Respecting Religious Holy Sites

"To our Arab neighbours, Israel extends the hand of peace and to all peoples of all faiths, we guarantee full freedom of worship. We've not come to conquer the holy places of others but to live with others in harmony." Moishe Dayan, June 7, 1967

Israel's inimitable General Dayan explained to the ruling Arab clerics that though Jerusalem was now Israel's they would be allowed to control the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount is where the first Temple of Solomon and the second, re-built Temple were located, on Mount Zion. Jordan had control of East Jerusalem and the holy site, where Jews were not permitted entry, until the Six-Day War restored the Temple site to Judaism.

The Muslim Dome of the Rock is now situated on the Temple Mount, where the Temple of Solomon once stood. It was built in 638 a.d., at the time of the Islamic occupation of Jerusalem. Some orthodox Jews believe, however, that the splendidly magnificent building was built, not as an Islamic mosque, but as a Temple, and they believe they have proof.

Irregardless, it is a constant in Islamic practise with contempt for the edifices of other religions, to transform them into Muslim places of worship.

And Muslims appear to have utter contempt for the shrines of other religions, infamously destroying them. Moishe Dayan's consideration for those of other religions and his friendship with the Arab community and their religious leaders led him to forbid Jews from visiting the Temple Mount; they would worship at the Western (Wailing) Wall exclusively.

Muslims are accustomed to throwing stones down from the area surrounding the Dome of the Rock on Jewish worshippers below, on occasion. When they are convinced, as they are all too easily, that Jews plan to ascend to the Temple Mount, they stone tourists and police, as they did this past week-end, after a Muslim Mufti warned of a "break-in" by Jews.

When Jewish pilgrims wish to visit one of their shrines, Joseph's Tomb, revered as the burial place of an Old Testament patriarch, they must apply to do so five or six months in advance, to be included in a monthly permit when the faithful must travel in bus convoys limited to night-time hours, to be out of sight of Palestinians, because the shrine is located in the West Bank.

Fully 600 IDF soldiers must be mobilized for the protection of the pilgrims. A year ago, a Palestinian policeman stationed at the site, fired upon a Jewish worshipper and killed him. Should any Jews venture to the tomb without undergoing the usual safety procedures, they can be assured of deadly attacks by Palestinians, furious at the presence of Jews in their midst.

During the 2000 Intifada, the Jewish holy site was attacked and vandalized by Palestinians. Once the intifada was brought to a close, the Israeli army once again permitted pilgrims to travel in monthly convoys. The Palestinian Authority refuses to hand the site to the Israelis: "We reject this demand because this is part of Palestinian Land". They claim this was really the site of a burial for a Muslim sheikh.

The Palestinian Authority has been busy of late, applying to the United Nations to have heritage Jewish religious sites declared as Palestinian heritage sites. Completely typical of Arab and Muslim practices.