Are Temple Mount Tensions Increasing?
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, the holiest site on earth for the world’s 13 million Jewish People, continues to be a flash-point of tension in Jerusalem.
Currently, the Temple Mount is generally off limits for religious Jews as a result of the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, which put control of the site into the hands of Muslim authorities. The few Jewish Israelis who are allowed to visit are strictly forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount because of the threat of violent reactions from Palestinian Muslims.
Nevertheless, last week two young Jewish men disguised as Muslims attempted to enter the Temple Mount complex but were stopped and arrested by Israeli security personnel.
Meanwhile, key voices in the Muslim world have falsely accused Israel of trying to “Judaize” the Temple Mount area and restrict access by Muslims.
For example, last month the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, called on Muslims to make pilgrimage to the Temple complex—the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque—in order to “defend the mosque from Israel's attempts to Judaize it.”
Leaders of the terrorist group Hamas echoed these calls and exhorted all Palestinians living in the West Bank and Israel to “gather around Al-Aqsa.”
These calls for Muslim pilgrimage to the Temple Mount have sparked fears that, as the Passover holiday approaches, violence may break out.
This week Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders in order to encourage restraint and calm on the threshold of the Passover holiday.
We at Jewish Voice encourage you to join us in praying for the safety and well being of the people of Israel in these volatile and trying times.
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