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| Mistrust Threatens Delicate Balance at a Sacred Site in Jerusalem | Mistrust Threatens Delicate Balance at a Sacred Site in Jerusalem |
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| JERUSALEM — Amid roiling unrest over a contested Old City holy site, the Palestine Liberation Organization this month declared that the name used for the site by Jews, the Temple Mount, was “null and void.” Instead, the group said, the compound — “a symbol for all Palestinians” — must be called Al Aqsa Mosque or the Noble Sanctuary. | JERUSALEM — Amid roiling unrest over a contested Old City holy site, the Palestine Liberation Organization this month declared that the name used for the site by Jews, the Temple Mount, was “null and void.” Instead, the group said, the compound — “a symbol for all Palestinians” — must be called Al Aqsa Mosque or the Noble Sanctuary. |
| A less-known Arabic and Islamic term for the revered plateau is Bait al-Maqdis, or “house of the holy” — the linguistic twin of the Hebrew Beit HaMikdash, which refers to the two ancient temples that once stood there. The Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven from the site precisely because of the holiness of the temples, reflecting the intertwined history of Muslims and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians, whose decades-long conflict is as much about competing narratives as it is about claiming territory. | |
| The real struggle over the site, however, is not over semantics but over sovereignty, between two peoples who seem unable to find a way to simply share. After triumphantly seizing the site during the 1967 war, Israel quickly turned back all but security matters to the Palestinian religious authorities, the Islamic Waqf. | |
| Now, as more and more Jews challenge Israel’s prohibition on their prayer in their religion’s most sacred space, many Palestinians fear that what they really want is to take over the entire compound and replace its Dome of the Rock with a third temple. | Now, as more and more Jews challenge Israel’s prohibition on their prayer in their religion’s most sacred space, many Palestinians fear that what they really want is to take over the entire compound and replace its Dome of the Rock with a third temple. |
| “There’s the religious and there’s the political — they’ve both combined, and each one of them has become more sensitive than it was before,” said Sari Nusseibeh, a philosophy professor at Al Quds University whose family boasts a 1,300-year presence in Jerusalem. | “There’s the religious and there’s the political — they’ve both combined, and each one of them has become more sensitive than it was before,” said Sari Nusseibeh, a philosophy professor at Al Quds University whose family boasts a 1,300-year presence in Jerusalem. |
| “Today, the question becomes: Is it our story or theirs?” he added. “So the whole thing is just a battle of beliefs, and it touches the deep core in each side’s creeds, the denying as well as the asserting.” | “Today, the question becomes: Is it our story or theirs?” he added. “So the whole thing is just a battle of beliefs, and it touches the deep core in each side’s creeds, the denying as well as the asserting.” |
| Palestinian leaders, and relatives of the perpetrators of the five terrorist attacks that have killed 11 Israelis in the last month — including Tuesday’s deadly storming of a synagogue — contend that threats to the holy site were the prime motivation of the violence. The attacks, along with an attempted assassination of a leading agitator for Jewish presence at the site, have shattered Israelis’ sense of security but in many cases only strengthened their assertions of ownership. | Palestinian leaders, and relatives of the perpetrators of the five terrorist attacks that have killed 11 Israelis in the last month — including Tuesday’s deadly storming of a synagogue — contend that threats to the holy site were the prime motivation of the violence. The attacks, along with an attempted assassination of a leading agitator for Jewish presence at the site, have shattered Israelis’ sense of security but in many cases only strengthened their assertions of ownership. |
| “Enough is enough,” Rabbi Benny Lau, a renowned modern-Orthodox figure who had previously opposed Jewish visitation to the site, said recently. “It can’t be that Muslims stand on the Mount, pray as they wish under the Waqf rule, and the Israeli nation will be degraded to the depths.” | “Enough is enough,” Rabbi Benny Lau, a renowned modern-Orthodox figure who had previously opposed Jewish visitation to the site, said recently. “It can’t be that Muslims stand on the Mount, pray as they wish under the Waqf rule, and the Israeli nation will be degraded to the depths.” |
| The site has been a flash point since the advent of modern Zionism. More than 100 people on each side died in a week of rioting in 1929 over access to the Western Wall below. In 1990, the Israeli border police killed 22 Palestinians protesting a Jewish group’s announced plans to lay the cornerstone of a third temple. More riots, after the 1996 opening of tunnels under the Western Wall, claimed the lives of about 60 Palestinians, including some security officers, and 15 Israeli troops. | The site has been a flash point since the advent of modern Zionism. More than 100 people on each side died in a week of rioting in 1929 over access to the Western Wall below. In 1990, the Israeli border police killed 22 Palestinians protesting a Jewish group’s announced plans to lay the cornerstone of a third temple. More riots, after the 1996 opening of tunnels under the Western Wall, claimed the lives of about 60 Palestinians, including some security officers, and 15 Israeli troops. |
| And four years later, a visit by Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, helped set off the second intifada. | And four years later, a visit by Ariel Sharon, then a candidate for Israeli prime minister, helped set off the second intifada. |
| “In the last 100 years, there were some waves,” said Yitzhak Reiter, a historian who specializes in conflict at sacred sites. “The extreme factions within both the Israeli and Palestinian communities realized that holy place is a symbolic asset, so to speak, in consolidating support for their struggle.” | “In the last 100 years, there were some waves,” said Yitzhak Reiter, a historian who specializes in conflict at sacred sites. “The extreme factions within both the Israeli and Palestinian communities realized that holy place is a symbolic asset, so to speak, in consolidating support for their struggle.” |
| Temple denial, increasingly common among Palestinian leaders, also has a long history: After Israel became a state in 1948, the Waqf removed from its guidebooks all references to King Solomon’s Temple, whose location at the site it had previously said was “beyond dispute.” | Temple denial, increasingly common among Palestinian leaders, also has a long history: After Israel became a state in 1948, the Waqf removed from its guidebooks all references to King Solomon’s Temple, whose location at the site it had previously said was “beyond dispute.” |
| The 37-acre compound, sprawling over one-sixth of the Old City, has been a locus of Muslim worship since the seventh century. The entire site is considered a mosque called Aqsa — “farthest,” as the Quran describes it in Muhammad’s Night Journey. Besides the iconic Dome and Al Qibli, the shrine commonly referred to by the name Muslims prefer for the wider complex, Al Aqsa, it contains many mosques, domes, gates, schools, homes and a museum. | The 37-acre compound, sprawling over one-sixth of the Old City, has been a locus of Muslim worship since the seventh century. The entire site is considered a mosque called Aqsa — “farthest,” as the Quran describes it in Muhammad’s Night Journey. Besides the iconic Dome and Al Qibli, the shrine commonly referred to by the name Muslims prefer for the wider complex, Al Aqsa, it contains many mosques, domes, gates, schools, homes and a museum. |
| Images of Al Aqsa hang in virtually every Palestinian home and have become a central component of political propaganda. Thousands of Palestinians, some secular, visit every week. | Images of Al Aqsa hang in virtually every Palestinian home and have become a central component of political propaganda. Thousands of Palestinians, some secular, visit every week. |
| Jewish history at the site dates back further — the First Temple was built by King Solomon in 957 B.C. — But only a small fraction of Israelis have ever set foot on the site, heeding longstanding rabbinical decrees that doing so is sacrilegious. Though Jews’ daily prayers include a petition that the Beit HaMikdash will “be speedily rebuilt in our days,” most imagine another temple as something that should await the Messiah. | Jewish history at the site dates back further — the First Temple was built by King Solomon in 957 B.C. — But only a small fraction of Israelis have ever set foot on the site, heeding longstanding rabbinical decrees that doing so is sacrilegious. Though Jews’ daily prayers include a petition that the Beit HaMikdash will “be speedily rebuilt in our days,” most imagine another temple as something that should await the Messiah. |
| In the current crisis, many Jews have pointed out that when Jordan occupied the Old City, between 1948 and 1967, they were barred not only from the Mount but also from the Western Wall, a remnant of the retaining wall around the Second Temple, which had become something of a stand-in and remains a pilgrimage point for Jews worldwide. | |
| Palestinians, in turn, complain that those who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are only rarely granted permits to go to Al Aqsa. The Israeli police also frequently limit access by age and gender, citing security concerns, and closed the site altogether after the shooting of the activist, though they have imposed no restrictions the last two Fridays. | Palestinians, in turn, complain that those who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are only rarely granted permits to go to Al Aqsa. The Israeli police also frequently limit access by age and gender, citing security concerns, and closed the site altogether after the shooting of the activist, though they have imposed no restrictions the last two Fridays. |
| “The Israelis try to force it — it’s not through negotiation, it’s not through discussion, it’s not through any rational means: They use the police, they come in a brutal manner to take over the place,” said Ali Qleibo, a cultural anthropologist, who is not religious but still finds the site stirring. “It becomes political when other people try to take the symbol.” | “The Israelis try to force it — it’s not through negotiation, it’s not through discussion, it’s not through any rational means: They use the police, they come in a brutal manner to take over the place,” said Ali Qleibo, a cultural anthropologist, who is not religious but still finds the site stirring. “It becomes political when other people try to take the symbol.” |
| Israel’s prime minister has insisted he will not change the status quo, but legislation pending in Parliament would, to enshrine freedom of worship for all at the site. Professor Reiter said Palestinians feared a repeat of what happened in Hebron, where Jews were granted limited time and space for prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs that “the settlers gradually expanded, and today the shrine is divided almost 50-50.” | Israel’s prime minister has insisted he will not change the status quo, but legislation pending in Parliament would, to enshrine freedom of worship for all at the site. Professor Reiter said Palestinians feared a repeat of what happened in Hebron, where Jews were granted limited time and space for prayer at the Cave of the Patriarchs that “the settlers gradually expanded, and today the shrine is divided almost 50-50.” |
| Mustafa Abu Sway, dean of Islamic studies at Al Quds University and a member of the Waqf council, said Islam does not prohibit outsiders from praying at Al Aqsa. The problem, he said, is that Parliament members have declared rebuilding the temple as their real goal. | Mustafa Abu Sway, dean of Islamic studies at Al Quds University and a member of the Waqf council, said Islam does not prohibit outsiders from praying at Al Aqsa. The problem, he said, is that Parliament members have declared rebuilding the temple as their real goal. |
| Many in the movement have played down rebuilding in recent years and instead focused on the fact that in the self-declared Jewish state, guards at the gate search their bags not for weapons but for prayer books. | Many in the movement have played down rebuilding in recent years and instead focused on the fact that in the self-declared Jewish state, guards at the gate search their bags not for weapons but for prayer books. |
| “I believe the temple has to be rebuilt because that is a very central and basic theme for the Jewish faith, but right now I’m not talking about rebuilding the temple, I’m talking about just being able to say ‘Shema Yisrael,’ ” said Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute, referring to a Jewish prayer. “Of course I want to pray here. Why should I be ashamed? Isn’t that the most basic human right there is?” | “I believe the temple has to be rebuilt because that is a very central and basic theme for the Jewish faith, but right now I’m not talking about rebuilding the temple, I’m talking about just being able to say ‘Shema Yisrael,’ ” said Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute, referring to a Jewish prayer. “Of course I want to pray here. Why should I be ashamed? Isn’t that the most basic human right there is?” |
| In Ron E. Hassner’s 2009 book “War on Sacred Grounds,” a chapter on “Successful Conflict Management” is about the 1967 handling of the site, which seems like a cruel joke today. Professor Hassner, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said Israel’s leading rabbis at the time, guided by the government, made what was “primarily a pragmatic decision” that the place was “so sacred you should not go.” | In Ron E. Hassner’s 2009 book “War on Sacred Grounds,” a chapter on “Successful Conflict Management” is about the 1967 handling of the site, which seems like a cruel joke today. Professor Hassner, a political scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, said Israel’s leading rabbis at the time, guided by the government, made what was “primarily a pragmatic decision” that the place was “so sacred you should not go.” |
| “These rabbis never said the Temple Mount is not ours, they said it’s very much ours, the state of Israel ought to control it, we just aren’t permitted to walk there,” he said. “The security argument is also a religious argument, it’s an argument about the No. 1 principle in Judaism, which is thou shalt not spill blood.” | “These rabbis never said the Temple Mount is not ours, they said it’s very much ours, the state of Israel ought to control it, we just aren’t permitted to walk there,” he said. “The security argument is also a religious argument, it’s an argument about the No. 1 principle in Judaism, which is thou shalt not spill blood.” |