The Temple Mount was opened to the public until September 2000, when the Palestinians started their intifada, or “uprising”, by throwing stones at Jewish worshipers after then-candidate for prime minister Ariel Sharon visited the area. Jews believe the rock may be where the holiest part of the two ancient temples stood more than 2,000 years ago – and where religious Jews pray that a third temple will one day be built.
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“During this visit, I will be meeting with my good friend Secretary of Defense Ashton (Ash) Carter, who has time and again proven his commitment to the security of the State of Israel”, Ya’alon said Monday night at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The letter, which was circulated online. “This, too, is the spot, according to the universal belief, on which ‘David built there an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings'”.
But he says cameras in al-Aqsa can’t be forced on Muslims, and despite Jordan’s endorsement, he expects local opposition will ultimately derail the plan. The audience is distracted by one hand while the other hand is executing the illusion.
She later issued a statement taking sole responsibility for her remarks.
Israel already uses surveillance cameras to peer into the Temple Mount, as it is called by Jews, or the al-Aqsa mosque, as it is commonly referred to by Muslims.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to bring cabinet members into line after a deputy minister said she “dreamed” of seeing the Israeli flag flying over the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound. To my surprise, however, I discovered that I was the only tourist in the initiative, which is why I was privileged to have a private tour guide that gave me a detailed overview of the history of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. “It’s a political fact that reflects a political dispute and in that sense needs to be addressed in a political fashion”. Netanyahu walked back his comments after harsh criticism from prominent historians and Holocaust memorial organizations, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated Germany’s responsibility for the genocide of six million European Jews during World War II. He met with the Nazi leader in November 1941, extracting support for the eradication of a Jewish presence in the Holy Land, although there is no evidence that he told Hitler to exterminate the Jews.
For Temple Mount activists, it is a numbers game. Currently, non-Muslims can visit yet not pray.
Figures from the Israeli police show a steady increase in Israeli Jewish visitors. He also put himself and Israel on the diplomatic defensive at a time when Israel should be unchallenged atop the moral high ground amid the random Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians.
As late as the 14th century, Islamic scholar Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyya, whose writings influenced the Wahhabi movement in Arabia, ruled that sacred Islamic sites are to be found only in the Arabian Peninsula and that “in Jerusalem, there is not a place one calls sacred, and the same holds true for the tombs of Hebron”. They also gained possession of the Kotel and the Temple Mount. Glick was shot in the chest four times past year by Mutaz Hijazi, who allegedly said “I’m very sorry, but you’re an enemy of al-Aqsa, I have to” before firing. He then claimed to be Jordanian police, however refused to produce identification.
Before ultra-nationalist or religious Jews enter the site, Israeli guards confiscate any prayer accoutrements they have.
Israel has an interest in stationing cameras in all parts of the Temple Mount. Netanyahu said final arrangements for the manner and location of the cameras “were supposed to be coordinated between Israel, Jordan and the United States at the professional level”.
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The Temple Mount, revered by Muslims as the location of Al-Aqsa mosque, has been the focus of the recent wave of terrorism, as the Palestinians claim that Israel is trying to change the status quo on the volatile holy site, which bars Jewish prayer on the premises.
