First, we have the myth of the “Palestinians,” as the Arabs want the world to believe that the Jews ‘stole’ the land from the ‘Palestinian nation.’
Just for the record, there was never a Palestinian nation; Jews who lived in the land before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 were called Palestinians.
Now we have another myth:
The Western Wall in Jerusalem, a Jewish holy site, is now…part of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound?
A very brief history leading up to the recent Arab violence:
There has been much talk on the news, lately, about the “Temple Mount.”
This area, according to Jewish tradition, is the site of the Biblical Mt. Moriah (where Abraham proved his willingness to obey God with the binding of his son, Isaac.) It is also the site of the First Temple, built by King Solomon, which lasted from 1000 BCE-586 BCE, when it was destroyed by the invading Babylonians. The Second Temple was rebuilt in 516 BCE, until iT was destroyed by the Romans in the year 70. (Precise dates are subject to debate by historians.)
The Romans changed the name of the land, Judea, to Palestine, from the word “Philistines,” an ancient tribe who once lived there.
The Dome of the Rock (gold dome in picture), an Islamic shrine, was built in 691, and the Al Aqsa Moque (silver dome), was built in 705, following the Islamic conquest of Jerusalem by Umar ibn Al-Khattāb in 638.
The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099, and the Dome of the Rock became a church. Jerusalem was recaptured by Saladin in 1187, and the Dome of the Rock was reconsecrated as a Muslim shrine.
During the War of Independence, when Israel was declared a State, Jordan kept control of half of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount area.
During the Six-Day War of 1967, Israel recaptured Jerusalem.
However, as a concession to Jordan, the newly-formed Israeli government allowed the Temple Mount area to continue to be controlled by the Jordanian/’Palestinian’-led Islamic Waqf, (religious committee). Jews are allowed on the Temple Mount, but they are not allowed by pray there. The Muslims watch Jewish visitors and become agitated if they see any Jews’ lips moving in prayer.
So much for religious tolerance…
“The Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours….They have no right to desecrate the mosque with their dirty feet, we won’t allow them to do that,” said Abbas.
And:
“We will not forsake our country and we will keep every inch of our land,” Abbas said in a Ramallah address….“Every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem is pure, every shahid [martyr] will reach paradise, and every injured person will be rewarded by God.”
Bret Stephens, writing in the WSJ, sums it up best, in his column Palestine: The Psychotic Stage:
Today in Israel, Palestinians are in the midst of a campaign to knife Jews to death, one at a time. This is psychotic. It is evil. To call it anything less is to serve as an apologist, and an accomplice.
Related:
Times of Israel: New bill would allow Jews to pray at Temple Mount
Haaretz: France Pushes Security Council Call for Deployment of International Observers to Temple Mount
The Blaze: NY Times Angers Historians, Archaeologists Over Article Questioning Jewish Link to Temple Mount
Washington Examiner: MSNBC’s ‘absurd’ take on Israel’s theft of ‘Palestine’
Tammy Bruce: Washington Times — Instead of focusing on Islamist radical misdeeds, ‘artists’ vandalize the ‘Homeland’ set
World is jealous of O’s whoppers.
May also be UN politics involved here. Jordan proposed (in 2005 ?) that Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls be listed as an UNESCO World Heritage site. Most recent UNESCO visit on this matter scheduled in 2013 was called off and needs to be rescheduled. ‘Palestinians’ (possibly with Obama’s support) may be trying to get Western Wall declared by UNESCO to be Islamic and then the world will have to agree because the UN will have ruled. Wonder if the 2013 visit was called off, in part, because of U.S. request.
And relative to my concern; China submitted documents on the 1937 Nanjing Massacre to UNESCO which UNESCO has accepted into its Memory of the World program. Japan is furious. Japan has not been good on owning up to its actions during WWII (‘comfort’ women, POW treatment, etc.), but accepting China’s documents without impartial expert review/analysis is not the answer either. Article says that the Head of UNESCO is a power chaser who wants to be Head of UN. Article also points out that Reagan withdrew from UNESCO,12/31/1984 because of concerns over politicization and budget. George W. Bush reestablished U.S. support of UNESCO on 10/1/2003.
http://www.dw.com/en/japan-furious-at-unesco-listing-nanjing-massacre-documents/a-18790477
Shifra, thanks for the history recap. Too many people don’t know any of this, especially the ones that are passionately anti-Israel. The only conflicts we get regularly lectured on are 1) the land Israel “stole” in the recent era, and 2) the land Christians “stole” in the crusades (recall Mr. Obama’s recent weird reference about not getting on our high horses). Wow, pagans and Muslims stole the land first?? Who knew!
And now we’ve got Mr. Obama’s Iran “deal”, making America the biggest funder of the war against Israel. It’s been noted that Obama is far worse than Chamberlain, because at least Hitler gave Chamberlain a promise that Germany had no further territorial ambitions, whereas Iran is ramping up its war in word and in deed. Chamberlain had the excuse of that piece of paper promising peace; Obama has no excuse at all, and his supporters don’t seem to care. No, this isn’t Chamberlain’s naive plea for peace; it’s FDR’s lend-lease, only this time for the Nazis. Madness!
They understand and respect one thing only – power. They won’t stop until they ARE stopped.
Excellent post Shifra, a good history lesson. I wish I had this info last year when I was asked about Israel taking over Palestinian land.