The legerdemain of moral bankruptcy

T. Belman. Since the High Court has ruled that Jews have a right to pray on the Temple Mount and are prevented from doing so because of Arab violence, Israel must ban both Aras and the Jews from entering until the Arabs agree not to instigate violence.

Over Ukraine, they side with the victims. Over Israel, they side with the aggressors

By Melanie Phillips Apr 20

Arabs throw Molotov cocktail from inside the al Aqsa mosque

It is sickening — if unsurprising — that not only the western media but also the Biden administration, which unequivocally condemned Russia for attacking Ukraine, refuse to condemn the Arabs who have been hurling boulders and firebombs at Israeli Jews this past week and instead hold Israel responsible for the escalation in violence.

In the Old City of Jerusalem, Arabs have been rioting on the al Aqsa compound on Temple Mount. Al Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam; Temple Mount, the site of the Jews’ two Biblical Temples — on top of which the Muslims subsequently built al Aqsa — is the most sacred site in Judaism. It’s also a sacred place for Christians.

The Palestinian Authority has been inciting hysteria and violence by claiming that the “evil Jews” — note “Jews,” not “Israelis” — are “defiling” al Aqsa and intend to destroy it (an entirely baseless claim which the Arab and Muslim world has used to incite murderous attacks on Jews in the holy land for more than a century).

It’s important to understand that the demand is not just that Jews should stay out of the al Aqsa mosque itself  (where Jews, not surprisingly, have no interest in entering) but that no Jew should be allowed onto Temple Mount — an area of more than 35 acres, containing dozens of structures and historical monuments — at all. The Palestinian Arabs demand that Jews are barred from their holiest place because, the Arabs falsely claim, the site belongs to the Muslims alone.

Moreover, it’s the Arab rioters who have been desecrating al Aqsa. They have once again turned their supposed holy place into a theatre of war from which they have been hurling stones, boulders, metal pipes and firebombs at the Israeli police and at Jews gathering to pray down below at the Western Wall of the ancient Temple. They also wore shoes inside the mosque (itself a sign of disrespect) as they played football (and see Elder of Ziyon pointing out here that some of the stones being broken up inside al Aqsa in order to attack Jews have clearly been hacked off ancient columns and other structures on the site, the most important repository of historic artefacts in the world — but with not a peep, of course, from UNESCO).

All this is plainly visible on videos that have been circulating on social media, some of which can be seen here: