Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Maariv

Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Moroccan Jewish leader says Jews should be able to pray at Al Aqsa, blames Moshe Dayan

Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

Maariv has an op-ed by Sam Ben Sheetrit, president of the World Federation of Moroccan Jewry, which is getting attention in Arab media.

It says:

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is one of the largest and most magnificent mosques in the world. This mosque was built half on the sea and half on land. Unlike Al-Aqsa Mosque, there is no restriction on visiting and praying there by Muslims, Jews and Christians. The concept is generous and broad: a house of prayer is meant for everyone. That's why Jews also visit the mosque and pray with their neighbors, out of closeness to others and love of people.

The financing of the construction of this mosque, which lasted eight years, was imposed on all Moroccan residents regardless of religion. During Ramadan, the King of Morocco, his son and his government ministers pray at the Hassan II Mosque, and the event is broadcast on Moroccan television networks and other media. 80,000 believers can enter and pray in the prayer hall. Usually, it is an impressive event that is covered by the media and is also appreciated by people of culture.

During one of my visits to this mosque, during the MIncha prayer, a Jewish Israeli stood next to me, who put a kippa on his head and prayed quietly. At the end of his prayer, a Muslim Arab approached him and greeted him in Arabic: "God will accept your prayer."

This is the face of tolerance in Morocco. In Morocco I have often been asked why there are Muslim Arabs who oppose the visit and prayer of Jews at the Temple Mount: after all we are all monotheists, believe and pray to one God. I answered that I perceived everything to be the fault of Moshe Dayan, who did not establish arrangements for the visits of Jews, but gave the keys of al-Aqsa to the people of the Waqf, and here they are the ones who determine almost everything that happens on the Temple Mount.

Since then we have been witness to the cries of "Al-Aqsa is in danger" and come across documents of the Waqf trying to erase every archaeological trace that confirms the Temple. Today, there are archaeologists whose job it is to sort the debris from the Temple Mount sites, and there are archaeological finds that have been discovered in this debris.

He isn't wrong, although it is interesting that he blames Moshe Dayan for the intolerance of Palestinian Muslims - as if one cannot possibly expect tolerance from them.

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Friday, November 06, 2015

Jewish pilgrims shot outside holy site.

Every year there is a pilgrimage of thousands of Jews to Hebron, to mark the Torah portion that describes how Abraham purchased the Tomb of the Patriarchs from Ephron the Hittite.

Many of the pilgrims sleep in tents because there aren't enough houses for them to stay.

This year, despite the danger, thousands more were set to come:

Defying the threat of terror and the stormy weather, thousands of Jews are planning to take part in the annual Shabbat Chayei Sarah festivities in Hebron, a celebration of the purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs (Me’arat Ha’Machpela) by Abraham which is recounted in the weekly Torah portion named after Abraham’s wife who was buried there 3,691 years ago, according to Jewish tradition.

This Shabbat, November 6-7, the Jewish community of Hebron and neighboring Kiryat Arba will open their homes to guests from throughout Israel and around the world who will come to Hebron to read the Torah portion recalling the passing of the Biblical matriarch Sarah and her husband Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of the Patriarchs as a burial plot. The cave subsequently became the final resting place of Abraham himself, as well as his son Isaac and his wife Rivkah, and their son Jacob and his wife Leah.

“The city of Hebron is proud and eager to host the myriad guests who will be joining us in celebration this Shabbat,” Yishai Fleisher, International Spokesman for the City of Hebron, said in a statement. “Israel has been hit by a plague of jihad, yet it continues to operate everyday with optimism and resilience. We look forward to a fun and festive experience for all the good people, government ministers, rabbis and educators, Jews and non-Jews who will come to pay tribute and join us in solidarity.”

Apparently, the idea of thousands of Jews on a religious pilgrimage was too much for some Arabs. From TOI:

Two Israeli teens were hurt Friday evening in a shooting attack near the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron.

One of the two, a 16-year-old, was seriously hurt and the other, aged 18, sustained light injuries. The younger teen was hit by gunfire in the upper body. He was taken to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, Channel 2 reported.

Maariv said both of the victims were conscious at the scene of the attack.

The gunfire apparently came from the direction of the Abu Sneina neighborhood of the divided city, targeting worshipers as they emerged from the tomb.

Large numbers of IDF troops were deployed to the Palestinian neighborhoods surrounding the Jewish settlement in Hebron to search for the cell behind the attack, the Ynet news website reported.

Imagine the world outcry if teenage Christians were shot by snipers leaving the cathedral in Notre Dame. That's pretty much the equivalent to what happened here. But since the victims are only Jews, and it happened in the territories that the world believes should be Jew-free even though Jews have been there for thousands of years. In other words, the lack of media outrage is because too many believe that the Jews deserve it.

There is a rich irony here. Abraham purchased the burial site, publicly, for an exorbitant price, specifically so that later generations would know that this land undoubtedly belonged to him and his designated descendants. David did the same with the Temple Mount, and Jacob did the same with a section of Shechem (Nablus.) And these areas is the very areas that the world insists that Jews have no right to.

AP reports that the Tomb of the Patriarchs is in the "center" of Hebron. No, it's on the edge, and Kiryat Arba is adjacent to H2. Hebron is a huge Arab city and there are no IDF restrictions for the vast majority of Arabs who live there. Not that you would know that from reading the mainstream media.

A third teen was shot near Hebron.

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