DAVID RUBIN: SHAMEFUL LACK OF NATIONAL PRIDE
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/6440#.VF34BD9AK0d
David Rubin is former mayor of Shiloh, Israel. He is founder and president of Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund and the author of several books, including Peace for Peace and The Islamic Tsunami.
In June of 1967, at the climax of the Six Day War, Israel’s paratroops commander Motta Gur, somewhat out of character, emotionally announced the words that still resonate to this day, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.” Shortly thereafter, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, fearing the potential Islamic and international outcry, shamefully robbed Israel of at least part of its great victory, by handing over the keys of the holiest place in Judaism to the Muslim Wakf of Jordan.
For those who are unaware, this holy site is the plateau on which the two Temples of Israel had stood for hundreds of years. Below it, at its western retaining wall, Jews had shed bitter tears for centuries. For that reason, it was known to many as the Wailing Wall. Since that miraculous week in 1967, when all of eastern Jerusalem fell back into Israel’s hands, it is known to all as the Western Wall. Now that Jerusalem had been liberated, there was no more need to cry.
Despite the fact that the Western Wall has become somewhat of a shrine for the Jewish people and all visitors from around the world, the Temple Mount above it has remained the ultimate symbol of Israel’s former unified sovereign kingdom, with its capital in Jerusalem.
In recent weeks, we have witnessed massive rioting and violent vandalism by Muslims in Jerusalem, coupled with a spate of terror attacks, including the killing of a young baby and others, as well as the very symbolic murder attempt on Yehudah Glick, whose only “crime” was his public activism on behalf of the right of Jews to pray on the Temple Mount. Israel’s political leadership quickly responded to that blatant act of targeted terrorism by temporarily closing the Temple Mount to all, an act of pathetic political weakness that encouraged the Arab nations, including the British-appointed illegal country on the other side of the Jordan River, to cry foul, complaining that no Muslim prayer rights should be restricted, even though Jews have not been allowed to pray on the Mount since its liberation forty-seven years ago.
Given this background, it is actually quite shocking that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has responded to the subsequent Jordanian threats by promising King Abdullah that Israel will protect the status quo on the Mount. Such a feckless arrangement panders to the Muslim threats and encourages more violence, riots, and terrorism on Israel’s citizens. Sadly, and despite his tough image outside of Israel, Netanyahu has been known to often cringe under pressure, quickly caving in when the nations of the world launch their unfair attacks on Israel’s sovereignty.
One can only hope, and yes pray, that we will soon see a reversal of this terribly discriminatory policy under which a Jew cannot visibly speak to his Creator on the Temple Mount without being arrested. As one who spent many of his younger years in the United States, presumably experiencing its widespread freedom of worship, Netanyahu should know better than to continue such a shameful policy.
A political leader is expected to make decisions based on the national interest, always keeping human rights and freedoms in mind. The status quo on the Temple Mount is a crude violation of both and should be immediately changed.
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