quo, without giving details of what it is. However, it can easily be read to say that Jews have the absolute right to worship in their holy places, including the Temple Mount. Article 62 says:
The Sublime Porte having expressed the intention to maintain the
principle of religious liberty, and give it the widest scope, the Contracting Parties take note of this spontaneous declaration.
In no part of the Ottoman Empire shall difference of religion be alleged
against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity as regards the
discharge of civil and political rights, admission to the public employments, functions and honours, or the exercise of the various professions
and industries.
All persons shall be admitted, without distinction of religion, to give
evidence before the tribunals.
The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship are assured
to all, and no hindrance shall be offered either to the hierarchical organization of the various communions or to their relations with their spiritual
chiefs. ...
The rights possessed by France are expressly reserved, and it is well understood that no alterations can be made in the status quo in the Holy Places.
So we have a contradiction: the Treaty of Berlin says it supports freedom of worship, but also the status quo must not be changed.
Whatever that is. (The placement of that phrase in a paragraph about France implies that the "status quo" comment is only referring to Christian holy places.)
The Ottomans banned all non-Muslims from the Temple Mount until the early part of the 19th century. Marjieh claims that the status quo was "created over centuries of practice and are now considered binding international law." But if it was created over centuries, and for most of that time non-Muslims could not ascend, doesn't that mean that the status quo allows non-Muslims to be banned forever?
Moreover, Marjieh adds another dimension to his definition of the status quo:
Until August 2000, and despite occasional breaches and escalations, the Status Quo functioned relatively smoothly, with the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf collecting small fees from non-Muslims and tourists, who were allowed to enter the holy site provided they followed the rules of the Waqf....
[Now,] Temple Mount groups and Israeli extremists enter from al-Magharbeh Gate as well, and the Waqf is prohibited from preventing them from entering the site. The Waqf can no longer prevent Israelis in military fatigues from entering, although this act is banned per the mosque’s regulations.
So now the Status Quo is defined not as "the conditions for centuries before the Treaty of Berlin" but as "whatever the Waqf decides it is." The Waqf used to ban Jews and Christians, then they allowed them for a fee, then they came up with a rule to exclude religious Jews (as Marjeih complains that cannot do under horrible Israeli law.)
According to this new theory, the Status Quo is subject to the whims of the most extremist Muslims in Jerusalem.
If it can change for any reason, it is not a status quo by definition.
However, as mentioned, both the Treaty of Berlin, and the Israel/Jordan peace treaty, as well as numerous instruments of international law, guarantee freedom of worship for all. None of them say that you can define a space that has been historically the holiest spot on Judaism as an exclusively Muslim place of worship.
According to the Arab Center, the status quo means that the Muslims can make up any rules they want - and that this is international law. It doesn't take much to show that this argument is not only false but nonsensical and contrary to actual, signed international treaties and conventions - including the one they use as Exhibit A.
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It’s not about what Israel does, but about what Israel is and represents. That’s why many oppose Israel and support its enemies.
Attempts to find “solutions” were based on leftist assumptions that in order to have peace, Israel must make compromises and concessions. This was the basis of the Oslo Accords that legitimized the PLO and created the Palestinian Authority. The “peace process” was a hoax, a hype to bring Arafat and the PLO back to Israel and empower them.
This confused way of thinking persists. It is the basis of what is called the “two-state-solution,” (2SS) an independent Arab Palestinian state based on the 1949 Armistice lines, and support for United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
In response to threats from the EU, UN, and even the Biden administration, Israel concedes, which always leads to more problems. The IDF, COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) and police destroyed Jewish property for no rational reason and restrict building in settlements. Israeli leaders (including Netanyahu) went along with the fraud of trying to appease the Palestinians and those who supported them. Why should this absurdity continue? Who does it serve?
Jews who live in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem are not “occupying Palestinian territory.” It is not “illegal,” and there is no basis for this accusation. Jews should be protected and encouraged wherever they live. That’s what Zionism means. That’s what the new government will hopefully do. Some are opposed, and some call for a “civil war.”
Our recent elections indicated that most Israelis want a realistic agenda that ensures their safety and security. Dealing with Palestinian terrorism is our first and foremost concern, and – as many understand, the PA/Hamas are unwilling and unable to stop it. Palestinian identity was and is based on a “one-state solution” – “from the river to the sea.” This goal, enabled and facilitated by the Oslo Accords, is why resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains elusive.
The most practical and realistic alternative to the 2SS is to recognize Jordan as the homeland of the Palestinians – all of those who want to live in peace. Engaging in and supporting terrorism and seeking Israel’s destruction is simply not an option. The conflict cannot be resolved, but it can be ended by understanding why it exists.
The 67 nations and 33 agencies which aid UNWRA do not demand a change in its policies that support the perpetuation of conflict. Op-ed.
Realizing the extent of incitement in UNRWA schools and summer camps, the Trump administration cut US funding to UNWRA in 2018 for lack of “accountability.” The Biden administration has resumed funding but only under the condition that its education curriculum is for peace.
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the UN, Gilad Erdan called for “countries to freeze contributions until UNRWA teachers expressing support terror are fired”. But the funding continues.
In 1967, following Israel’s victory in the Six Day War, when the IDF took control of the Arab populations of Judea and Samaria and Gaza, school textbooks used by Palestinian Arabs rejected Israel’s existence and incited violence. But, then placed under Israeli administration of COGAT,(Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), new text books were implemented.
However, the signing of the Oslo accords on September 13, 1993, which would give the Palestinian Authority control over education in territories which they administered as a result of the agreements, saw a steady deterioration in the curriculum. Incitement to violence against Israel again abounded in what was supposed to be the beginnings of a process of reconciliation. With the OSLO Accords came the deterioration of UNWRA sponsored institutions, as anti-Israel propaganda proliferated in the territories.
Since Oslo, donor countries have not demanded accountability. Journalist, David Bedein who heads the Israel Resource News Agency and the author of ‘UNRWA Roadblock to Peace’, stated that when he posed the question to thirty-five of the sixty-seven nation which fund UNRWA, as to how they track the funds and where they are going, “they replied that they rely upon the rigorous oversight of UNRWA.”
Today, UNRWA facilities primes tomorrow’s generation for conflict. UNRWA should be seeking real solutions to what was the rejection by Arab nations of the partition of the land in 1947, according to UN resolution 181. Their leaders’ statements denying culpability belies their agenda, which is to allow perpetuation of conflict and the continued hope by Palestinian Arabs to flood Israel with refugees.
Iran warned France on Wednesday it would respond after “insulting” cartoons depicting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The weekly had published dozens of cartoons on the same day ridiculing the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic.
The magazine said the cartoons were part of a competition it launched in December in support of the protests triggered by the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian Kurd who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
“The insulting and indecent act of a French publication in publishing cartoons against the religious and political authority will not go without an effective and decisive response,” tweeted Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
“We will not allow the French government to go beyond its bounds. They have definitely chosen the wrong path.”
The French magazine said the contest aimed “to support the struggle of Iranians who are fighting for their freedom.”
Palestinians are gathering excuses to attack Israel next Sunday, Jerusalem Day.
Ma'an is not affiliated with any terror organization. Yet even that news outlet is saying that there is no reasonable alternative to attacking Israeli Jews next Sunday with rockets, terrorism or both.
Last year's Jerusalem Day was marked with Hamas rockets towards Jerusalem - endangering the very holy places that Muslims claim are so important to them. To Palestinians, the war was a net positive because it showed that they could still affect Israel and stop Jews from celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem.
They don't look at a war that killed hundreds and that destroyed part of Gaza as a loss - to them, it was a victory, and Hamas rode a wave of popularity for months afterwards, as it took on the mantle of "defender of Al Quds and Al Aqsa."
All the Palestinians need is an excuse to repeat their purported victory. And they are collecting them.
1.) The march itself, which is an unacceptable provocation to the feelings of millions of Muslims.
2.) A court decision, not being enforced by Israeli police, allowing Jews to pray aloud on the Temple Mount.
3.) Jews continuing to visit and silently pray at the holy site, as they have done for years now.
4.) "Price tag" attacks by far right settlers, even though they are denounced by almost all Jews.
5.) Naftali Bennett not even mentioning Palestinians at his UN speech last September, which they find disrespectful.
6.) Israel rooting out terror cells in Jenin.
7.) The death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
8.) Israeli police attacking people trying to take her body on a different route at her funeral.
9.) The US taking Kahana Chai off the list of terrorist organizations.
None of these are remotely a reason to start attacking Jewish civilians. But in the Palestinian honor/shame system, not attacking Jews is being framed as unacceptable and shameful.
The editorial ends with not a threat but a virtual promise:
The statement of the Palestinian Authority and the statement of the Kingdom of Jordan to hold the occupation responsible for the upcoming religious war represents more than a warning of what will happen.
The question is no longer if a new battle will take place next Sunday. Rather, the more accurate question: What is the miracle that can prevent the occurrence of such a battle?
Palestinians are being primed in all their media for a war.
Israel needs to plan accordingly. And it should say, in no uncertain terms, that while the accusations against Israel are false and exaggerated, anyone who starts a war on May 29 will not be pleased with the outcome.
And it needs to publicize and translate the threats today, not next week.
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This week's events on the Temple Mount were significantly different from what has been the pattern lately.
In the run up to Israeli police allowing Jews to resume visiting the holy site, one Temple Mount group called on visitors to unfurl the Israeli flag and sing songs during their visit. This caused huge headlines in the Palestinian and Jordanian media, with Hamas and Fatah threatening major repercussions - including a religious war - if something like that was allowed.
The Israeli police issued a statement saying that the status quo will be respected.
In the April riots, violence was instigated by the Palestinians against the police, Israeli police responded, and the response was used as an excuse for inciting the Arab world.
Today, the opposite occurred.
There were some incidents of Palestinians attacking the police and some response. It did not escalate.
Muslims jeered the Jews, chanting, "With our souls and our blood, we will redeem you, Al Aqsa" and "Allah hu Abkar" as police kept them away.
But more than that, the Temple groups did exactly what they said they would. At least two Israeli flags were unfurled, both apparently immediately confiscated by police. The Israeli national anthem Hatikva was sung.
This video shows the young man escorted out of the Mount as those with him sing Hatikva.
In a second incident, this video shows a man taking out a small flag and displaying it. The group then sings Hatikva without apparent police interference as they tour.
These are widely shared on Palestinian media.
Yet instead of declaring the promised jihad, the usual incendiary Palestinian Islamist officials are declaring victory.
The preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, claimed that the Jews were unable to raise any Israeli flags due to the brave chanters. He said: "The intruders entered Al-Aqsa Mosque but they were afraid and changed the course of their incursions and shortened them because the occupation forces are unable to control Al-Aqsa despite the intensity of their presence."
Sabri added: "The Al-Mourabitoun in Al-Aqsa foiled their attempts at sacrifices on Passover, and they are now failing in the issue of flags and were not able to bring them to Al-Aqsa."
Leading Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a member of the Hamas politburo, said, "It is clear that the occupation security services have controlled the matter and do not want to escalate because the experience of Saif Al-Quds [last year's Gaza war] is clear and present to them....It is clear that the occupation is not interested in the recurrence of the experience of Saif Al-Quds, because its consequences were devastating for it."
Last month, the Palestinian leaders instigated violence by pretending that Jews did something they didn't. Today, they seem to be tamping down violence by claiming the Jews were not successful in something they actually did.
Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount who usually sing after exiting the area get more coverage than the ones who actually sang on the Mount today.
It appears that either the Israeli authorities managed to get a message out to the usual inciters behind the scenes, or the Islamists are not as interested in starting a holy war as they claim.
Either way, what could have easily devolved into more serious violence has been treated with the indifference that should go with Jews waving flags or singing their national anthem in their holiest site.
UPDATE: A third incident:
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As Palestinian officials have been threatening a religious war if Jews go to the Temple Mount on Thursday and unfurl and Israeli flag while singing songs, Israeli police issued a statement that no such thing will happen.
Most Palestinian media are not publishing the denial, instead concentrating on the incitement and urging Arabs to come en masse and "defend al Aqsa." But some Palestinian arabic news media are reporting the Israeli police denial that any provocative actions will happen.
The articles put quote marks around the statement, but it is not even close to what the police statement said.
We call on the public not to listen to fake news and this wild incitement, which is mostly spread on social media by hostile parties with a foreign interest. It will be clarified that there is no change and no change is planned in the status quo that has existed for many years on the Temple Mount and the holy places in general, both in the context of Muslim prayers there or of tourist visits from abroad and Israelis according to accepted visiting hours. Anyone who upsets the order, incites violence, riots and acts of violence of any kind - will be treated harshly and with zero tolerance. Any support, identification or activity within the framework of terrorist organizations will be handled by the security forces with determination and with all the forces and means at our disposal.
"No change will be made in the arrangements for the Jews to storm Al-Aqsa tomorrow,. These procedures have been followed for years. There will be no change in the settlers' behavior in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa tomorrow, and there is no change to the status quo, and that the settlers' incursions are part of the procedures followed for years and at specific hours."
They even lie with quotes!
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According to report, Israel is planning to allow Jews to return to the Temple Mount on Thursday, Yom Haatzmaut, after banning them for the last week of Ramadan and for Eid al-Fitr.
And naturally the Palestinians are calling to block that from happening.
The National Commission for the Support and Support of Our Palestinian People in the Occupied Interior called upon the masses of the 1948-occupied lands, and everyone who could reach Jerusalem, to mobilize and march Thursday to the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque to protect it from the crimes of the Zionists and prevent them from entering and desecrating it.
A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad Movement in the West Bank, Tariq Ezzedine, said, "We will not allow settlers to violate Al-Aqsa and impose a fait accompli."
Hamas spokesman Abdel Latif al-Qanou said, "The occupation's allowing settlers to storm Al-Aqsa next Thursday is a detonator for a new confrontation with the occupation....We call upon the Palestinian people in Jerusalem to confront the settlers' mobs, and to thwart the storming attempts to be carried out Thursday."
And Hamas issued an official statement saying that allowing Jews to visit the site is “playing with fire for which the occupation government bears the responsibility.”
Maher Mezher, a member of the Central Committee of the PFLP, said that Palestinian militant groups will not stand idly by, saying, "They will defend the sanctities at all costs."
Hussein Al-Sheikh, a member of the Executive Committee of the PLO, said that if Jews raise the Israeli flag and sing songs in the Haram al-Sharif - something the police would not allow - it could ignite a religious war in the region.
The incitement is constant.
And it can easily cause Arab violence.
And when it does - the world blames the Jews.
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Jordan has fully backed not only the desecration of Al Aqsa by Palestinians, but also the antisemitic incitement and lies that accompany it.
From Jordan's Al Anbat News as well as Ammon News, credited to the official Jordanian Petra news agency, here are excerpts of a long article filled with antisemitic lies and incitement by interviewing "experts."
Professor of Political Science at Hebron University, Dr. Imad Al-Bishtawi, in an interview with Petra via Messenger, confirms that the Israeli attacks are getting fiercer in the month of Ramadan, against the background of Israeli allegations and myths that have no basis in order to reproduce the history of the Palestinian place according to the biblical vision that hates Arabs and Muslims.
The Israelis claim that there is a structure under the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which calls for a unified Arab and Islamic stance regarding this ugly Talmudic nonsense, according to Al-Bishtawi.
