aris2chat
Gold Member
- Feb 17, 2012
- 18,678
- 4,687
- 280
Stories I’d Like to See: Background on the Temple Mount Troubles
Pesach Benson
By now, we all know the Temple Mount is a hilltop site in Jerusalem that’s holy to Jews and Muslims.
It’s back in the news, thanks to the Jerusalem’s latest tensions. Last week, an Islamic Jihad terrorist shot Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an activist pushing for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. Israel closed the site on Thursday to prevent further riots; Palestinians called it a declaration of war.
After days of turmoil, its time for the press corps to step up and fill in some needed background on the controversy. There are plenty of issues journalists aren’t delving into. To help you identify quality journalism, here are some of the questions reports would address:
News breaks fast. Get HonestReporting alerts by e-mail
and never miss a thing.
Free Sign Up
The politics: What exactly is the status-quo regarding the rights of non-Muslims to visit and/or pray there? How did it come about? How is it enforced?
If the Temple Mount is so holy to Judaism, why did the Israeli government concede the Temple Mount’s administration to the Islamic Waqf immediately after the Six-Day War? How and why did Jordan become involved in the Temple Mount? How did the Oslo accords and the creation of the Palestinian Authority impact the status quo? Who now appoints Waqf officials and pays their salaries?
What is Israel’s record on freedom of worship? How does this compare with the 19 years that the Temple Mount and other holy sites were directly ruled by Jordan?
Questions for Jews: What does Judaism say about praying on the Temple Mount? Why don’t more Jews visit the site? Do Jews really want to start building the third Temple? Who financially supports Glick’s cause? And how mainstream are Glick’s views?
Questions for Muslims: With groups like ISIS destroying holy sites around the Mideast, what does Islam really say about the concept and status of sites holy to Islam and other faiths? How does this square with Palestinian factions calling on people to defend the Temple Mount from the Jews? What does it mean that Muslims consider the Temple Mount the “third” holiest site? What should we make — if anything — of Jerusalem Muslims turning their backs on the Temple Mount when they pray in the direction of Mecca? What to make of the fact that Jerusalem is never mentioned by name in the Koran?
And instead of quoting extremists, what do mainstream Jewish and Islamic religious scholars have to say about all this?
I don’t have answers to all these questions, and I’m deliberately not linking to other sites. The Temple Mount has a very complex backstory; news services are remiss by not shedding light on it.
With a better understanding of these issues, perhaps we’ll be able to better consider one more question.
Will cooler heads prevail?
Like what you just read? Sign up to get more:
Pesach Benson
By now, we all know the Temple Mount is a hilltop site in Jerusalem that’s holy to Jews and Muslims.
It’s back in the news, thanks to the Jerusalem’s latest tensions. Last week, an Islamic Jihad terrorist shot Rabbi Yehuda Glick, an activist pushing for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. Israel closed the site on Thursday to prevent further riots; Palestinians called it a declaration of war.
After days of turmoil, its time for the press corps to step up and fill in some needed background on the controversy. There are plenty of issues journalists aren’t delving into. To help you identify quality journalism, here are some of the questions reports would address:
News breaks fast. Get HonestReporting alerts by e-mail
and never miss a thing.
Free Sign Up
The politics: What exactly is the status-quo regarding the rights of non-Muslims to visit and/or pray there? How did it come about? How is it enforced?
If the Temple Mount is so holy to Judaism, why did the Israeli government concede the Temple Mount’s administration to the Islamic Waqf immediately after the Six-Day War? How and why did Jordan become involved in the Temple Mount? How did the Oslo accords and the creation of the Palestinian Authority impact the status quo? Who now appoints Waqf officials and pays their salaries?
What is Israel’s record on freedom of worship? How does this compare with the 19 years that the Temple Mount and other holy sites were directly ruled by Jordan?
Questions for Jews: What does Judaism say about praying on the Temple Mount? Why don’t more Jews visit the site? Do Jews really want to start building the third Temple? Who financially supports Glick’s cause? And how mainstream are Glick’s views?
Questions for Muslims: With groups like ISIS destroying holy sites around the Mideast, what does Islam really say about the concept and status of sites holy to Islam and other faiths? How does this square with Palestinian factions calling on people to defend the Temple Mount from the Jews? What does it mean that Muslims consider the Temple Mount the “third” holiest site? What should we make — if anything — of Jerusalem Muslims turning their backs on the Temple Mount when they pray in the direction of Mecca? What to make of the fact that Jerusalem is never mentioned by name in the Koran?
And instead of quoting extremists, what do mainstream Jewish and Islamic religious scholars have to say about all this?
I don’t have answers to all these questions, and I’m deliberately not linking to other sites. The Temple Mount has a very complex backstory; news services are remiss by not shedding light on it.
With a better understanding of these issues, perhaps we’ll be able to better consider one more question.
Will cooler heads prevail?
Like what you just read? Sign up to get more:
