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

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/

  

When The Third Temple Will Be Built

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                    

                              Cornerstone for the 3rd Temple: 1999 with Temple in the Middle

The 3rd Temple, following the destruction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans, is to be built no later that the year 2,240.  That gives us 227 more years to start building.  The very first Temple was built by King Solomon (961-920 BCE) and destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The stipulations are many.  When the 2nd Temple fell in 70 CE, most all the Jews of Judah were dispersed.  Some were scattered into the Middle Eastern lands while others left it completely and were taken to Rome, and then later to Germany and points in eastern Europe.  Synagogues were created as a house of learning and prayer.  The 3rd Temple or Ezekiel's Temple  called the Beit haMikdah is described and prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel.  It is to be a house of prayer for all people and is to be an eternal edifice and permanent dwelling place of the G-d of Israel on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The organization in Jerusalem called the Temple Mount get their plans that they already started working on in the 1980's from the Book of Ezekiel, chapters 40-47.  The Temple Scroll also has descriptions of the 3rd Temple.

Orthodox scholars and rabbinic authorities believe that rebuilding the Temple should happen when our Moshiach is at the hand of divine Providence and that Jews should try to rebuild the temple themselves.  Jews believe that the Moshiach is due anytime from now to about 200 some more years.  Christians are anxious for Jesus and his 2nd coming so are also anxious to have Jews rebuild the 3rd Temple.  The question of sacrifices which took place in the 1st and 2nd Temples are to become part of the 3rd Temple agenda, and there is mixed thought on that.  Orthodox feel that this will be resumed, but Maimonides wrote in his "A guide for the Perplexed" that "G-d deliberately has moved Jews away from sacrifices towards prayer, as prayer is a higher form of worship"  Then again, in his book, "Mishneh Torah", thought to be the final authority in Jewish law, says that animal sacrifices will resume in the 3rd temple and details how they will be carried out."  It could be that only grain offerings will be offered.
                                                                     

                                              Model of the 3rd Temple As Seen in Jerusalem

In an orthodox synagogue, one would hear prayers for the reconstruction of the 3rd Temple.  The morning prayer service includes a study session of the daily Temple ritual and offerings as a reminder.  They would also hear the daily and special-occasion psalms that the Levites used to sing in the Temple.  After the Torah reading is a prayer to "restore the House of our lives and to cause the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) to dwell among us.  The Amidah includes prayers for acceptance of the "fire-offerings of Israel."  It ends with meditation for the restoration of the 3rd Temple.

The Temple had rules of ritual purity before entering.  The laws of "family purity" are based on these Temple rules that are followed today at home.  Other rules come from the Temple days such as immersing in the mikveh before Yom Kippur, washing hands in the morning and before meals and after attending a funeral.  If ever the Israeli authorities permit Jews to ascend the Temple Mount, one has to observe certain ritual purity rules first..  Going to the mikvah is going to be expected.

Rabbi Shlomo Goren, Chief Rabbi of the IDF in August 1967, organized public prayer for Jews on the Temple Mount.  This was after winning the Six Day War which was a miracle in itself.  Jews had not been allowed there since 1948 by the Muslim Jordanians.  Rabbi Goren was all for Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount even though our 2nd Temple had been destroyed there and replaced with a Muslim mosque. The site was holy.  They had to fight off Muslim guards and Israeli police, but held a prayer service.  Rabbi Goren continued to pray in the Makhkame building overlooking the Temple Mount and conducted yearly High Holiday services there.  He called for the establishment of a synagogue on the Temple Mount and this call has been picked up by his brother-in-law, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, She'ar Yashuv Cohen.

This was despite the fact that Moshe Dayan had given the keys to the Temple Mount to the Muslim Waqf, so Goren was criticized by the Israeli Defense Ministry for doing this.  The Chief Rabbis have since restated that no Jews were allowed on the mount due to the issues of ritual and impurity.  The secular people went along with this as it kept the peace with the worried Muslims.  Goren continued to say that Jews were not only permitted but commanded to ascend and pray on the mount.  He did support building the 3rd Temple on the Temple Mount and was involved in projects involving the site, possibly such as the Temple Mount group.

Opposing this were the Chief Rabbis of Israel; Isser Yehuda Unterman and Yitzhak Nissim, along with others saying that they had warned for generations against entering any part of the Temple Mount.  This could have been prompted by the government's pressure in preventing Muslim-Jewish friction over the Mount.  The rule remains.  It is forbidden for Jews to enter any part of the Temple Mount.  In January 2005 a declaration was signed confirming the 1967 decision of Moshe Dayan who single-handedly made this decision on his own without consulting anyone.  The Jewish state of Israel controls everything in Jerusalem except the Temple Mount, which many people are frustrated about.  They feel the need to pray there as well.  Non Muslims are allowed to enter mosques in other places.  For the waqf to have this ruling here in Jerusalem is unfair, they state.  It happens to also be a big tourist attraction, and Christians have been allowed to visit.  Only the Jews are kept away.  This is the only discrimination going on in Israel and it comes from the Muslims against the Jews over the most precious holy site in Jerusalem.