He added, “Israel cannot make peace in its true objective sense, as it wants Arab and Islamic surrender with its narrative that says the existence of the temple, which therefore means the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the destruction of history from its roots, especially since Al-Aqsa is the cornerstone of the concept of Palestine’s existence and the escalation of its resistance to sweeping the occupation and defeating its project.” .
For his part, the Secretary-General of the Jordanian Academic Campaign to Support the Rights of the Palestinian People, Dr. Muhammad Al-Masalha, said that what is happening in Al-Aqsa is a Zionist conspiracy linked to the Jewish thought that wants to seize the sanctities. Al-Masalha, head of the Parliamentary Studies Center (Damia), said that they call the Al-Aqsa area the Temple Mount, which is evidence that they want to own this mosque and the mountain on which it resides, which means that they link the political dimension with the religious dimension. They always talk about the Temple Mount and the Kingdom of Solomon and other superstitions, which is evidence of linking their illusions to this place, in an effort to strip the historical Arab identity of the place.
Political analyst and specialist in the Palestinian issue, Dr. Ahmed Said Nofal, said that the Israeli incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially during the month of Ramadan, carry in their meanings a disregard for the feelings of Arabs, Muslims and the Palestinian people who are suffering horrors under the Zionist occupation. Nofal, a professor of political science, pointed out that what is happening at Al-Aqsa is part of a series of official Israeli attacks on Islamic and Christian sanctities, and in order to understand the whole picture, not fragmented, the Zionist presence in Palestine is not directed against Al-Aqsa or the Church of the Resurrection only, but is against the Palestinian presence as a whole and against the Arab existence and even against the Islamic existence, by just talking about the attacks on the sanctity of prayer and worshippers, pointing out that the truth is that Palestine is occupied and Israel is an actual ugly embodiment of the most hateful forms of occupation that will only be removed by continuous confrontation.
The Secretary-General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs, Abdullah Kanaan, indicates that the Israeli occupation continues its colonial approach in the city of Jerusalem with the aim of Judaizing it and expelling its Arab people, and based on the false mythological Talmudic narrative, which falsely says that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif is the alleged Temple Mount.
Extremist groups (Temple organizations), and with the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, repeatedly stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and constantly endeavored to establish Talmudic rituals in the courtyards of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to the rituals they conduct at Al-Buraq Wall (the western wall) of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He said that their false pretext for storming Al-Aqsa Mosque is the celebration of the Jewish religious holidays, which have become a dangerous date to justify the attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem, especially what accompanies these Jewish holidays in terms of restrictions on Jerusalemites and the brutal attack on worshipers and those who stationed in Al-Aqsa.
The Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs confirms that the true, non-false history, facts and archaeological evidence, including research conducted by Western and Jewish scholars In addition to the international legal resolutions, explicitly demonstrate the Arabism of the city of Jerusalem, the Islamicness of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the absence of any relationship for the Jews with it.
Keep in mind that Jordan's own Waqf guards were the only people supposed to be maintaining order on Al Aqsa before during the riots - and they didn't do a thing to stop Palestinians from preparing and stockpiling rocks and fireworks. In all probability, they facilitated the violent rioting.
When Jordanian officials appeal for "calm," they mean they want to physically bar Jews and Israelis from Judaism's holiest site.
Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!
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This week is the holiday of Purim, celebrating the salvation of Jews from the schemes of the Persian Empire and its evil vizier Haman to destroy them.
Hamas, which shares Haman's desire to destroy the Jews, is now telling Palestinians to attack any Jews who want to visit the Temple Mount this week for the occasion.
Mohammed Hamada, a Hamas spokesman, issued a statement saying that Hamas "warns the occupation and its colonial settlers against desecrating the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the so-called “Feast of Purim” amid its calls for storming the Mosque on 16th and 17th of March."
He said that "the occupation's desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a crime and violation of all heavenly norms and laws, and a direct provocation to our Islamic nation."
Jews visit the site every Sunday through Thursday, and for the past few years they have even been quietly praying there, without incident. But Muslim fanatics want there to be an incident, and they want bloodshed.
"We call upon the masses of our Palestinian people in Jerusalem, West Bank, and 1948 occupied lands to confront the Zionist storming, protect Al-Aqsa, and prevent the Zionist extremists from desecrating it," Hamada said.
This mirrors a Saturday statement from the PA’s top Islamic judge and presidential adviser Mahmoud al-Habbash who is also trying to incite violence:
Al-Habbash said that "terrorist groups and settler gangs are taking advantage of Jewish religious occasions to storm the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and try to impose a fait accompli as part of the Judaization schemes that target the Holy City in general and the Temple Mount in particular."
He called on our people everywhere, who are able to reach the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, to intensify their presence there in the coming days, to thwart the plans of the settler terrorist groups, and to defend the mosque with all their determination.
Al-Habbash called on scholars, thinkers and governments of the Islamic world to carry out their religious and moral duty towards the city of Jerusalem and the Noble Sanctuary, “to emphasize the Islam of the mosque and to send a clear message to the world that violating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa is a violation of the faith of more than a billion and a half Muslims in all parts of the earth, and that the religious war that the occupation seeks to ignite will burn the whole world with its fire, and no one on the face of the earth will be spared from it or its consequences.”
In other words, if a billion Muslims decide to start World War III, it will be because they were forced to by Jews walking quietly in Judaism's holiest spot. Yet, he claims, it is the Jews who want a religious war.
