TEMPLE MOUNT

News 8 Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013

Orange County Register

1

TEMPLE MOUNT This holy site in Jerusalem — known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary — has become, for many, the epicenter of the conflict among Israel, the Palestinians and the wider Muslim world.

PHOTOS BY RINA CASTELNUOVO, THE NEW YORK TIMES

DREAMS OFPRAYER, FEARS OF VIOLENCE By WILLIAM BOOTH and RUTH EGLASH

A

THE WASHINGTON POST | FROM JERUSALEM

small but growing movement by Jewish activists demanding the right to pray at the site of their destroyed temple, in the heart of Jerusalem’s Old City, is creating a potentially explosive clash with the Muslim world, which considers the spot holy and bans Jews from public worship.

Each week, hundreds of Jews ascend the creaky, wooden ramp built above the Western Wall and enter what often is called the most contested real estate on Earth. Many then embark upon a game of hide-and-seek with police escorts – whispering forbidden prayers while pretending to talk into cellphones and getting in quick but banned bows by dropping coins and bending to pick them up. Their proposals, long dismissed as extremist, now are being debated in the Israeli Parliament and embraced by an expansionist wing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. Political leaders, many in Netanyahu's party, want Israel to assert more, not less, control over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Old City, including the place known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary. “We're looking for it to be divided between Jews and Muslims,” said Aviad Visoli, chairman of the Temple Mount Organizations, which claims 27 groups under its umbrella. “Today, Jews realize the Western Wall is not enough. They want to go to the real thing.”

THE SITE’S HISTORY Two millennia ago, this was the site of the Jews' Second Temple, destroyed in A.D. 70 by Roman legions under Titus, who cast the Jews into exile. The Western Wall, visited by 10 million people each year, is part of the remaining rampart built around the raised temple complex. Together, the wall and the site of the destroyed temple are the holiest landmarks in Judaism. The same courtyard is home to al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam’s oldest, and the Dome of the Rock, the golden landmark where tradition says the prophet Muhammad made his night journey to heaven. For Palestinians and much of the Muslim world, any mention of changing the status quo at the site, the third-holiest in Islam, is incendiary. Protecting al-Aqsa has been a rallying cry for generations. “This place belongs to the Muslim people, and no others have the right to pray here,” said Sheik Azzam al-Khatib, director of the Waqf, the Islamic trust that administers the site. “If they try to take over the mosque, this will be the end of time. This will create rage and anger not only in the West Bank but all over the Islamic world – and only God knows what will happen.” In 2000, after failed peace negotiations mediated by President Bill Clinton, Israeli politician Ariel Sharon – campaigning to become prime minister – visited the Temple Mount with an escort of 1,000 police officers. Some analysts say the visit sparked the second Palestinian uprising, often referred to as the al-Aqsa Intifada. Others claim Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat was looking for an excuse to unleash the uprising and found one in Sharon’s action. The site, like all of the Old City, was under Jordanian control until 1967, when Israel captured it during the Six-Day War. Israeli police help patrol the area and

Israeli security and border patrol officers at the entrance after clashes on the Temple Mount, or Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sept. 18, 2013. Small groups of Jews are increasingly ascending the Temple Mount, a sacred site controlled for centuries by Muslims, who see the visits as a provocation.

TWO VIEWPOINTS Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled Jews are allowed to pray at the Temple Mount but also grants police power to curtail activities that would create “a disturbance to the public order.”

1/4 miles

West Jerusalem

Israel's Chief Rabbinate has ruled Jews should not enter the Temple Mount esplanade, for fear they will accidentally walk upon ground that is part of the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the temple, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and only the high priest was permitted to enter.

A THIRD TEMPLE?

A frequent visitor to the Temple Mount is Rabbi Chaim Richman, a director of the Temple Institute, whose mission is to prepare for the building of the Third Temple where the Dome of the Rock stands. His vision:

accompany Jewish visitors. Non-Muslims are welcome to wander freely, but non-Muslim prayer is forbidden. Jews in religious garb are taken aside at the entrance by Israeli security officers, screened more closely and sternly warned not to pray, bow, sing, tear their clothes in mourning or display religious items. But political leaders are urging that this stance be re-examined. Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, deputy minister of religious affairs, has proposed giving Jews an hour a day to pray there. “There is a growing reality among sectors of the population who want to go up there and pray, and there are rabbis who are encouraging their followers to do so,” Ben-Dahan said at a November parliamentary committee hearing.

HEATED HEARING The hearing quickly devolved into a shouting match. “Every citizen of Israel should have the right to pray at their

Temple Mount

East Jerusalem

Muslim Quarter

Christian Quarter

OLD CITY

Jewish Quarter Armenian Quarter

ISRA EL

Dome of the Rock

WEST BA N K

‘Green Line’

A new temple rising toward the clouds Underground parking Internet connectivity

WHY IT MATTERS Islamic clerics warn that proposals by Jewish activists, including some in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, to grant “time and space” to Jews looking to pray on the Temple Mount could ignite a holy war.

