Who is really to blame for the tensions on the Temple Mount?

Unfortunately he can't be made accountable any more.

The one to blame is Moshe Dayan who gave control of The Temple Mount back to the Waqf after the Jews returned to ALL of Jerusalem. The police should have officers with video cameras to record what happens wherever they are called to contorl any situations. The films should be used to identify and prosecute rioters. Jews and non-Moslems should be allowed any time when the Moslems are not required to pray. If the Waqf cannot control their populations on the Mount they should be be subject to direct Israeli control.

Who isn't? The Settlers intent upon creating a crisis? The Israeli government afraid to announce that it had blocked the Settler's ambitions? The Islamic leaders who agitated to stop the Settlers? The kids who were easily agitated and responded to an assault which had not been allowed to happen? Who isn't in some sense responsible? In the end, I would have to say the fanatics amongst the Settlers and the Muslim youths. But that is because they were eager for what happened.

...these folks are at the root of the recent unrest, a quick perusal of their Web site shows them to be whacky as bed bugs in much the same way the Taliban is extreme whackoness personified. They want to destroy Al Aqsa mosque, or at the least "move it to Mecca" and that'll go over like a Lead Zeppelin... They believe in the (Biblical borders) [their emphasis] of "Eretz Israel", that is to say they have huge territorial ambitions not yet realized beyond the Temple Mount. They want to rebuild the Third Temple and then: "Consecrating the Temple Mount to the Name of G-d so that it can become the moral and spiritual center of Israel, of the Jewish people and of the entire world according to the words of all the Hebrew prophets. It is envisioned that the consecration of the Temple Mount and the Temple itself will focus Israel on (a) fulfilling the vision and mission given at Mt. Sinai for Israel to be a chosen people separate unto G-d, a holy nation, and a nation of priests, and (b) becoming a light unto all the nations [Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 42:6] so that the Name of G-d may be revered by all nations and the Biblical way of life may be propagated throughout the world. Rebuilding the Third Temple in accordance with the words of all the Hebrew prophets. This temple will be a house of prayer for the people of Israel and all nations."

The palestinians just can`t help themselves, can they!! They do anything to harass the jews and then make it look as if it`s their fault. It`s about time the world realizes what`s going on!!

Sir, After putative Temple rebuilding we'll rejoice and leave it to professionals to take care of the things. Reformed rabbis will pray in Manhattan and the conservative in Boston. Levitical Priesthood is the must as per Torah. I however would be happy long before - at the disposal of other buildings.

Tiresome to see the usual mixture of denial of Jewish history and justification of Palestinian violence. Once again,Palestinians use violent means to keep the Temple Mount site judenrein and claim it is their right to riot because a Jew was seen in their midst. Some posters here are already creating a list of fabrications to justify a new intifada. I think people are getting tired of these lies.

The PA's public statements prove beyond doubt that its aim is to incite violence. It is high time to send the Holocaust denier Abbas and his terrorists in suits back to Tunis, let them cause trouble there since that is all they seem to know how to do.

Where they made clear their plans for ALL Jerusalem.Thats the "moderate peace partner" Fatah folks,then there is Hamas their elected government.

The Jews are to blame for not forcefully and unequivocally reasserting dominion and sovereignty over the entire mandated terfritory seized from it in 1948, and repatriating Muslims to Muslim lands. At least, the Israelis should demand reciprocity for their people who should be permitted to live freely in Arab lands such as Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and pray openly at the Kaaba in Mecca as the Islamics want the privilege of praying at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Reciprocity? Why not?

meeting made it clear you want it all,ethnic cleansed of Jews. Arafat refused because he wanted controll of the Temple mount as well.

the Jewish Temple.That makes it Dar Al Islam in their eyes.

Neither did trashing Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem after the Arab armies killed/expelled the Jews from there. