Friday, October 31 Day of Rage in Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                     

                                         Fatah (PLO) Mahmoud Abbas

A rabbi has been shot in a serious assassination attempt by a Hamas terrorist .  The terrorist is now dead  from a shootout with the police and is a martyr according to the Arabs.  The rabbi is in critical condition.  All he wanted was the right to pray on the site where our Temple used to stand.  The Arabs won't allow even a slight movement of the lips, thinking the person is praying.  If this is seen, he is arrested.
                                                                       

 Though all of Jerusalem is Israel's capital, this site, the Temple Mount site on Mt. Moriah, is taboo to Jews as a place to pray through Moshe Dayan's decision at the end of the 1967 war in keeping peace with Jordan.
                                                                               

Now, Friday has been declared "A Day of Rage," as if this attack wasn't enough for the Arabs.  They've been rioting for several weeks as it is in Jerusalem.  They pick on Friday, their day of rest and prayer to rage.  Friday evening is the start of the Jewish sabbath and Friday in the United States is Halloween, the night of trick or treaters out to get candy.
                                                                             
It is Fatah, former PLO, who are led by Mahmoud Abbas that declares this day one of rage.  They even call on their fighters, yes, they do have fighters, to defend Al-Aqsa.  This is referring to the Mosque of Omar, aka Dome of the Rock which was built on the Temple area of Jerusalem by the Caliph Abd el-Malik in the 8th century CE.
                                                                       

El Aksa, which in Arabic means the farthest from Mecca and this site supposedly marks the site of the legendary flight of Mohammed from Mecca to Jerusalem on his flying horse.

Abbas also calls for aid "OCCUPIED" Jerusalem.  They're not as aware of facts like Jordan's King Abdullah, who knows that Jordan lost the War of 1967 and thus lost land that Abdullah I had taken illegally.  Jerusalem is again in the hands of Jews which their king David (1010-970 BCE) had built.  In fact, it's called the City of David.  Palestinian Arabs lived in Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967, 19 years without Jews around.  Jews have lived there for over 3,000 years minus 19 years.  Well, you have to say that they are persistent if nothing else.  Once they start a fable, they stick to it.  They don't want to be confused with the facts.

Abbas is calling for his day of rage big time.  The announcement was published by the Fatah Mobilization and Organization Commission today.  The Day of Rage is to happen throughout Israel and in countries which are home to refugees. 

 They are to express their opposition to ANY  attack on the holy places and foremost among them is the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  They consider desecration of Al-Aqsa as a declaration of a religious war against the Palestinian people and the Arab Islamic nations.

All this is read into their minds from some Jews who just want to pray there but haven't been allowed to do so, even by their own Israeli government.  How terrible!  Praying!

There hasn't been any act of aggression to desecrate any mosque in Israel.  It's what they perceive to happen.  It turns out that what they would do to Israelis they see and think that this is in the works by Israelis.  They don't get it that we don't do things to others that we wouldn't want to happen to us.  It's our Golden Rule.  It's Judaism in a nutshell.

Resource:  http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=12929
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount

Jerusalem Temple Mount Faithful Head Suffers Assassination Attempt

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

An assassination attempt was made on the head of the Temple Mount Faithful organization in Jerusalem, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, last night, October 29, 2014 outside of the Begin Center.  He had just been in a conference about the Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.
                                                                               

                                           Begin Center, Jerusalem

Glick has dual citizenship with the USA and Israel and has advocated for Jews to have the right to pray on the Temple Mount, which they are not allowed to do because the grounds and Mosque are in Jordan's hands and they won't allow it.  Glick himself was arrested last October for praying on the Temple Mount.so thus was barred from there.  The decision was reversed following a 12-day hunger strike.  He has been constantly threatened all the time for wanting to pray there.