Radiant heating for the sanctified floors (priests, in accordance with Jewish law, will be barefoot) A return of burnt offerings and animal sacrifice

holy sites without harassment or being attacked,” said Miri Regev, the committee chairwoman. “If Jews want to go up to the Temple Mount to pray, they should have that right.” “There is no such thing as the Temple Mount!” interrupted an Arab Israeli parliamentarian, Jamal Zahalka. “It does not exist. It is not there.” Legislators hurled shouts of “Barbarian!” and “Fascist!” Arab Israeli lawmakers stormed out in protest. On a recent morning, a dozen Jews led by an activist rabbi assembled to enter the Temple Mount. Because they had skullcaps and some had long beards and were wearing religious garments, they were escorted by armed Israeli police and trailed by three escorts from the Waqf. The atmosphere was tense, but the group was allowed to meander slowly around the compound. “When we come here, it is very uncomfortable. They look at us as if we are serial killers,” said David Nashbaum, a father of six who was born to American parents and reared in Jerusalem. “This is our job as Jews, to come here and pray. I don't know what they are so afraid of.”

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 News 9

Orange County Register

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TEMPLE MOUNT

THEMOST CONTESTED REAL ESTATE ON EARTH? By RICHARD JOHNSON, GENE THORP and BONNIE BERKOWITZ THE WASHINGTON POST

Muslims call it the Noble Sanctuary. Jews and Christians call it the Temple Mount. Built atop Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, this 36-acre site is the place where seminal events in Islam, Judaism and Christianity are said to have taken place, and it has been a flash point of conflict for millennia. Golden Gate (blocked) is regarded as a holy site in Judaism (arrival of the Messiah), Christianity (entrance of Jesus on Palm Sunday) and Islam (site of future resurrection).

Dome of the Rock is a Muslim shrine to commemorate the prophet Muhammad’s ascension into heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. It was built in the late 600s A.D. on top of the site of the Second Temple, restored by King Herod and destroyed by the Roman siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Gates of the Tribes

Dome of the Ascension was built by the governor of Jerusalem in 1200. Gate of Remission

Dome of the Chain Solomon’s Throne

Many aspects of its meaning and history are still disputed by religious and political leaders, scholars and even archaeologists. Several cycles of building and destruction have shaped what is on this hilltop today.

Summer Pulpit is where the imam stands to deliver sermons. It was built in the 1200s.

Dome of Yusuf Agha is thought to have been built by Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, in the late 1100s after his armies recaptured Palestine from the Crusaders, who had conquered it 88 years earlier.

Al-Kas “the cup” Fountain is an ablution fountain for Muslim worshippers.

Dome of al-Khalili Solomon’s Dome Gate of Darkness Iron Gate

Dome of Tablets Gate of Atonement

Dome of Joseph NORTH GARDENS

Council Gate

Al-Aqsa mosque, meaning “the farthest mosque,” is also known as Bayt al-Muqaddas. Thought to have been constructed in A.D. 705 atop King Herod’s temple extension. Much of the building as it stands dates to its rebuilding after an earthquake in 1033.

Solomon’s Stables are under the southeastern courtyard of the Temple Mount. It is thought that the Crusaders, not Solomon, used this area as stables. The area was recently converted into a Muslim prayer hall for up to 7,000 worshippers.

EAST GARDENS The Single Gate (blocked) The Triple Gate (blocked) MUSLIM QUARTER

The Double Gate (blocked) WESTERN WALL Men

Cotton Merchants Gate

Women Remains of Robinson’s Arch

Dome of Moses

Bab al-Silsila Minaret was built in 1329.

Women’s Mosque

White Tower

JEWISH QUARTER

Western Wall Jews consider the exposed portion to be the closest accessible site to the holiest core of previous temples, and they come from around the world to pray here. A separate section is reserved for Jewish women to pray.

Islamic Museum Established by the Supreme Muslim Council in 1923, it is housed in a wing added by the Knights Templar during their tenure in the 1100s.

2 miles

Ramallah

W EST BA N K East Jerusalem

Old City IS RA EL West Jerusalem

Bethlehem

W EST BA N K

Jerusalem municipal boundary (disputed)

There is a small but growing movement among Jewish activists who want time and space to pray on the Temple Mount, or, as it is called by Muslims, the Noble Sanctuary, home to the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque.

Mughrabi Gate is thought to have been created in the early 1200s and named after nearby residents who had come to Jerusalem from Morocco. The gate is open via a covered wooden bridge. It is the only access to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound for non-Muslims.

Jews are allowed to enter the compound through the Mughrabi Gate, but non-Muslim prayer is forbidden. Now some Jews surreptitiously pray as they wander the grounds. Muslims warn that changing the delicate status quo could be an explosive issue.

Sources: Ritmeyer Archaeological Design, Encyclopaedia Britannica, noblesanctuary.com, BibleWalks.com, thekotel.org, Temple Mount Archaeology, Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Smithsonian Magazine

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Ruined towers The city walls were destroyed in an earthquake in 1033, and a new tower was built to protect the Double Gate entrance. After the city fell to the Crusaders, the Knights Templar expanded the tower and converted it into a massive defensible structure, blocking the Double Gate.

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