If you are following the very recent events in Israel, you will probably see the words “Temple Mt,” Waqf,” and “security.”
The Temple Mount, also known as the Dome of the Rock, is, according to Jewish tradition, the holiest spot on earth, for the last four thousand years. (But, of course, the Muslims just had to build a mosque there, in 705. Remember the outrage when a Muslim group tried to build a mosque at Ground Zero in Manhattan?)
Following the 1948 War of independence, Jordan captured and gained control over half of Jerusalem, which included the Western Wall as well as the Temple Mt. In 1967, in the Six Day War, Israel regained control over all of Jerusalem.
Here is where things start getting strange:
For some inexplicably stupid reason, one of Israel’s heroes of the Six Day War, General Moshe Dayan, decided to give control of the Temple Mt to the Muslims. This, after Egypt, Syria and Jordan attacked Israel, hoping to “throw the Jews into the Sea.” The Waqf, or Muslim religious authorities, maintain control of the site, and do not allow non-Muslims to pray there. The Waqf actually watch to see that no non-Muslim lips are moving in prayer. Not. Kidding.
Last week, two Israeli policeman, from the Arab Druze minority living in Israel, were gunned down at the Temple Mt. by three Arabs, who were then shot dead. The Druze are fiercely loyal to the State of Israel, and they serve in the IDF with distinction.
Islamic authorities in Jerusalem called on Palestinians on Sunday to avoid entering the Temple Mount, following a decision by Israel to place checkpoints with metal detectors at the compound gates. The site was reopened after a deadly attack on Friday killed two Israeli policemen….
The decision to reopen the Temple Mount for prayer services followed moves to place metal detectors next to each gate to monitor and prevent the smuggling of firearms into the compound and install surveillance cameras to improve security. It was not disclosed, however, when and where the cameras will be placed.
Shortly thereafter, members of the Jerusalem Islamic Wakf, the Muslim religious body that oversees the compound, protested the new security measures and called on Muslim worshipers to avoid entering the compound. The Muslim leaders said Wakf personnel would not return to the mosques for the time being.
“This is a severe violation of the status quo,” said Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, the director of al-Aksa Mosque, located on the Temple Mount.
In a statement to the press, al-Kiswani said prayers would take place outside the gates until the metal detectors were removed, demanding a return to the way things were in 1967 when there was no police presence at the site.
Two Druze police officers killed in Temple Mount terror attack
Rewriting History: Arabs Claim Jewish Western Wall Is Part Of Al Aqsa Mosque