Right now the biggest problem is the creation of Palestine in which the Arabs are insisting on taking over east Jerusalem which includes many sites such as the Western Wall that Herod built around the Temple area where all Jews come to pray today.  Israel has been legally unified as one city again, making life much better for all.  Thoughts about the 3rd Temple are causing the Muslims to react most fearfully with rioting.  If they were really smart, they'd open it to all people for prayers, fullfilling the desire of Levi Eshkol, who was Prime Minister in 1967 and died in 1969.  Then there would be no cause to riot.  All would be happy.

However, what is happening today is that the Al Aqsa Mosque site on the Temple Mount has been closed by the Jerusalem police to Jews and non Muslim visitors today as the police are afraid of riots from the Muslims.  It is open every day except Friday in the morning and afternoon but one cannot pray.  It is forbidden unless one is Muslim.  The police in Jerusalem are carrying shields that are about 10 feet high and look like they are made of pexiglass as they are transparent.  That's to protect them from things that are thrown;  chairs, food, rocks, etc.  Religious segregation causing violence practiced by rules issued from the Waqf is the worst type of apartheid!    Oh, but Moshe Dayan certainly didn't know what he was doing when he tried to calm the Muslims down by handing their waqf the keys to the Mount.  He gave us back all of Jerusalem, but deleted the most special of all sites.

Resource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Temple
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.templemount.org/recent.html
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Temple-Mount-closed-over-security-concerns-313440

Muslim Brotherhood's Leader, Qaradawi Coming to Gaza

Nadene Goldfoot                                          Emblem of Jerusalem 

" Hamas announced Wednesday that Sheikh Yusef al- Qaradawi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s spiritual leader and one of the most influential Islamic clerics in the world, will visit the Gaza Strip in May.

The announcement was made by Hamas’s top official, Ismail Radwan, who met with Qaradawi in Doha, Qatar, and invited him to visit the Gaza Strip."   This is the Qaradawi who has issued a fatwa to kill all Jews.  He would do it himself if he ever got close enough, he has said, but he's confined to a wheelchair and it makes chasing Jews rather hard.  He would do it with his bare hands.  "Also, in August 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported that the Dublin-based European Council for Fatwa and Research , of which al-Qaradhawi is president, had used the anti-semitic Protocals of the Elders of Zion in its theological deliberations."  This was one of Hitler's favorite books.

"In a 9 January 2009, sermon during the Gaza War, shown on Al Jazeera, Qaradawi prayed (as translated by MEMRI ):

"Oh Allah, take your enemies, the enemies of Islam. Oh Allah, take the Jews, the treacherous aggressors. Oh Allah, take this profligate,  cunning, arrogant band of people. Oh Allah, they have spread much tyranny and corruption in the land. Pour Your wrath upon them, oh our God. Lie in wait for them. Oh Allah, You annihilated the people of Thamoud (Sodom)at the hand of a tyrant, and You annihilated the people of 'Aad with a fierce, icy gale, and You destroyed the Pharaoh and his soldiers – oh Allah, take this oppressive, tyrannical band of people. Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one."

Most likely it is Qaradawi that told the Palestinian Scholars Association, Muslims in Jerusalem,  that the surest way to get all the Arabs attacking Israel again is to tell them that they cannot visit the Aksa Mosque "Temple Mount"  in Jerusalem if they are foreign Muslims.  They have a fatwa out against them as long as the Mosque is held "captive" by Israel, and until Jerusalem is in the hands of the Muslims.  

Qaradawi also "called for teaching Muslims about the need to wage jihad in order “to liberate the mosque and lands from the usurpers.”  Islam, according to Qaradawi, the "Godfather" of the Muslim Brotherhood, are Mohammed's orders not open to question by 1.5 billion soldiers, Islam's "soldiers. Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi — the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood who is now helping Egypt draft its new constitution, head of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, and author of over 100 books on Muslim doctrine — maintains that Muslims must obey the commands of Islam's prophet, even to murder. This is the same Dr. Qaradawi that American academics such as Georgetown professor John  Esposito praise for engaging in a "reformist interpretation of Islam and its relationship to democracy, pluralism, and human rights."

What does he say about Christianity and Judaism?  "As for believing in the Old and New Testaments, the Quran claims that, once upon a time there were "true" versions, but that the current texts — which are older than the Quran itself—were "corrupted" to include, for examples, the fundamentals of Christianity. Thus the only "authentic" remnants of Christianity and Judaism are the ones Muhammad narrated in the Quran—where we meet many characters whose names are familiar, such as Isa [Jesus], but he a very different "Jesus": the Quran's Jesus was never crucified and will return to break all Christian crucifixes and kill all pigs."

This man,  who has been shaping the ethics of Islam with his interpretations of Muhammed,  was born September 9, 1926,  so will be turning 87 years old.  He is famous as he broadcasts over Al-Jazeera, Al Gore's TV station. that comes from Qatar.  "He was refused an entry visa to the United Kingdom in 2008,and barred from entering France in 2012.  In 2004, 2,500 Muslim academics from Saudi Arabia, Iraq  and from the Palestinian territories condemned Qaradawi, and accused him of giving "Islam a bad name."  He was listed as a terrorist in the USA and banned from entering.