This Temple Mount area is the site of the Jews' Temple built by King Solomon (961-920 BCE). Jews had prayed in their Temple for over 1,000 years before the Romans destroyed it.   The Babylonians had attacked and destroyed the Temple in 586 BCE, but Jews finally were allowed to go back and rebuild it.  Again, it was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans.
                                                                 

                                             Dome of the Rock (Mosque of Omar)

 Then, a Roman temple was built later on the site, and since the Moslem Period when Mohammad died in 632 CE, a mosque has stood there which is the Mosque of Omar, also called the Dome of the Rock.  It was built in the center of the Temple area (al-Harim ash-Sherif) in Jerusalem by Caliph Abd al-Malik in about 738 to replace the temporary structure set up by Caliph Omar a century earlier.  It is situated on the traditional site of Mt. Moriah.   The area around the western and southern walls of the Herodian Temple compound was excavated  after the Six Day War of 1967 in 1968.  Moshe Dayan agreed to letting the Mosque and grounds remain in the hands of Jordan in order to keep the peace.
                                                                       

 Rabbis have also come out to say that the site is no longer holy to us.  The Temple Mount Faithful have been making plans to build a 3rd Temple.  Plans may have started as early as 1967, but I know that they were in progress in 1980 as I was able to meet my 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot in Jerusalem and he showed me their plans which was a diagram on a scroll of the future Temple.  Stanley had been the chief of Intelligence for the Stern Group before Israel's birth of May 14, 1948.  Like Boy Scouts, they wanted to be prepared for the right time to rebuild, but hadn't decided on where that would be.
                                                                       

The shooter was 32 year old Palestinian Mu taz Hijazi, an Islamic Jihad activist who was wearing a helmet and got away on a motorcycle.  He had shot Glick 3 times.  Hijazi went up to Glick and asked him to identify himself and then shot him in the chest and stomach.

Hijazi was killed early Thursday morning in East Jerusalem after a shootout with the police.  Officers came to arrest him and were then shot at by Hijazi.  They shot back and he was killed.  Hijazi had a record and had been arrested and had served 11 years in an Israeli prison.  He got out in 2012.

Islamic Jihad said they took responsibility.  This was an act of Palestinian vengeance in response to what is happening in Jerusalem.  Right now Glick is fighting for his life and the latest report 2 hours ago is that he is in critical condition.   There has been much rioting going on in Jerusalem lately.  Last week, a Hamas terrorist plowed into a crowd of pedestrians with his car, killing a 3 month old baby girl and a young woman.  Seven others were injured.  Palestinians have been throwing Molotov cocktails and have thrown rocks at Jews.  In order to contain this, Israel had to add on 1,000 security forces around Jerusalem.  The level of readiness is to the 2nd highest level nationwide.  The Temple Mount has been closed to Muslims and Jews.(Update) It was opened after a day of closure.)

Fighting from keeping Jews from praying on their own Mount Moriah!  This is what they are all up in arms about.  If a person is seen from the Mosque to be moving their lips in prayer, they have been arrested or accosted by the Muslim authorities.  .  Of course this makes it all the more paramount to pray there.  You don't tell a Jerusalemite that he can't pray in his own city of Jerusalem!

The Palestinian Arabs are celebrating right now for this attempt.  This attitude is probably the #1 reason why there will never be peace between the Arabs and Jews.  (1).

Resource:  http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/23525/prominent-temple-mount-activist-shot-islamic-jihad-terrorist-assassination-attempt-shooter-killed/?utm_source=Breaking+Israel+News&utm_campaign=2e5a69a977-BIN+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b6d3627f72-2e5a69a977-83518689#Jxkm0fLaUsp0ZbDB.97
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Unknown-assailant-shots-seriously-wounds-known-right-wing-activist-in-Jerusalem-380210
http://www.palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=12928  (1) 

The Al-Aqsa Mosque Imam Declares War on Israel

                                               Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount
                                                                                                          

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

Mosque of Omar or Dome of the Rock

War has been declared last week  by Imam Raed al Danna against Israel.  He's an Imam from East Jerusalem at the Al Aqsa Mosque.  He called all the surrounding Muslim nations to destroy Israel.  This Imam announced this while visiting in Milan, Italy at a Muslim conference.  He emphasized Egypt and Jordan, nations that have peace pacts with Israel to liberate the land from the Jews.  He is waiting for a legion of conquerors to take over Israel.   The leadership of this mosque had been in the hands of Muhammad Ahmad Hussein,  who was expected to avoid controversy and self-aggrandizement.  Now he serves as the 7th and current Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.The appointment came from Abbas.  

