Haaretz ran a story on Tuesday, October 3, entitled “Egyptian Mediators: Continued Jewish Ascent to Temple Mount Will Lead to Escalation.” It said that “a source told Haaretz that the events in Jerusalem and the West Bank, as well as stricter conditions imposed on Palestinian security prisoners in Israel, could have a direct impact on events along the Gaza border.” The story also said that “Egyptian mediators working to reduce tensions between Israel and Hamas have warned that if Jewish worshippers continue to go up to the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa compound, the security situation is likely to deteriorate.”
That comes several weeks after Jordan’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on Israel to respect the status quo on the Temple Mount. More on that quite unnecessary contretemps can be found here: “Jordan Calls on Israel to Respect Status Quo after Jews Visit Temple Mount,” i24 News, September 17, 2023:
Jordan’s foreign ministry called on Israel to respect the status quo on the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Temple Mount on Sunday, following a visit of Jews to the complex earlier that day.
Sinan al-Majali, a spokesman for the ministry, condemned the “extremists’ storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and their provocative practices, under the protection of Israeli police.”
There was no “storming” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. No Israeli came close to the mosque. And if al-Majali meant, when he said “Al-Aqsa Mosque,” to include all of the surface of the Temple Mount, there was no “storming” there, either. A handful of Jews walked solemnly up to the Mount and circumambulated the site, following a well-worn path used by Jewish visitors. They did not pray, either publicly or silently. They obeyed, that is, the status quo, except in the case of three of the visitors, one of whom blew the shofar, as is traditional at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, and two others, whose infractions are not known but which likely consisted of saying, or mouthing, a prayer to accompany the blowing of the shofar.
The Israeli police on the Mount, far from allowing such behavior by Jewish visitors, promptly detained the three in order, precisely, to make sure that the status quo — that Jordan was reminding the Israelis, quite unnecessarily, to maintain — was, in fact, maintained.
“Worship on the holy site is reserved “solely for Muslims,” the ministry said in a statement.
What I assume the Jordanian ministry meant is that the outward manifestations of “worship” — that is, prayer, both open and silent — are forbidden to Jewish visitors. But there is no way to prevent those visitors from inwardly worshipping in the privacy of their own hearts and minds — which is different from silently mouthing prayers — on the Temple Mount, which is the most sacred spot in Judaism.
Police said that three Israelis were detained for breaking the peace in the site, including one who blew a shofar. The shofar, or horn, is traditionally blown before and during the Jewish high holidays, which began Friday night with Rosh Hashanah.
Note that the Israeli police were the ones strictly enforcing the rules against fellow Jews. Blowing the shofar is a religious ritual that Jews are forbidden from engaging in on the Temple Mount. This restriction on Jewish prayer and other religious rituals was imposed in 1967, just after the Six-Day War, when the Old City of Jerusalem came into Israel’s possession. Acting on his own, the then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan decided that Jews should be banned from praying, either openly or silently, on the Temple Mount, or engaging in other acts of religious ritual. They were forbidden, too, from bringing prayer books, prayer shawls, and tefillin with them onto the Mount. Moshe Dayan wanted to soothe the feelings of the Arabs who felt deeply humiliated by their catastrophic defeat, by making sure Jewish visitors to the Mount did nothing publicly that might offend Muslim sensibilities. Many believe that Dayan judged things incorrectly; that had Jews been allowed, beginning in June 1967, to pray openly on the Temple Mount, the Arabs would have swiftly accommodated themselves to that new reality, that brand-new “status quo.”
While Jews are allowed to visit, praying or performing rituals is strictly prohibited. Additionally, these visitations are usually under a strict schedule, and are even suspended due to fears of a security-related incident.
While Jews are strictly limited in the times they can visit the Mount, to three hours in the morning and one hour in the afternoon, and only on five days of the week, there are no restrictions at all on Muslim visitors, who can visit at any time of day or night, on any day of the week. This was another concession made by Israel to Muslims, who have shown no gratitude for such a restriction, and it is one that many Israelis, and not just such “right-wingers” as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, think ought to be ended. No good reason has ever been given for such restrictions.
So a few dozen Jewish visitors came up to the Temple Mount at the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. They did not pray publicly, or mouth prayers silently. They did not bring with them prayer books, or prayer shawls, or tefillin. However, exactly one visitor brought with him a shofar and blew it, a religious ritual forbidden by the Israeli authorities. He was immediately detained. Two other Jewish visitors were detained as well, either because they were in cahoots with the shofar-blower — say, by shielding the shofar from the view of the Israeli police until it could be blown — or they may have possibly said a prayer during the blowing of the shofar. And the main point is this: they were detained by the Israelis themselves.
The always-excitable Jordanians spoke of Jews “storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque.” There was no “storming,” and the Jewish visitors did not go into or near the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
What the Jordanian Foreign Ministry should have issued is a statement like this: “The Jordanian government recognizes the prompt action by the Israeli police on Haram al-Sharif in detaining a Jewish visitor who had blown a shofar, as well as his two accomplices. Let us hope that the agreed-upon status quo continues to be maintained in such a prompt and efficient manner.” Egypt likewise.
bagsgroove says
So the rest of the world should set up areas which would be restricted to |Moslems. What’s good for the goose should be good for the gander.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Absolutely!
Keith O says
Stop it, your using that common sense thingy again.
somehistory says
No *respect* is given to Israel or to the Jews and others who live there, so why should they be *respecting* islam and mozlums to the point of avoiding what is holy to the Jews?
mozlums and islam deserve absolutely no *respect* whatsoever.; but especially not to the point of avoiding the Temple Mount…or any place else the Jews wish or need to visit.
࿗Infidel࿘ says
Not just that, it’s muslims who should be banned from going anywhere near the Temple Mount
somehistory says
Exactly right. They should get the treatment infidels get if they try a visit to the black stone in mecca.
mzlums don’t belong in Israel, on the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem, …
mozlums don’t belong.
Keith O says
You missed a final word,,,,,, ANYWHERE!
Hoi Polloi says
They can add me to their list of people to hate and rage at. I’ve been in their Dome of the Rock and to the Wailing Wall and I still want to know why islam and its violence gets to block those of other faiths.
somehistory says
I believe that it comes to two things: the ones who wish to block all from their unholy sites, and demand that Jews and other infidels be blocked from their own holy sites, are evil and threaten, knowing people fear being attacked and murdered.
And those who make a way for the mozlums to get their demands met, have an evil agenda, which means they ‘hate what is good.’
These two groups get their instructions from the same source.
Hoi Polloi says
Yes to common source; absolutely.
Bexarkat says
This is much ado about nothing.On a visit to Israel in 1972 no one stopped me from going to the Temple Mount, no one challenged me when I went into the Dome of the Rock, and a worshiper was happy to show me where Mo took that joy ride to heaven. No one screamed or objected then, so what’s changed?
Keith O says
Mudslimes believe that the mere fact that Jews and Israel exist is an affront to them and that if anyone doesn’t agree then it’s islamophobic.