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Israel Plays with Fire Closing Al-Aqsa Mosque
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
November 2, 2014
All Rights Reserved.
Closing access to Temple
Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque Oct. 30 due to a shooting and Palestinian youth
rock-throwing, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crossed what the Arab
League calls a red line. Reopening
access a day later, Netanyahu realized he didn’t want to repeat his mentor’s
mistake—the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon— Sept. 28, 2000, when Sharon
visited Temple Mount. Sharon’s
visit triggered the second Palestinian Intifada or uprising, lasting about five
years. Once controlled by Jordan
before the 1967 Six-Day-War, Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the capital of a
new state. Hard-line members of
Netanyahu’s Cabinet in the Likud block insisted Netanyahu supply military police
to restore order in Old City compound containing Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa. Just ending a costly six-week-long
war with Israel in Gaza Aug. 26, Israel doesn’t need a new Palestinian uprising.
Responding to the temporary closure of Temple Mount, Jordan’s King
Abdullah II warned of dire consequences.
“Jordan will continue to confront, through all available means, Israeli
unilateral policies and measure in Jerusalem and preserve its Muslim and
Christian holy sites, until peace is restored to the land of peace,” said
Abdullah, ignoring the shooting and rock throwing that turned Temple Mount into
a riot zone. Because Israel seized
East Jerusalem as a buffer zone after the 1967 War, no Arab state has accepted
it as a spoil of war. Controlling
Temple Mount allowed Jews to pray safely at the Wailing Wall [Al Buraq],
believed an ancient ruin of the 19 BCE Second Temple. Jews fear that if East Jerusalem
falls under Palestinian rule, they won’t be permitted to pray at Zionists’
holiest site. Palestinians insist
Israel seeks to destroy Islam and desecrate Muslim holy sites like Al-Aqsa.
Like the six-week recent
Gaza War where the Arab community ripped Israel for engaging in a genocide
against Palestinians, closing Al-Aqsa gives Palestinians another PR advantage,
prompting King Adullah to take his shots.
“They are disseminating lies to the effect that we intend to destroy or
harm Al-Aqsa mosque and that we intend to prevent Muslims from praying there,”
said Netanyahu’s office, showing why it’s so difficult to broker a peace deal. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry
shuttled over 20 times between Tel Aviv and Ramallah, trying to get Palestinian
back to the table. With the
militant group Hamas directing the narrative and controlling the media, most
Palestinians prefer armed struggle over peace talks. Recent polls in Gaza and the West
Bank indicate Palestinians believe they won the recent war against Israel,
despite getting none of the demands to end the Gaza blockade.
Closing Temple Mount to Muslims and Jews, Netanyahu realized how
Palestinians exploit any opportunity to paint Israel in a bad light. Since annexing the East Bank in 1967, Jews returned to the Wailing Wall. “They are using verbal and physical
violence in an effort to exclude Jews from going to Temple Mount,” said
Netanyahu, reminding Palestinians that when it comes to holy sites no one should
be excluded. When Sweden officially
recognized Palestine Oct. 30 over U.S. and Israeli objections, it was their
attempt to pressure both parties back to peace table. Netanyahu’s warned conservatives in
his Likud Party block to not mess with Temple Mount, fearing a new Intifada or
uprising. Arab League
officials also warned Israel of a “red line” related to blocking access to
Al-Aqsa. “Touching Jerusalem will
lead to results with untold consequences,” said Deputy Chief Ahmed Ben Hill.
Since Israel took over custody of Temple Mount from Jordan in 1967, it’s
afforded Christians, Muslims and Jews unfettered access to holy sites. Christians have had better access to
holy sites in Israel and the West Bank, making the annual Christmas pilgrimage
to the Holy Land more safe and secure.
Arab League officials know that the Israeli government has only made
access to holy sites more accessible to Jewish, Christian and Muslim pilgrims. Recent statements by King Abdullah
and Arab League officials incite more Palestinians violence, promoting the view
that Israel persecutes Muslims. If
the Old City fell under Palestinian control, they would use Al-Aqsa as a staging
ground for protests against Israel, not a place of solemn worship. Growing Palestinian rock throwing
and the latest shooting incident on Temple Mount prompted Netanyahu to order
greater security.
Since the handoff from the British and founding of Israel in 1948, not a
single Mideast country has backed
the Jewish State. Plagued with
ongoing violence for 64 years, Arab states have nothing good to say about the
Mideast’s most prosperous parliamentary democracy. Turning a vast desert wasteland into
a Garden of Eden, Israelis have well-honed survival skills, despite the ongoing
wars and lack of backing in the Arab World.
Hyping differences with Tel Aviv, the Obama administration chases the
same Holy Grail of Mideast peacemaking, eluding every U.S. administration since
Harry Truman left office Jan. 20, 1953.
Given the Mideast’s toxic political atmosphere, it benefits all parties
to get back to the peace table.
Whatever concessions Israel gives within reason, it’s preferable to the unending
state of war that has all parties uncertain about their futures.
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