  

On January 9, 2011, while addressing a crowd at an event marking the 47th anniversary of the founding of Fatah, Hussein quoted a controversial hadith (saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad), stating: "The Hour will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jews will hide behind stones or trees. Then the stones or trees will call: O Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."  Hadiths supposedly have been written by people after Mohammad's death.  That could be why this is controversial.  This one makes very good anti-Semitic propaganda used to instigate war.  

The site has been a place of unrest lately. Just before Passover on Monday April 14th,   the Israeli police had to limit  attendance at Al-Aqsa because of the fear of more violence after clashes happening over the weekend.  Security measures taken are that the men under 50 couldn't attend.  Neither could any women until a security assessment of the possibility  of more disturbances had been taken.  What can they expect after this announcement by the head Imam?  5 people were arrested on Sunday during a clash.  Muslim rioters threw stones and many Molotov cocktails.  Police officers responded with stun grenades.  Members of Hamas were were in the crowd, probably leading the protesters.  They had to pick Passover to riot!  During major Jewish holidays, when Muslims prefer to attack, the military blocks the road to Israel from Judea-Samaria for 48 hours from midnight.  Entry would be permitted only to medical, humanitarian and exceptional cases.  

Jews are getting anxious to be able to pray at the holy site where the Temple once stood, but cannot get near it or be seen moving their body back and forth while standing in prayer by the Muslim guards.  Moshe Dayan in 1967 gave permission to rule on the site to the Muslim Imam.

"“We have returned to all that is holy in our land. We have returned never to be parted from it again.” 

–Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, upon reaching the Western Wall  

However, "Chief Rabbinate Council reminded the public that "in view of the fact that the holiness of the area never ceases, it is forbidden to ascend the Temple Mount until the Temple is built.  So the Muslims don't allow Jews there and our rabbis say it's not for us at this time as a place to pray.  That should keep things peaceful, but many Jews are not aware of this fact and try to get close, and the Muslims lie in wait for it to happen.  

The Muslims consider the Al-Aqsa Mosque as the "Farthest Mosque" mentioned in the Koran.  It infers this is in Jerusalem, but never mentions the word, Jerusalem.  This couldn't be since Mohammad, who was the author of the Koran, died in 632 and the mosque was built in the year 705 CE by the Umayyads who ruled in Palestine.  The mosque lies along the southern wall of Haram al-Sharif.  It has become the 3rd holiest site in Islam and is in the Old City of Jerusalem. This has a silver dome.   It sits on the same site with the Dome of the Rock or "Noble Sanctuary."

Muslims believe that Muhammad was transported from their Sacred Mosque in Mecca to al-Aqsa during the Night Journey on a flying horse named Buraq.

 Their tradition is that Muhammad led prayers towards this site until the 17th month after the emigration, when Allah directed him to turn towards the Kaaba.  Our Jewish tradition suggests that the change was due to his frustration with Arabian Jews who refused his attempts to convert them to Islam, his new religion.

 This site is called the Temple Mount on Mount Moriah, the holiest site in Jerusalem, the place where the Jewish Temple stood before being destroyed by the Romans in  70 CE, which was the 2nd time the original Temple had been restored.  The First Temple was built by King Solomon, ruler of Israel, who lived from 961 to 920 BCE, dedicated to G-d and as a place to keep the Ark-10 Commandments.  The Assyrians attacked and carted away Jews by 722 BCE after destroying the Temple in 721 BCE.  The Babylonians then attacked Judah in 597 and 586.  Cyrus of Persia (today's Iran)  freed them and told them to go back home and rebuild their Temple which they did.  Herod was appointed king of Judah by the Romans  after he attacked and captured Jerusalem in 37 with the Roman army and he renovated the Temple, but the Romans destroyed it when they seized Jerusalem in 70 CE.

