I am raising this issue again. This story has the potential to be much more significant than the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. But you would never know it by watching your television.
I am still hoping that reasonable people will prevail and that we do not see an uptick in the cycle of violence.
Thousands of Israeli police have surrounded the Temple Mount in Jerusalem amid fears that Jewish extremists plan to storm the site.
The operation follows reports that extremists hope to thwart Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza by inflaming tensions with Palestinians.
Palestinian militants say they will end a truce if Jewish protesters enter the al-Aqsa mosque built on Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount is known as the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims.
Last month, Israel’s Channel Two TV station showed a video that it said showed plotters, including rabbis and far-right extremists, discussing ways to occupy the site, which is holy in both Judaism and Islam.
The meeting of representatives from 30 different groups took place at a secret location in Jerusalem’s Old City, the TV station said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei appealed to Israel to stop any action against the compound, saying it would cause the region to “explode”…
…Opponents of the Gaza withdrawal plan have been protesting in a number of ways, including blocking traffic on major roads causing massive jams.
Israel is due to withdraw all settlers and the troops that protect them from Gaza in July this year. Israel has occupied Gaza since 1967, and will retain control of the strip’s external borders, airspace and coastline.
The Temple Mount compound, in the old city in East Jerusalem, covers an area of 35 acres.
The site is holy to Jews because it is the site of the First and Second Temple in ancient times. It is known in Jewish tradition as the “abode of God’s presence”.
It is also of deep religious, political and national significance to Palestinians and to Muslims around the world.
BBC
Frontline has a big piece related to this. (thanks to one of my favorite sites, Disinfo)
With the traditional religious zealotry that persists and grows more self-riteous day by day, I don’t see anything coming but that explosion. Fueled by our own “religious” zealots.
I hope everyone here sees that Frontline. I brought it up in Booman’s superb analysis of Israel (it can also be found further down the page). It can be viewed online in its entirety. And, most PBS stations will reair it this weekend, so check your local PBS station.
In the past few days, stories after stories in the press about the building crisis in Israel have made me very worried. We can only pray that the Israeli government succeeds in keeping the extremist settlers at bay. Booman, thank you for staying on top of this.
some links from today and yesterday Aqsa Khatib flays occupation for denying worshippers entry into the Aqsa Israeli gunmen kill 2 Palestinian kids, 14 and 15 Israeli authorities to confiscate Palestinian farmlands east of Tulkarm Israeli MPs urge police command to allow fanatics storm Aqsa Mosque some backstory links Will Jews begin proclaiming “Long live the king” in the near future? According to a group of 71 Jewish scholars who met this week in the Old City of Jerusalem in the form of a modern-day Sanhedrin – a duplicate of the religious tribunal which convened during the time of the… Read more »
It’s all insane. And talk about volatile. On the recent anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s death, I posted a diary commemorating her, and recounting my experience in going to her memorial service two years ago in Olympia, WA. I never dreamed I’d get so many vitriolic remarks condemning Rachel. I was hurt and completely puzzled. To be sure, I can’t make any sense out of suicide bombers (aka “homicide bombers” by Fox) or the extremist settlers’ violence. Both sides justify those actions by saying they’re facing desperate times and are otherwise impotent against the might of Israel. Sorry. That doesn’t… Read more »
This whole Temple Mount situation is a good example of why we went barking up the wrong tree when we invaded Iraq as a response to 9/11. We have fallen into what is widely perceived as a war between Christianity/Judaism and Islam, when the real “clash of civilizations” seems to me to be between fundamentalism and tolerance. And that is a struggle that is not just going on in the Arab or Muslim world – we (in the U.S.) seem to have our own creeping, intolerant theocracy much closer to home than that, and now Israel is tearing itself apart… Read more »
with you more.