Qaradawi threatens Jews' existence with saying that "throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the Jews people who would punish them for their corruption...The last punishment was carried out by Adolf Hitler.  By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them...Allah Willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.  Of course, only Muslims come under the heading of "the believers."  So I'm sure we're all excited about his visit, one that will surely incite hatred and killing,   to Gaza in May.  It'll probably be the Middle of May at that.  .

Resource:  http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=306361
http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/3461/qaradawi-murder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusuf_al-Qaradawi

Cistern Dating to King Solomon Uncovered

Nadene Goldfoot
King Solomon was King David's son and lived from 961 to 920 BCE (10th century BCE)  .  He was responsible for a cistern or water reservoir  which could hold 66,000 gallons of water built that was just uncovered in a dig near the Western Wall.  It was destroyed 400 years later and then became part of the 2nd temple's water cistern.  .

It was most likely used by pilgrims coming to the first temple (Temple Mount).

Jerusalem was built by King David.  He wasn't allowed to build the temple as he was a war-like king, but his son, Solomon was given that responsibility.

The main water supply in King Solomon's day was the Gihon Spring, but they also needed reservoirs like this one found as well.  One wonders what tools they had that could cut through rock, a skill needed to build such reservoirs.

It seems like every day that history is uncovered showing life of the Jewish people in Jerusalem in ancient days.

Resource: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48951691/ns/technology_and_science-science/
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

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

Declaration of War from Hamas over Fixing Mughrabi Bridge

Nadene Goldfoot
The Muslim Brotherhood's main leader, Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, is a Theologian against Jews.  He can't wait to take over "Al Aqsa" in Jerusalem.  This is the mosque that Muslims have built over the Temple Mount which was an important part of our Jewish history.  This has happened in other parts of the world as well.  They build over some aspect of the conquered culture to say that it now belongs to them.

There is a temporary wooden walkway called the Mughrabi Bridge that Israel has wanted to close temporarily to repair it, or there are going to be injuries involved.  Hamas is having a fit over it.  They have warned that if Israel closes this to the Temple Mount it is tantamount to a "declaration of war" on all Muslim holy sites.  They neglect to tell whoever is listening that they have already been doing just such a thing to Jewish holy sites that I have been writing about. 

"This is a serious step that shows the Zionist scheme of aggression against al-Aksa mosque," Fawzi Barhum of Hamas said.  Israel closed it on Sunday for these safety issues.  The original ramp was made of earth which led to the Mughrabi Gate.  It collapsed in 2004 in a snowstorm, which is fairly rare in Jerusalem.  The bridge is also highly flammable.  This situation is bringing protests from Egypt.  I guess they'd rather see it collapse with people on it.  Netanyahu has postponed this decision but cannot any longer.  It's imperative that it be fixed now. 

"The dispute over the bridge has now become a key issue in Egypt's elections. The Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual leader, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, called last week on Jordanian King Abdullah to dissuade Israel from replacing the ramp."

Update: 7pm Yahoo added that it will be repaired in a few days time.  It's the only access for non-Muslims, which would be Jews and tourists.  The ramp starts at the plaza by the Western Wall.  There are other ways to enter besides this one.  "Amman has frequently spoken out against removal of the ramp, which is one of the 15 gates leading into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, 10 of which are in use.  Amman, Jordan, who has the responsibility for Muslim holy sites' upkeep, has often spoken out about this gate's removal.  It is one of 15 gates, 10 of which are in use.  I don't know why all the ballyhoo about this particular one. 

Update: 12/14/11 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/150708 by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu-Chelm or Jerusalem?  Read it and laugh: A Fire Truck deicision 

Resource: dailyalert@list-dailyalert.org from Jerusalem Post. 
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/jerusalem-closes-mughrabi-bridge-leading-to-temple-mount-1.400975
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Mount
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-reinforce-reopen-al-aqsa-access-ramp-214435874.html

Getting Tough to be a Jew in Jerusalem

Nadene Goldfoot
This is the Sukkot holiday period.  For 20 years, Samarian spokesman, David Ha Ivri has been going to the Temple Mount to say a prayer.  This is a big mitzva for Jews to do at this time.  So as not to anger the Arabs who claim the Temple Mount, Jews know not to carry any prayer books.

Sunday,  David went to the Temple Mount in the company of 25 friends and 2 Arab policemen arrested him for bowing down and praying there.  He was in shock.  There were also 2 Muslim Temple guards there who were not incensed and had not done a thing, only these Arab policemen.  In the past 20 years he had been arrested for praying only once before, long ago. 

I wonder about this bowing down.  I've never known us to bow down to anything.  We sway forwards and backwards in prayer, but "bowing"?  We bend the knee in synagogue at the mention of one word, but I doubt if these men were at that point in a prayer. 

My gosh, such silliness; being arrested for praying!  What is the world coming to?  The Muslims sure do have a warped sense of religion. 

Resource: Arutz Sheva online newspaper: 7. Arab Policemen Arrest Jews for Bowing Down on Temple Mount, by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148783
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydwxy9yqhzM&feature=player_embedded Jews in Israel