It seems to be the custom of Islamists to build mosques over others' religious sites as a show of ownership.  The Dome of the Rock, otherwise called the Mosque of Omar, is the one with the beautiful golden dome that stands out in Jerusalem.  It was also built in the center of the Jewish Temple area called al-Harim ash Sherif by Caliph Abd al-Malik in about 738.  He had it built to replace the temporary building set up by Caliph Omar 100 years earlier.  It is situated on the traditional site of Mt. Moriah, too.

So Israel has many mosques.  There is freedom of religion for the 1.7 million Muslim citizens of Israel.  One of these days the 3rd Temple will be built.  The location is not known.

Update: 5/8/14:  The Muslim Waqf members saw a 16 yr old Jew's lips move and arrested him for praying.  http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/180358#.U2uclIFdU8o

Resource:  http://www.memritv.org/embedded_player/index.php?clip_id=4252 declaring war on Israel
http://midnightwatcher.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/imam-from-jerusalems-al-aqsa-mosque-calls-upon-surrounding-muslim-nations-to-destroy-israel/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Aqsa_Mosque
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ahmad_Hussein
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1016102
http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/ReunificationJerusalem.asp
http://my.telegraph.co.uk/abdulmuhd/amuhd/563/muhammad-claims-to-jerusalem-is-a-myth/

  

Temple Mount in Jerusalem Barred From Jews: No Jewish Praying Allowed

Nadene Goldfoot                                                          

           
The Temple Mount is on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem. Today's 2nd Temple that was first built by King Solomon (961-920 BCE) in Jerusalem was on this same site.  . King David, his father,  wasn't allowed to build it as he was a king of war.  Solomon was known for his wisdom and peace and built it as a shrine for the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred vessels and offerings for worshippers.  

 The Babylonian exiles, Jews taken away by the Babylonians in 597 and 586 BCE were allowed to return in 538 BCE and they rebuilt the Temple by 515 BCE., known as the 2nd Temple.   When Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE, the Temple was destroyed, but not before the Romans carried off all the loot from it.  A Roman temple was later built on the site, and since the Moslem Period, the Mosque of Omar, otherwise known as the Dome of the Rock,  has stood there.  It was built in the center of the Temple area by Caliph Abd al-Malik in about 738 CE to replace the temporary structure set up by Caliph Omar in 638 CE. Mohammad had died in 632 CE.

The Temple Mount is referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif to Muslims and is ranked as one of the most sensitive religious sites in the world.  There have been sporadic riots here which is said to have the potential to ignite much wider unrest.

The Six Day War in 1967 was when the Temple Mount fell into Israel's hands again, after a wait of 2,000 years. Since then, Jerusalem is a united city.   Though Israel became a state on May 14, 1948, the eastern portion of Jerusalem, where the Temple Mount is, was barred to Jews by Jordan.   Prime Minister Levi Eshkol made plans to takeover the Temple Mount and thought that the administration of such a holy site should be filled equally by Muslim, Christian and Jewish clerics so that everyone would have the right to be atop the mount and pray at this holy site for the 3 faiths.  He wanted to have his dream of a multi-faith council to run the compound.  The Muslim mosque would not have been touched, but all faiths would be allowed up on top of the mount.

Moshe Dayan (1915-1981),  minister of Defense, deciding otherwise, gave the keys to the Muslim Waqf. Evidently, in his biography, Dayan clearly stated that the last thing he wanted was the Jewish Temple to be rebuilt, the Beit Hamikdash.  We are supposed to wait for the coming of the Messiah for that.  There is the Temple Mount Faithful Group that Stanley Goldfoot belonged to preparing for that day.  Being a progressive, Dayan didn't consult the Prime Minister or the Knesset, and the Israelis didn't get to vote on it.  That's who controls it to this very day.  Being Dayan was a war hero, there wasn't much Eshkol could do about it.   "Dayan had gone ahead and told the Muslims running the Temple Mount that they could continue to run the mosques there-and later went further by preventing Jewish prayer all over the Mount."  His reasoning was that he felt matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash.  He even told the chief of staff that the army chaplain was to remove the branch office he had established in the building which adjoins the mosque compound.  For this Moshe Dayan will be known as the man who gave away the Temple Mount giving the Muslims an opportunity to make Jerusalem a huge issue in creating a Palestine.

Jews have been allowed atop the Temple Mount but are not allowed to pray, say the Muslim rule.  Only Muslims are allowed to pray there.  Jews can't even look like they are praying.  Then the Waqf has done more construction on top and has thrown out relics from the Temple of which an archaeology team has begun to sift through the dirt.  It was deposited like garbage by the Muslims.

Since that day, Muslims have been trying to reclaim Jerusalem's Holy sites in order to de-legitimize the Jewish connection to the land and the city.   It's their way of wiping Israel off the map and into the sea.  Police are forced to bar Jews from entering the Temple Mount.  Of course the Muslims had threatened violence. No excuse is listened to, such as bringing children there to demonstrate rituals associated with the Temple, like the bringing of the first fruits on Shavuot.  People can't understand this and feel it's unfair to them.  However, hundreds of Jews were able to visit the Mount over Shavuot.  At times, dozens of Muslims sat and blocked the entrance of Mughrabi Gate, the one non-Muslims have to use to ascend the Mount.  Any Jews who could manage to run the gauntlet were followed and harassed by Muslims, yelling the whole time the Jews were up there.  This year a riot did break out and the police had to intervene and closed the gates and evacuating the Jews.

There's more than what meets the eye in this clash.  The Islamic Movement in Israel had told its followers that Jewish groups were planning to desecrate, storm or endanger the al-Aqsa mosque and even arranged buses for worshippers to come and "protect" the site.  Sheikh Raed Salah, head rabble-rouser said to his crowd, "We'll liberate al-Aqsa with blood and fire!"  He told his crowd that Israel wanted to build a synagogue on top of the mosque.  Hamas's Palestinian prime minister, Salam Fayyad, told some foreign ambassadors that the riots were due to "an assault by extremist religious settlers on the Temple Mount compound."  Syria's foreign ministry added that Damascus believes the Israeli security forces' invasion of al-Aqsa was part of Israel's scheme to Judaise Jerusalem and destroy the mosque"  I don't think these people ever read a real history book.  These were all lies.

Jerusalem and the Temple Mount are parts of Israel that are  re-establishing the Jewish National Home.  The synonym for Jerusalem happens to be "Zion."  Every day for 3 times a day for the past 2,000 years, Jews all over the world face Jerusalem and pray for it to be restored to its former glory.  It's unfathomable that Jews are banned by its own government from praying on the Temple Mount.  What a concession we have given to the Muslims!  What concessions have they ever given us to promote peace!  None.  Recently a female Knesset member decided to get to the bottom of this matter and find out why they can't pray there.  Many are angry with their government  for allowing this to happen.
                                                                     

Today, Jews pray at the Western Wall(Wailing Wall) that surrounded the Temple, built by Herod.  The Holy of Holies of Solomon's Temple was at the western end of the Temple is very close to this wall.  It was regarded as sacred as far back as the Talmudic Period of the 10th century CE.  From 1948 till 1967, Jews were kept away from this wall which is now under Jewish sovereignty.  On Shavuot 1967, 200,000 people visited.

In the meantime, Muslim adults and children are not taught of the Jewish connection to Israel and their land.  Muslims all over the world do not understand the depth of feeling Jews have for their holy places and their historical homeland.  "Palestinian and Muslim leaders must desist from the incitement against Israel and the deligitimisation of the Jewish connection to the land."

Resource: Arutz Sheva, news@israelnationalnews.com, 5. Police Bar Jews from Temple Mount As Muslims Threaten More Riots
http://www.templemount.org/recent.html
The New Jewish Encyclopedia
http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/05/jerusalem-day-how-moshe-dayan-made-the-temple-mount-a-palestinian-issue-2636624.html

The Religious Significance of Jerusalem to Islam

Nadene Goldfoot
When Mohammed lived(570 CE-632 CE) , there was no mosque in Jerusalem.  The Koran tells only that Mohammed in a single night was taken to heaven by Buraq, a horse with wings, a woman's face and a peacock's tail.  He was first taken to a place the Koran called the "uttermost mosque": --il masjad al aksa.
أقصى مسجد.  
Jerusalem is not mentioned in the story at all.  After his death, the tradition was that the "uttermost mosque" must have been the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.  The 1st Temple was built by King Solomon (961 BCE-920 BCE)  of the Jews.  It held the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred vessels and offerings and had a court for worshipers.  The makeup of it was a hall, shrine and inner sanctum for the holy of holies. Then it was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BCE and was rebuilt in 538-515 BCE by the Jews and called the 2nd Temple.  This time it included the Western Wall (also called the Wailing Wall).

The Western Wall is part of the wall enclosing Herod's Temple still standing in the Old city of Jerusalem. Herod lived from 73 BCE to 4 CE and was the King of Judea who had been appointed governor of Galilee by his father, then was appointed king by the Romans.   The wall  is very close to the Holy of Holies which was at the western end of the temple.  It's regarded as sacred.  Regular services had been held before it.  Though Jordan had taken over this part of Jerusalem in 1948, a paragraph in the Israel-Jordan  1949 Armistice Agreement  affirmed the Jewish right of access to it which Jordan denied to them anyway.  It wasn't until 1967 that Jews could again go to the Wall.  It's the first place Jewish tourists go to when they visit Jerusalem today.  The tradition is to place a prayer  written on a little piece of paper into the niches of the wall.   One good thing about Herod is that he had rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem on a magnificent scale.

The Temple Mount was the existing sacredness of the place that had been holy to Jews for nearly 2,000 years before Mohammad.  This must be why Mohammed's followers chose it as being the fitting and awesome place for Mohammed's ascent.  A mosque is the Arabic name for a temple, a building used for public worship by the Muslims.

The Moslems called the site, Buraq, which has become a memorial to Islam's recognition of the Jewishness of the Holy Place.  It's why the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa Mosque were built on the Mount.  They called this Haram-A-Sharif, and it became the 3rd holiest place in Islam after Mecca and Medina, which are in Arabia.  Nobody knows if Mohammed ever came to Jerusalem or not.  There is no proof.

What is known is that Mohammed was establishing Islam in Arabia and hoped that both Jews and Christians would adopt the new religion.  He called on them to accept him as the successor of both Moses and Jesus.  First he ordered that when praying, the Moslem should copy the Jewish custom of turning his face towards Jerusalem, which was at that time under Christian rule.  When neither Jews or Christians were converting to his new religion, he got angry and 18 months later after his decree changed it and they were to turn their faces towards Mecca.

In fact, when directing the needs to build a mosque, it was then built so that the worshippers could face Mecca for prayer and they built in a prayer niche.  Most mosques built during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods have been destroyed.  Ones remaining are one in Damascus and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.   The Dome is the golden shrine on the Mosque of Omar.  The intentions of the builders was to outdo other religious buildings.  It was constructed from 689 CE-691 CE in the Muslim conquest of Syria of 637 CE by the Rashidun Caliphate.

Mohammed  and his followers knew that Jerusalem was a Holy City to the Jews and then to the Christians.  In following in the tradition to its holiness,  they made Jerusalem's Temple Area the site of his ascent to their 7th heaven.  It was not Mohammed's dream that made the Temple Mount holy to Islam.  It was the existing sanctity of the place.

In the siege of Jerusalem during the Roman war, the 2nd Temple served as a center of military activity and then was destroyed by the Romans soldiers with only the wall remaining.  In 70 CE Jerusalem fell to the Romans.  A Roman temple was later built on the site.

In the Moslem Period, the Mosque of Omar had been built over the Temple area.  This is the only claim to Jerusalem that the Moslems have.  Jerusalem was never a holy city to Islam.  Palestine has no significance in the Moslem religion.  It never existed as a country under Arab or any of the other Moslem administration.  The city of Jerusalem as such has no significance in Islam.  It was just that they were able to take over a site that had been holy to both previous religions of Judaism and Christianity.  That was a feather in the cap for Islam.