It appears the kids were playing soccer, and the gunmen killed 3 of them. (CNN domestic TV)
Since you’ve studied this so much, if there is significant violence, how will this possibly affect the entire region?
on Israel and Palestine. I’d say I’m fairly informed, no more. But if there is a riot at the temple mount it could cause a third intifada, with corresponding brutality by the Israelis… That would be a terrible shame. It is hard to hold out hope as long as Bush is in power here. But the death of Arafat has ushered in a new era in the dispute. So far, the new era has not been marked by widespread violence and mass carnage. There are still constant skirmishes, and the indignities of occupation continue unabated. But I would hope to… Read more »
but it’s never stopped me before :-). I think some effects might be: 1. An end to the Palestinian factions’ truce and a resumption of the intifada. I think this is virtually certain, but I think there is also the potential for much wider unrest. In 2000, Sharon’s visit to Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif was enough to spark off an intifada in the Occupied Territories, but the situation in the Middle East has gotten much worse since then. It’s a cliché to say that “9/11 changed everything”, but it did change some things, and not just for Americans. Bin Laden justified… Read more »
The current intifada started when Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount in 2000. BBC timeline
And the parallels are even stronger: Sharon did so to get a political advantage in the (then) upcoming elections, knowing full well the reaction he might trigger.
Broken record here: I can see why, after watching that Frontline, why Sharon and other Israeli politicians are so very worried about the settlers and, at times, currying their favor. (Sharon’s visit was a grossly cynical move to get votes, knowing the ensuing cost in lives would be worth it, for him.)
Last May, The New Yorker had a lengthy article by Jeffrey Goldberg, “Among the Settlers” that painted a rather dispiriting picture of the prospects for a completely peaceful resolution of any removal process. Sharon and many other members of Likud are in a position similar to that of older, more mainstream GOP politicians and consultants in the US, who are now seeing much of their party held hostage by its most extreme elements. It’s very much a matter of “reap what you sow”. Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 was a deliberately provocative move that he knew would… Read more »
If Sharon really wants to demonstrate that he’s more than a military demagogue, he needs to crack down hard on the radical settlers and fundamentalists and break their back once and for all. If he fails to do so, he exposes himself as a hypocrite on the grandest scale, since it was the failure of Arafat to reign in radicals on the Palestinian side that enabled Sharon to refuse to engage in any bilateral talks.
So very true. Alas, the evacuation of Gaza seems more like a “you get Gaza and we keep the West Bank” move.
. Sharon Visits U.S. as Israel Plans Gaza Exit By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, April 9, 2005 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrives Monday at President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Tex., for his 11th meeting with the president in four years, a coveted invitation that is intended to reward Sharon for taking the politically difficult step of ousting Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. […] In his talks with U.S. officials this week, Peres said he promoted the idea of a U.S.-appointed economic coordinator to bring together funds donated by companies and countries to assist the economic… Read more »
Insurgents kill 15 Iraqi soldiers Insurgents have killed 15 Iraqi soldiers travelling in a convoy south of Baghdad, police and officials say. The attack happened near the town of Latifiya, in a lawless area known as the “triangle of death”. The violence came on the second anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to the US-led coalition. Tens of thousands of Iraqis joined an anti-US protest in Firdus Square, where Saddam Hussein’s statue was toppled on 9 April 2003 as millions watched on TV. Chanting “No to America” and “No to the occupiers”, they pulled down and burned effigies of Saddam… Read more »
. Breaking News GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli troops fired at a group of Palestinians in a southern Gaza Strip refugee camp Saturday, killing three teenagers in the deadliest incident in Gaza since Israel and the Palestinians declared a cease-fire two months ago. The incident in the Rafah camp, located along the border with Egypt, shattered weeks of calm and added to tensions surrounding plans by Jewish extremists to march on a disputed holy site in Jerusalem. Ali Abu Zeid, a 22-year-old Rafah resident, said a group of boys were playing soccer in an open area when the ball… Read more »
I remember seeing a picture of an Israeli soldier with his gun ready guarding over Palestinian schools with the kids walking by single file and their heads down. That picture said it all.
Does anyone have a grasp on the H20 situation in the Middle East?
An article I read, somewhere, sparked my concern that the Middle East conflict may get another boost of conflict from declining water resources.
The Palestinians have been denied more than a trip to the well, per day, while their water is being pumped into Israeli neighborhoods. This of course is one of the big issues with the Israelis. If they return the land then they would have to buy the water.
Not to mention the situation in the rest of the region…
And never covered but important, Yemen.
Ah yes, but we’re strategically positioned.
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Does anyone know source of this “first” American War picture?
IMO must have been in George’s fraternity house at Harvard.
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité
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Just found this site, may be worthwhile —
Jewish Virtual Library
I really was looking for Peace Movement led by Yossi Beilin and the Geneva Accords. Does anyone have this available?
Oui – Liberté – Egalité – Fraternité