T. Belman. Mudar Zahran will withdraw the Jordan Wakf and give the Temple Mount back to Israel to manage. He has suggested that Israel appoint its own Wakf from among Israeli Muslims who are loyal to Israel.
I have suggested that the Al Aksa Mosque be surrounded by a fence and that the Islamic holy site be limited to that enclosure. The rest of the Temple Mount will be declared a Jewish holy site which it is.
In the alternative, Israel and the Israel Wakf could administer it jointly.
by Alex Selsky, JNS December 18, 2022
The great significance of the Temple Mount is beyond religious and historical. It is national. The Temple Mount is a source of strength and power.
It is also a symbol for the Palestinians and their supporters, who see themselves as its landlords, if only through the Jordanian Waqf. It is because of the symbolism of the Temple Mount that Palestinian rejectionists believe Israel is weak and temporary.
The Palestinians are convinced that the Temple Mount is as important to us as it is to them, and meanwhile we continue to fight about it amongst ourselves—halachically and politically.
We do not understand the enormous damage caused by this debate, nor the central importance of going up to the Mount in order to strengthen our national identity and our connection to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem. Until we do, we will not have achieved victory in our War of Independence, which is unfortunately not yet over.
I went up to the Temple Mount for the first time a few days ago. I had the privilege of accompanying Prof. Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum and one of the most influential historians and writers in the United States. We were guided by Tom Nisani, CEO of the organization Beyadenu.
On the one hand, I received a boost to my national and traditional Jewish identity. I saw and felt evidence that we were here for thousands of years, and this connected me to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem more than anywhere else.
We were accompanied by policemen, who led us like prisoners, not allowing us to stop or deviate a few meters.
However, at the same time, I felt humiliated. We were accompanied by policemen, our own Israeli policemen, who led us like prisoners, not allowing us to stop or deviate a few meters.
I felt again, for the first time since making aliyah to Israel about 30 years ago, like a weak Jewish child in the Soviet Union who had to be prepared for a physical fight in order to survive. And all of this a quarter-of-an-hour’s drive from my house in Jerusalem, seconds from the Western Wall, minutes from the Knesset, the Prime Minister’s Office and the seat of government of a sovereign Jewish state.
We must stop fighting religiously and politically over the Temple Mount. The halachic prohibition on going up to the site must take into consideration its national importance beyond its religious importance.
Our enemies must know that the Mount is important to us. The whole world must know that it is important to us—to all of us. Right and left, ultra-Orthodox, religious, traditional and secular. It should be as important to us as the Western Wall and Masada.
Many around the world understand the need for freedom of worship and it is denied to them because of our weakness.
After visiting the Temple Mount and seeing how vast it is, it is clear that there is no problem of space. It is mostly empty and unused. There should no logistical problem with allowing worship for Jews and others on the Temple Mount, without disturbing Muslims and without harming their status and their holy places.
Jews who visit the Temple Mount are forced to wear clothing emblazoned with a yellow stripe.
Recently, a dress code was imposed on visitors to the Temple Mount by the Wakf, which is handing out clothing with a yellow stripe on it. This is certainly no coincidence. Yellow was the color imposed on Jews and Christians in Islamic countries that symbolized their lower status, known as dhimmi.
Jews were forced to wear a yellow patch as a sign of their inferior status beginning in the ninth century in Muslim countries, and it is not a coincidence that it was adopted by the Nazis during the 20th century.
It is extremely sad that it has returned here, in the heart of Jerusalem, in our holiest place. I was horrified and couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. This is a stain on our national sovereignty and independence.
This sign shows that we have yet to properly assert our sovereignty on Zion itself, the symbolic center of Zionism. This means that our full independence has yet to be won and, in fact, with the handing out of clothing with a yellow stripe, it is another reminder that symbolism matters.
Our historic humiliation as an inferior people in the Diaspora is returning to the place that should matter most to us. Until we have reversed this, we will not have fully won our War of Independence.
Alex Selsky is a member of the board of directors of and adviser to the Middle East Forum-Israel, which leads the Israel Victory Project, and a former adviser to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Middle East Forum, an activist think tank, deals with the Middle East, Islamism, U.S. foreign policy, and related topics, urging bold measures to protect Americans and their allies. Pursuing its goals via intellectual, operational, and philanthropic means, the Forum recurrently has policy ideas adopted by the U.S. government.
MICHAEL-
I don’t know your email address anyway as we’ve never emailed privately. So it’s directed at Ted who might need to know. Glad you’re keeping well.
Chag Hanukah Sameach…….
TED-
Yes I agree it can’t be moved. I believe if it were tried , because of the numerous part earthquake destructions and re-buildings, there’ d be much loss of life in trying to remove it stone by stone. It’s basically a patchwork. Still…if the workmen are restricted to Moslems…??? Why not try???
There are several Scottisk/English castles standing strongly in the USA from the one time fad of finding their ancestors’ homes and bringing them to the US.
BUT, I disagree strongly with your “no fence” There HAS to be a fence, to
encompass their LIMITS, else they’ll creep across the whole \Mount again. The same can be done with the DOME, not naturally a Mosque, no minarets, just a Dome based after the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Positively Byzantine.