This is all incitement to violence. It happens every day. And the West ignores it, and acts surprised when Arabs attack Jews.
The Council of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sanctuaries in Jerusalem, known as the Waqf, warned today that "the targeting of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Jewish groups reached a level of danger in the decision issued by the so-called Education Committee in the Knesset to compel schools affiliated with the Israeli Ministry of Education to include the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque within educational tours for Jewish students."
The statement said that the decision was made "in order to strengthen and increase the number of Jewish intrusions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and to consolidate the idea of the alleged temple in emerging minds."
Yes, they are warning that Israeli schools want to brainwash kids into believing that the Jewish Temples existed.
The Waqf reiterated that the Temple Mount, in a place that Muslims call Bait is a purely Islamic mosque that belongs to Muslims alone and does not accept division or partnership.
In a place they call Bayt al-Maqdis, after the Hebrew Beit HaMikdash, which means Holy Temple.
The antisemitic Waqf continued saying that "the claim of non-Muslims that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of their heritage is a false and slanderous claim in order to storm it and disrupt the historical, religious and legal situation that has existed in it for a long time."
The group also said that Israel is trying to ignite the region in religious wars. And right afterwards they called on all Arab and Muslim nations to support a Jew-free Temple Mount.
Mahmoud Abbas' annual Christmas message wasn't quite as obsessively about Israel as usual, but what he did say was offensive.
We face every day the policies of the Israeli occupation and its aggressive practices against our Islamic and Christian sanctities, the most recent of which was the attack on the Church of the Gethsemane in Jerusalem, in addition to the attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, persecution, repression, and the herds of settlers.
He is blaming the arson attack on the church on Israel altogether.
He is saying Jews must be banned from visiting their holiest site.
He is claiming that Israel specifically attacks Christian and Muslim sites, trying to incite a religious war.
Despite all of this, we are steadfast, and are confident of victory and freedom, as we deserve justice for our cause, a decent life for our people and the end of the occupation, and our people gained their freedom and independence in their own state and whose capital is East Jerusalem, a state that is not separated by the racist walls of that holy city
.He is calling the separation barrier a "racist wall" - perhaps because it saves lives.
Because this is not nearly as offensive as his usual Christmas speeches, no one reports on this. But if a purported leader of an entity recognize by many as a state spouts lies, antisemitism and slander, it is newsworthy - even if it is only 60% as hateful as usual.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
Now, both Hamas and the Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ekrema Sabri are trying to incite violence by saying that Israel intends to turn the building into a synagogue.
Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirmed that the continuous Israeli campaign against the chapel "Bab Al-Rahma" at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, comes as part of plans to seize the chapel and turn it into a synagogue.
"The occupation has plans and ambitions to convert the chapel of Bab al-Rahma into a synagogue, from which the occupation authorities proceed to control the eastern region, and then extend full sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa."
Sheikh Sabri warned that "The pressure generates the explosion, and the answer to the violations of the occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be in the popular mass anger," stressing that "the door of mercy is an integral part of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it is for Muslims only."
Of course there are no such plans. Hamas and Sabri are trying to start a religious war by making those claims.
In a fair world, though, the Bab al Rahma prayer room would be an excellent place for a synagogue on the Temple Mount.
I have been interested in the site for a while. To the immediate left of the structure are some old beams of wood, barely covered in canvas. (Here is a screenshot from a video I made last year.)
There is serious evidence that some of these beams could be from the First and Second Temple periods, and conceivably from the Temples themselves.
Yosef Rabin is 32 years old,
an immigrant to Israel originally from the United States. He served in the IDF, is married and living in Tel Aviv, and
works in an online marketing company. He’s also heavily invested in
raising awareness of the Temple Mount.
I first came upon Yosef when he tried and
failed to get people to show up for a protest. I wrote to tell him why I hadn’t
taken the invite as a serious one, and he private messaged me to discuss
things. I was impressed with how much thinking he had invested in this protest
and in Temple Mount awareness in general.
Since then, I’ve been trying to lend my hand
to his efforts by spreading word of events, protests, and articles relating to
the Temple Mount among my followers on Facebook. This is kind of an odd
experience for me, since I have never ascended to the Temple Mount. My rabbis
don’t permit this. But in the privacy of my inner feelings, I wish with all my
heart that I could go up there. I support this effort from the periphery, as
someone who wrestles internally with the desire to go up there and feels the
necessity of making it possible for Jews to reclaim their holiest site and
wrest it from the hands of the enemy.
And so, not being able to go up there myself,
but hoping that Yosef’s efforts will bear fruit such that someday, I might yet
be able to do so, I continue to lend my support to his project. As such, I made
the offer to interview him for my weekly column here at Elder of Ziyon, and
Yosef readily assented. Which is part of why I am eager to support him. He is
the kind of guy who is ready to take advice and do any and every thing to make
this happen: to make the Temple Mount a part of every Jew’s life and to reclaim
the Mount for our people.
I just like his attitude.
A bit of background: Yosef has been involved with Jewish rights on the Temple
Mount since 2004, and has served as director of foreign affairs for the
Movement for Temple Restoration (a member of United Temple Mount Movements) since 2006. He is a founding member of United Temple Mount
Movements, an organization established in 2009.
