There are three articles from the AP today about Israel and the Palestinians that merit attention. The first article is a story about fighting on what Israelis call the Temple Mount and Palestinians call the Noble Sanctuary. It is the location where Jews built their first and second temples over two thousand years ago. The first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC and the second was destroyed by the Romans about 600 years later. For the last 2000 years, all that has remained for the temples is the western wall of the foundation, a site that Jews for centuries called the Wailing Wall. There is no holier site in Judaism that the Temple Mount. For Moslems, the Noble Sanctuary is the place where Mohammed ascended to heaven. It is marked by the al Aksa mosque and is also the location of the Dome of the Rock mosque. It is a holy site for Islam, although it does not have the significance of Mecca or Medina. The area was controlled by Jordanian troops after the armistice that ended Israel's war of independence in 1949. In 1967, Israel captured the old city of Jerusalem when Jordan attacked Israel during the Six Day War. Even though Israel has controlled the area for the last 46 years, it has left the mosques and their surroundings in the control of local Islamic religious leaders. The area by the Wall, however, has been converted into a large plaza used by Jews for their prayers. In simple terms, this plaza is at the base of the wall which is about 100 feet high; the area around the mosques is on the top of the hill which stands behind the wall.
There is no reason why the Temple Mount should be left the exclusive property of the Moslems. If Jews wish to pray on the top of the hill, they ought to be allowed to do so, but the Islamic authorities will not accept this. It is important to understand that there is no religious reason why Christians or Jews ought not be allowed to pray at this spot. The prayers are not taking place inside the mosques and they are not disturbing the Moslems who come to worship. The idea of the Islamic militants is that only Moslems ought to be allowed to worship.
It is this problem that led to the fighting today. Apparently, some Jews decided that they wanted to pray on the Temple Mount, their holiest site. This resulted in attacks by the Palestinians, and the AP calls the prayers by the Israelis rather than the attacks by the Moslems a provocation. Only in Moslem areas are prayers by members of other religions considered provocations.
The second article is a long screed about the unequal treatment of Jewish and Palestinian teens by the Israelis authorities. In a nutshell, the article says that many, many more Palestinian teens are arrested for throwing rocks than Jewish teens. Supposedly, this is a sign of unequal treatment. The Israelis point out that more Palestinians are arrested because more Palestinians throw rocks. Nevertheless, the AP prints this garbage.
The third article is about how the Palestinians are so desperate to conclude a peace deal that they are thinking of playing their ultimate "card". If no deal is reached, the Palestinian Authority may disband and return the West Bank to full Israeli control. This has to be one of the dumbest articles I have ever seen. Maybe next week the AP can publish a piece about how Putin is threatening to disband Russia if he does not get his way in the Ukraine.
The AP should be ashamed that it prints this crap.
There is no reason why the Temple Mount should be left the exclusive property of the Moslems. If Jews wish to pray on the top of the hill, they ought to be allowed to do so, but the Islamic authorities will not accept this. It is important to understand that there is no religious reason why Christians or Jews ought not be allowed to pray at this spot. The prayers are not taking place inside the mosques and they are not disturbing the Moslems who come to worship. The idea of the Islamic militants is that only Moslems ought to be allowed to worship.
It is this problem that led to the fighting today. Apparently, some Jews decided that they wanted to pray on the Temple Mount, their holiest site. This resulted in attacks by the Palestinians, and the AP calls the prayers by the Israelis rather than the attacks by the Moslems a provocation. Only in Moslem areas are prayers by members of other religions considered provocations.
The second article is a long screed about the unequal treatment of Jewish and Palestinian teens by the Israelis authorities. In a nutshell, the article says that many, many more Palestinian teens are arrested for throwing rocks than Jewish teens. Supposedly, this is a sign of unequal treatment. The Israelis point out that more Palestinians are arrested because more Palestinians throw rocks. Nevertheless, the AP prints this garbage.
The third article is about how the Palestinians are so desperate to conclude a peace deal that they are thinking of playing their ultimate "card". If no deal is reached, the Palestinian Authority may disband and return the West Bank to full Israeli control. This has to be one of the dumbest articles I have ever seen. Maybe next week the AP can publish a piece about how Putin is threatening to disband Russia if he does not get his way in the Ukraine.
The AP should be ashamed that it prints this crap.
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