Sunday, December 15, 2013

Sunday Globe Special: Israel's Tea Party

Not a big deal, though. Certainly not insurgents.

 "Proposals long dismissed as extremist, are now being debated in the Israeli Parliament and embraced by an expansionist wing in the ruling coalition government"

 Related: Sunday Globe Special: Where Religious Extremism is the Mainstream

And it's okay. It's democracy, it's representation, it's sacred religion. It's okay (as blog editor nods in a pleading-type fashion as he earnestly tries to convince you)!

"Push for prayer at Temple Mount stirs fears of Arab conflict; Jerusalem site holy to Jewish, Muslim people" by William Booth and Ruth Eglash |  Washington Post, December 08, 2013

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

Each week, hundreds of Jews ascend the creaky wooden ramp built above the Western Wall and enter what is often called the most contested real estate on Earth. Many then embark upon a game of hide-and-seek with their police escorts — whispering forbidden prayers while pretending to talk into cellphones, and getting in quick but banned bows by dropping coins and then bending to pick them up.

 That's a Jason Kidd-type move.

Their proposals, long dismissed as extremist, are now being debated in the Israeli Parliament and embraced by an expansionist wing in the ruling coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

These political leaders, many in Netanyahu’s party, want Israel to assert more, not less, control of 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.’’

Two millenniums ago, this place 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 a 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 the oldest in Islam, and the Dome of the Rock, the golden landmark where tradition says the prophet Mohammed 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. Khatib said the mosque is a unifying symbol for the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims.

‘‘If they try to take over the mosque, this will be the end of time,’’ Khatib warned. ‘‘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.’’

 That is what Israel wants, especially since the Syria and Iran agenda has stalled.

The site, like all of Jerusalem’s Old City, was under Jordanian control until 1967, when it was captured by Israel during the Six-Day War. The Waqf administers and protects the site. Israeli police also patrol the area and accompany Jewish visitors while they visit.

Non-Muslim tourists are welcome to wander freely around the grounds. 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 any religious items.

Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has ruled that 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.

 I wrote in the margin of my printed paper "Fuck this Jewish garbage." I'm sorry, but I'm just so sick of seeing Jewish mythology passed of as news, history, or reality these days. Once the lie of illusion and imagery has collapsed, you can't go back. Maybe that explains the heart-broken bitterness you find here because I once believed, Oh Lord, did I once believe. Thought I was learning about our world, ugh!

But political leaders are urging that this stance be reexamined. Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, deputy minister of religious affairs, has proposed giving Jews an hour a day to pray there.

 It's called a provocation.

“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 committee hearing on the matter in the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament. ‘‘The rabbinate needs to recognize this reality.’’ 

 It's the Jewish version of fundamentalism, but nowhere is any such thing implied in my Zionist-controlled pre$$.

The hearing quickly devolved into a shouting match.

 I hate to say it, but that seems to be where Israel and the Jewish value system lead -- be it by design or not.

‘‘Every citizen of Israel should have the right to pray at their 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. ‘‘

 He's referring to all the fraud the Khazar usurpers have used to try and justify their ancient claim when even the DNA shows Palestinians closer to the allegedly ancient Jewish population -- which makes sense because they didn't come from Central Eurasia, they have lived there for thousands of years.

Legislators hurled shouts of ‘‘Barbarian!’’ and ‘‘Fascist!’’

 Has to be Jewish legislators hurling those words.

Arab Israeli lawmakers stormed out in protest. ‘‘Because of your games at the al-Aqsa mosque, a third intifada could erupt,’’ Ahmad Tibi, deputy speaker of the Knesset. 

 That would be fine with Israel because then they can justify more oppression, murder, and land theft. And cui bono?

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