Yosef has held
correspondence on matters relating to the Temple Mount with UNESCO representatives
and diplomats from a number of Tel Aviv-based embassies. He has also served
as a guide to many guests touring the Temple Mount, including former Canadian
Minister Stockwell
Day.
By US Mission Canada (Stockwell Day) [CC BY 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Judean
Rose: Everyone who stumps for an issue has a reason. So why the Temple Mount,
as opposed to, say, cancer, or child abuse?
Yosef
Rabin: Ever since I was very little the recordings from the Six-Day War, the liberation
of the Western Wall and the Temple in particular, made a very deep impression
on me. It was like hearing the reverberations of prophecy. I for the longest
time could not understand why we were not building the Temple and as a child
growing up in Chicago, IL I could not understand why Jews were living outside
of Israel at all.
Judean
Rose: Your surname is Rabin, which I know is a Cohanic surname. Are you a Cohen?
Is that part of the fascination you have for the Mount?
Yosef
Rabin: I did not know that. My last name was once Rabanovitch. Not a Cohen.
Judean
Rose: When did you first go up to the Mount? How old were you? What did it feel
like?
Yosef
Rabin: The first time I ascended the Temple Mount, it was in 2004 and I was at
the time 20 years-old learning in a Jerusalem yeshiva (seminary). I was
horrified by the sight of Israeli police escorting Jews to ensure that they
would not pray. The police were watching our every move and filming us the
entire time. We received constant instructions: “Walk faster, don’t stand in
once place, don’t sit down, and don’t move to the right or left.”
The
police were not there to protect us, but rather to fulfill the instructions of
the Muslim Waqf (religious authority) guards. I felt a mix of awe of God
and fear of the police and the Muslim Waqf guards. During that ascent, I
promised that I would not rest until Jewish rights were restored to our holiest
place.
Judean
Rose: I’ve noted that in your Facebook postings you are eager to show that Haredim
are, in fact, permitted to ascend to the Temple Mount. Can you explain your
reasoning, here?
Yosef
Rabin: Ascent to the Temple Mount in the religious Zionist sector is quickly
moving from the fringes and going mainstream, but still very fringe in the Haredi
community. A picture of one Haredi on the Mount is worth more than 1,000
such photos of Religious Zionists, because with the former there is no
political stigma attached. Every time a Religious Zionist goes to the Mount,
people just see it sadly as a political statement or “Zionist activism.” When a
Haredi goes to the Mount, on the other hand, it is seen in a more puritanical
light.
Judean
Rose: I have a confession to make: I’d love to ascend to the Temple Mount, but
until Haredi rabbanim make it mainstream, I’m not comfortable with going
ahead and actually doing this. Do some Haredi women go up there? How
many would you say in an average month?
Yosef
Rabin: This is exactly why I promote Haredi ascent to the Mount, people
see them as “the real deal” more than other religious Jews. In 2009 I made a
short video of Rabbi Yosef Elboim, head
of Hatenua Lekinun HaMikdash (Movement for Temple Restoration) leading a
small visit to the Mount. It made tremendous waves in the Haredi media,
so much so, that Rabbi Elboim admitted to me that that one video equaled his
decades of work in the field.
It really rocked the Haredi public and within a month, the first large
visit of Haredim to the Mount (50 people) was organized. The police were
stunned and the Haredim were denied entry, but now we see hundreds of Haredim
ascending on a yearly basis. There may be individual Haredi women who
ascend, but there are no known groups that I know of. There is a
religious-Zionist group of women called “Women of the Mount,” who are
very active.
Women
of the Mount ascend the Temple Mount
Judean
Rose: During Temple times, what sectors of the Jewish population would have been
found on the Temple Mount on an average day and in what capacity?
Yosef
Rabin: All of the Jewish people came to the Temple Mount. Those who were
sprinkled with water-ash mix from the red heifer went into the Temple courtyard
and those who were impure could ascend to the outer areas of the Temple Mount,
the areas where we ascend today. Of course, on the three major biblical
holidays, masses came from all over the country to a bring special sacrifice
called the Chagiga.
Probably
the biggest ascent of the year was on the eve of Passover, when everyone would
come to sacrifice the Paschal Lamb in the Temple courtyard, one representative
from every group that would be eating together on Passover evening.
Judean
Rose: Why don’t people want to ascend to the Temple Mount? Is it about being afraid
to walk in the forbidden areas? Aren’t there some areas we’re sure about, as
being safe? Can you outline the issue for us, please?
Yosef
Rabin: There is a grave misconception that the entire Temple Mount is off
limits, because we are impure from contact with the dead and do not have the
ashes of the red heifer to purify ourselves. According to the Torah, one who
has been in contact with a dead body is prohibited to enter into the Temple,
but is permitted into the remainder of the Temple Mount. Jewish law is very
clear, see Maimonides - Laws of the Chosen House chapters 6-7 and Laws of the
Entering the Temple,Chapter 3.
As long as one knows the permitted and forbidden
boundaries, entering the Temple Mount is the fulfillment of a holy commandment
of “fearing the place of the Temple” and giving honor before God. Many Rabbis
who forbid their adherents from ascending have no actual knowledge of the forbidden
or permitted areas. Even the great Rabbi Ovadya Yosef [z”l, former Sephardi
Chief Rabbi], who was very vocal in his opposition to ascending the Temple
Mount, wrote in his book Yabia Omer the real reason for his opposition:
there is no physical boundary currently present to prevent someone from accidentally
crossing from the permitted to the forbidden zones, like there was in the time
of the Temple.