They used what skills that were available then I suppose.
The Rabonim who forbid their followers to walk on any opart of the Mount are superstitiously mashuggaThey KNOW where the Temple could NOT have stood so they can put a herem on the other parts. To forbid a Jew to go up to the Mount is more of a sin than otherwise.
Hi, Edgar and Ted. My email address has changed. I notified Ted, but you know how these tech issues can get snarled up. If I suddenly disappear here, it’ll probably be because of that.
Any latkes left? We finished ours up yesterday. A few jelly donuts left — I plan to eat one after sending this.
Concerning the “Temple Mount”, no matter what Israel does there, it will not satisfy anyone. Chag sameach.
Michael, It seems i butted into a discussion between you and Ted. I apologise for this.
Ted is right , the location is the major asset for the Muslims, at least it was originally when the Dome was built.. Before that, in a Muslim occupied country, it had been denigrated by them into a rubbish dump. The Temple was long forgotten-except by Jews.
El- Malik, who built the so-called Mosque of Omar (which was not a mosque at all but originally a meeting place) since he was in a civil war with the rival Caliph in Hejaz, wanted to build something memorable which would turn all Muslims towards him in Jerusalem, instead of towards Mecca. He had a Jewish Advisor, who told him about the Temple Mount, which as I’ve said was then only a rubbish dump.
El Malik had it cleared and cleansed , and, although built on Byzantine Church lines so built his Dome. It had 4 entrances facing the 4 cardinal points of the compass, so as to be an attraction to all Muslims wherever they were. In particular it also enclosed the supposed Foundation Stone , supposedly the “centre of the earth” and on which Abraham was reputed to have almost sacrificed Isaac.
Just a mythological story of course, but believed, in those simple superstitious times.
He won his civil war and became the sole Caliph.
I myself was in and around it several times in the mid to late 1970s.
I have no hope of moving it. For the Muslims, the location is more important by far than the construction material.
I think though that the way to go is for the Israel Wakf and Israel to share joint custody. and no fence.. The Golden Dome is also there. The shared custody will allow for each religion to dominate on their holy days.
MICHAEL-
I’m getting silly. For “antiquarians” substitute archaeologists.
Also many years ago, after an earthquake, a Mikvah was found.
MICHAEL-
I myself read, last year or so that underneath the floor of the Al Aksa , antiquarians discovered part of a very old Chancel with an unmistakable Church layout, including a mosaic floor with Christian emblems.
They also suggested that some of the wooden beams found dated back to the first Temple and likely were part of it, and re-used to build the Byzantine Church ( I think named the Church of St. Mary Justinian)
As for delineating the Aksa Moque as only the ground it stands on, plus a fenced in walkaround, this has been mentioned before. I myself , over the years wrote that very same thing on this site as well as on others.
So….Not new. All just proof that it actually WAS a Church converted to a Mosque, which was a favourite practise of Islam, to stamp out the preceding religion. Like thechristians attaching the Saturnalia on 25th Dec. to the supposed birth of the supposed Jesus.
Ted, you said,
In all likelihood, the floor of the Second Temple lies underneath the Al Aksa Mosque (The Holy Place lies beneath the courtyard, west of the main mosque area).
The partition you propose, therefore, is not a permanent solution. Al Aksa needs to be carefully deconstructed (It can be re-erected at another location, such as Saudi Arabia or Jordan); and the ruins upon which it is built need to be carefully excavated.
The so-called status quo on the Temple Mount — with the Muslim Waqf now in full control — was dictated by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan at the conclusion of the 1967 Six-Day War. Dayan’s status quo arrangement “was not positively ratified by the government of the day — or by any Israeli government since.” [Israel Today, “What is the Temple Mount ‘Status Quo’?” by Lt. Col. (Res) Maurice Hirsch, June 19, 2022].
Indeed, since 1967 the Muslims have violated Moshe Dayan’s status quo arrangement numerous times to increase the Muslim’s status and hold over the Temple Mount, while eroding the status of Jews and Israel there. [JCPA, “The Status Quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Has Greatly Changed since 1967,” by Nadav Shragai, May 2, 2022].
It is unconscionable that Dayan’s unilateral status quo declaration was never formally approved by the Knesset or any Israeli government and, to this day, is still accepted as the final word on the status quo.
It is time that the Israeli government formally take up the issue, and clarify what Israel deems to be the conditions that should obtain on the Temple Mount so that the interests of Israel and the Jewish people are fully addressed — as Alex Selsky suggests, Israel must govern the Temple Mount in a way that protects and preserves Israel’s national identity, sovereignty, and independence.
@Leon
I have informed both the Smotrich Camp and the Ben Gvir Camp.
U have excellent suggestions TED. If only the Israeli government would listen to you!
The Al Aksa mosque is a symbol of Muslim world wide dominance, as are all churches that have been replaced by mosques. That is why the whole area must be declared as Israeli – to stop the idea of a world-wide Muslim supremacy. Christianity has proven itself to be a more humane religion for its believers.