Mk’s Proposal for Equal Access to Temple Mount Is Met with Hysterical Muslim Resistance

By: Yori Yanover

Published: August 9th, 2012
Latest update: August 12th, 2012

MK Aryeh Eldad
Photo Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) is a rational person in a mad region, which is why to most Israelis his idea would seem dangerous if not outright deadly. He wants to extend the modus vivendi which is in place at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, which is sacred to both Jews and Arabs—to Temple Mount, which is also sacred to both faiths.

Not a good way to win friends and influence strangers in the Middle east, as he very quickly found out.

On Wednesday, MK Eldad submitted a bill to schedule separate prayer hours for Jews and Muslims on Temple Mount, at about the same time that the U.S. government Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor issued its International Religious Freedom Report for 2011, where, in the section regarding "Israel and the occupied territories" the report laments:

A government policy since 1967, repeatedly upheld by the Supreme Court and routinely enforced by the police citing security concerns, denies all non-Muslims opportunities to worship at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. While the government ensured limited access to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif to everyone regardless of religious beliefs, only Muslims are allowed to pray at the site, although their access has been occasionally restricted due to security concerns. Police regulated traffic in and out of the compound and removed non-Muslim visitors if they appeared to be praying. Since 2000 the Jordanian Waqf that manages the site has restricted non-Muslims from entering the Dome of the Rock shrine and Al-Aqsa Mosque. Non-Muslim religious symbols are not allowed to be worn on the Temple
Read More:

http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/mks-proposal-for-equal-access-to-temple-mount-is-met-with-hysterical-muslim-resistance/2012/08/09/0/?print