It is for this reason that the first few times a Jew
ascends to the Mount, he must be accompanied by one who knows the permitted and
forbidden boundaries well, because the punishment for entering into the Temple
itself is Karet or the cutting off of one’s soul from the Jewish Nation.
There is much rabbinic discussion of what this means, but all understand it to
be the worst spiritual punishment in the Torah.
Rabbi
Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi of Safed blessing those ascending the Mount before they
enter: "You
represent the Jewish People."
Judean
Rose: What is involved with ascending to the Temple Mount practically speaking?
One needs to dip in the mikveh, right? And wear white, right? What else
do we need to know from a halachic standpoint?
Yosef
Rabin: Yes, a man who has had seminal emission must clean his entire body of
all impurities and only then immerse in a mikveh (ritual waters). After the
immersion he can enter the Temple Mount. One should check to find a male mikveh
that is actually kosher for this immersion, because unlike the pre-Yom Kippur
dunk this one is a biblical commandment. This is the only time when a man will
make a bracha (blessing) before immersing in the mikveh.
A woman
cannot ascend to the Temple Mount during her period or when she is a nidda
(period of menstruation). After her nidda period, plus the clean day
count, she must then clean her entire body and then immerse in a kosher mikveh.
Additionally, a married woman who has been together with her husband (during her
clean days), should wait a three-day period before ascending the Mount. She
must immerse in the mikveh again and only then ascend to the Temple
Mount. There is fierce debate if non-married women should immerse for the sake
of ascending to the Temple Mount and a serious halachic authority should be
consulted.
Non-leather
shoes must be worn on the Mount by all, but there is no requirement to wear
white.
Judean
Rose: Many of us have seen the awful videos of Arabs rioting, throwing things,
and yelling “Allahu Akbar” at Jews on the Mount. Is it dangerous to go
up there?
Yosef
Rabin: The police usually do a good job of securing the general area during the
three hours a day Jews are even allowed on the Temple Mount. I have been there many
dozens of times and was only hit by a rock one time, and thank God was not
injured. Yes, almost every Jewish group has Arabs yelling at them Allahu
Akbar and at times police have had to intervene. If the Arabs get rowdy
enough the police will simply throw the Jews off the Mount in response to
Muslim threats.
Judean
Rose: There seems to be some kind of legal distinction between a Jew’s freedom
of religion to pray on the Temple Mount and the ability of the police to
maintain order. Can you explain the contradiction and how this works in
practice? What happens if you get thirsty and need to take a drink? Can you
make a bracha on your water or is that going to cause a riot?
Yosef
Rabin: This is not a legal problem, but rather an issue of governmental policy.
In 1967, after the Six-Day War, the Knesset (Legislative Branch) passed
the “Safeguarding of the Holy Places Law,” which protected the rights of
everyone to their holy places and even demanded 7 years jail time for
preventing someone access to his holy site. The Israeli Government (Executive
Branch), however, passed “Regulation 761” in contravention to the law passed by
the Knesset: “A Jew wishing to pray at the Temple Mount should be
re-directed to the Western Wall.” This sadly has become the law and the
police cite it over and over again to defend themselves against lawsuits. The
Israeli Supreme court has ruled that Jews have the right “in principle”to
pray on the Mount, but defer the matter to Israeli police for “security
measures”.
In
terms of the water fountains, sometimes the police allow [Jews to drink] and
sometimes they don’t, just do not make a bracha or you will be arrested.
People have been arrested for simply citing a biblical verse in the context of
a tour on the Mount.
Some
4 years of ago on Jerusalem Day. Yosef Rabin, together with a large group,
actually prayed for about 20 minutes on the Temple Mount. All of them were banned
from the site for a year, but World War III did not break out!
Judean
Rose: Is it an awful thing that Arabs pray on the Temple Mount? They aren’t
idolaters according to the Torah, right? So is it a profanation to allow them
to have a mosque there?
Yosef
Rabin: Technically, they are not idolaters, although the Muslims who control
the Mount support the murder of Jews, so they cannot be Noachides either. Al
Aqsa mosque is actually not even on the halachic Temple Mount and is in the
Herodian additions, which do not have any special halachic status. The Dome of
the Rock is sitting on the Holies of Holies, but what can we do about it?
Nothing. However, because the building is not used for idolatry there would not
be a problem to put up curtains on the entrances and for the Kohein Gadol
(high priest) to enter on Yom Kippur and perform the service on the spot of the
holies of holies.
Judean
Rose: But we are ritually impure from contact with the dead, how can the High
Priest or any Jew go into the area of the Temple? You mentioned before, we do
not have the red heifer.
Yosef
Rabin: This is true, but the Halacha is also clear that when the entire
Jewish People are impure, we preform the Temple Service in its entirety in a
state of impurity. However, personal sacrifices like a sin offering could not
be brought today, only the service that relates to the entire Nation. An
example of this is the Passover Sacrifice, which still must be offered in our
time, even without the Temple standing. Of course, anyone who is not necessary
for the service may not come into the Temple area in our times.
