Israel And The Temple Mount’s Five Muslim Rivals
- Israel And The Temple Mount’s Five Muslim Rivals
by Daniel Pipes, https://www.jns.org/
Everyone knows about the Jewish-Muslim tussle over claims to rule Jerusalem, but there’s another, less public, battle over the authority over the holy edifices in the city.
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(February 7, 2021 / JNS) Everyone knows about the Jewish-Muslim tussle over claims to rule Jerusalem, with its Palestinian lie that Jerusalem has no role in Judaism, and also the pro-Israel rebuttal that the Koran does not mention Jerusalem.
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But there’s another heated, if less public, battle over Jerusalem (Arabic: al-Quds): not about the right to rule the city, but regarding authority over the Temple Mount (Arabic: al-Haram ash-Sharif), the holy esplanade containing two antique and holy edifices, the Dome of the Rock (built in 691 C.E.) and Al-Aqsa Mosque (705 C.E.).
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Palestinian Authority: Controlling the Temple Mount is absolutely central to the P.A.’s mission. It may lack the economic and military resources of a state, but it wields two unique powers: day-to-day management (thanks to Israeli deference) and wide international support for its claim to rule eastern Jerusalem.
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The P.A. zealously sustains these powers by intimidating Israel with its calls for Muslim outrage and leftist anti-Zionism. As the effective ruler atop the Temple Mount, it is the status quo power resisting any change.
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