Resource: Battleground, fact and fantasy in Palestine by Samuel Katz
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Middle East Past & Present by Armajani and Ricks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dome_of_the_Rock

Pray At Temple Site and Risk Arrest

Nadene Goldfoot
My 3rd cousin, Stanley Goldfoot (1914-2006),  was a major leader and spokesman  for The Faithful of the Temple Mount or Ne'emanei Har Habayit  in Jerusalem.  They were planning the 3rd Temple.  Jews weren't allowed to get into Jerusalem until after they liberated it in  the war of June 1967 when they were attacked by all the neighboring states.  King David (1,000-960 BCE) made Jerusalem his capital and his son, King Solomon (961-920 BCE) built the 1st Temple which was on Mt. Moriah. It was a shrine for the ark, the sacred vessels and offerings with a court for worshippers.  Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians in 597 BCE and the Temple was  then destroyed in 586 BCE in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.  It was rebuilt by Zechariah in 520 BCE.  The 2nd destruction of Jerusalem occurred in 70 CE with the attack of the Romans.  The Romans then built on the site and during the Moslem period a mosque has stood there, the Mosque of Omar.

I have the two page spread  of Sunday, March 6, 1983 in the Jerusalem Post by Haim Shapiro on the group.  In it Haim relates that many Christian fundamentalists in America especially see Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and are the real Zionists in the US.  They feel we are coming closer to a critical period in history and they want to help the Jews to fulfill prophecies and hasten the 2nd coming of the Messiah.  They are ones that feel that Jews must hold all the Land of Israel besides the Orthodox Jews.

According to halachic restrictions, today many rabbis forbid Jews to set foot on the Temple Mount now though others permit it and regard it as an obligation.  We're not ready for the 3rd Temple yet but are planning for it.  Jerusalem is the very center of Jewish life and it does mean "The Temple."   You can believe that on the day Jerusalem was liberated that head rabbis went to the Temple Mount.  Visiting it has nothing to do with Islam.  It's that today in our state Jews are "unclean" but must first purify themselves in a mikve and remove their shoes in order to visit the site. For that reason they had  stationed a guard at the gate to warn Jews against going in.

Moshe Dayan set the policies, saying that Jews hold the keys to the Moghrabi Gate, and the Moslems hold the keys to the other gates.  Though the site is still held by the Moslems,  it is open to those who wish to visit it.  After a few terrible incidents committed by Michael Rohan and Alan Goodman, the wakf closed the Temple Mount to non-Moslem visitors after 11 am, before only closed during prayer hours.

Which brings us to the present and Jerusalem Day.  Michael Ben Ari, Knesset Member and friends celebrated by going to the Temple Mount and asked to pray on the site.  Ben Ari was really into his praying and threw himself down full length on the ground in prayer.  The nearby Arabs understood that they also had a right to pray on the Mount, but not the Arab security force on the site.  They tried to arrest Ben Ari and two others who were uncooperative.  Ben Ari said he had diplomatic immunity and claimed his right to pray.  They and others had previously explained that going to the Mount was to bring loyalty to "the holiest site in Jerusalem"  It was once the center of Jewish life in the city.

Jerusalem Day will include seeing thousands of people march around  Jerusalem past the Muslim Quarter  in the traditional flag march marking reunification of the ancient capital.

What Stanley Goldfoot went through to liberate Jerusalem was remarkable.  He was the Chief of Intelligence for the Stern Group and played his part.  I met him and visited his home in Jerusalem on Dor V'Dor Street (generation to generation).  He had arrived in "Palestine" at age 18 on a ship that had hoisted the swastika flag, coming from South Africa.  He was an investment adviser, publisher and former Lehi member (Stern Group).  He realized that rebuilding the Temple could be a long-term aim and they didn't know where or when it could happen.  In the meantime, he and his group often tried to pray at the Temple Mount as well.

Resource: Jerusalem Post 1983
Arutz Sheva:   news2@israelnationalnews.com
Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Pentateuch and Haftorah Chronological Table
Jerusalem of Gold - Yerushalayim shel Zahav -Ofra Haza- with English Lyrics on Y tube and CD's