Theoretically,
we could fulfill many parts of the Temple Service, while leaving the Muslim
structures undisturbed. We would need permission from the Israeli Government to
build an altar within the confines of the ancient Temple Courtyard, somewhere
on the plaza east in front of the Dome of the Rock.
Judean
Rose: What about the general comportment of Arabs on the Mount? We’ve seen boys
playing soccer there. Is this a problem?
Arabs
regularly desecrate the Temple Mount with soccer games, picnics and mass
rallies calling for Jewish blood. It is truly horrible that our government has
no respect for us or our religion and allow these hoodlums to control our
holiest site. However, the People of Israel are truly at fault for not standing
up.
Judean
Rose: If the Temple Mount is the holiest place for Jews, why don’t Women of the
Wall want to fight for the right to pray there, in your opinion?
Yosef
Rabin: Of course the Temple Mount is the holiest place for the Jewish People. I
can only guess that WOW is using the Western Wall as a monthly prop to try to import
Reform Judaism into Israel, (WOW Chairwoman) Anat Hoffman was quoted on the BBC
stating as such.
Judean
Rose: Has anyone mapped out all the known places of relics from the Temple
Mount? We know about the ancient beams that were found when they were renovating the
mosque. What else is up there that we know about? Are we able to protect these
items from further destruction/deterioration?
Ancient beams made from the wood of cypress and cedars of
Lebanon trees, discarded as refuse in the Shaar Rachamim compound on the Temple
Mount.
Ancient wooden beams set afire on the Temple Mount.
Yosef
Rabin: Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Former Chief Rabbi of the IDF and the State of
Israel, wrote a very comprehensive book called “The Temple Mount” replete with
maps. We have a very good idea of where the Temple stood, there are still
slight disagreements as to the angle, but the general area is known. Much of
the remains of the Temple have been destroyed or illegally dumped into Kidron
valley, but a half million artifacts have been recovered and cataloged with the
help of nearly 200,000 volunteers since 2004. BTW those ancient beams have been
left to rot under a tarmac.
Yosef Rabin in the place he loves most.
Judean
Rose: Why is it so difficult to get Jews to care about the Temple Mount? What
can we do to help?
Yosef
Rabin: This is a question I ask myself over and over. The Temple was removed
from our national reality, nearly 1948 years ago this coming Tisha B’av.
Our Rabbis teach us that redemption comes “slowly, slowly, like the coming of
dawn” and that baby steps are necessary.
The
Prophet Isaiah: “And I will bring them to My Holy Mountain, and will make
them happy in My house of prayer, their burnt offering and sacrifices will be
welcome on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
nations “(56:7) I heard from Rabbi Yosef Elboim a beautiful explanation of
this verse. Found within this verse are four stages of the redemption of the
Temple Mount.
“And
I will bring them to My Holy Mountain” – The first stage is for the Jewish
People to simply gather on the Temple Mount. Maimonides, Laws of the Chosen
House chapter 7:7“Even though the Temple is today destroyed…we should only
enter into the areas (of the Temple Mount) that are permitted”
“And
will make them happy in My house of prayer” – The second stage is for the Jewish
People to renew Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount. Maimonides, Book of
Commandments Command 5: “The 5th
Commandment is to serve God…this is the commandment to pray …Serve Him through
His Torah and Serve Him in His Temple, One should pray within the Temple or
towards it”
“Their
burnt offering and sacrifices will be welcome on My altar” – The Third Stage is the reconstruction of the altar
without the standing Temple and the re-institution of national sacrifices. Maimonides,
Laws of the Chosen House chapter 6:15:“Therefore we sacrifice all
sacrifices, even though the Temple is not standing.”
“My
house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations” – The process
culminates with the rebuilding of the Holy Temple, thus allowing all humanity
to unite in worshiping the one true God. Maimonides, Laws of the Chosen
House Chapter 1:1: “It is a positive commandment to build a House for
God, for the sake of offering sacrifices and rejoicing in it three times a year
– as it says “Build for Me a Temple" (exodus: 25:8).
This
was the same way that Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilt the second Temple. They first
ascended, then they built an altar and then years later actually rebuilt the
Temple. Just like the State of Israel was built with the help of the Almighty
via active and political Zionism and did not fall down from the sky; The [Third]
Temple will also not fall from the sky, and we must be as active as possible,
until we or our children, grandchildren or great grandchildren can complete the
great task. “It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but
neither are you free to absolve yourself from it” (Ethics of Our Father
2:16). Everyone is encouraged to donate whatever
sum they can, to help our movement continue on the slow and sure path of
restoring our days as old.
We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.
This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.
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Israel’s Yom Hashoah began at sundown this evening with the annual ceremony
at Yad Vashem with torches lit in memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of
the...
The Palestinian “Two-State” Plan: Duping the West
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One of the great unsolved mysteries of the 21st century is why, given what
a catastrophe it proved to be, anyone, much less a whole phalanx of
politicians,...
Closing Jews Down Under Website
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With a heavyish heart I am closing down the website after ten years.
It is and it isn’t an easy decision after 10 years of constant work. The
past...
‘Test & Trace’ is a mirage
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Lockdown II thoughts: Day 1 Opposition politicians have been banging on
about the need for a ‘working’ Test & Trace system even more loudly than
the govern...
Monday, January 09, 2023
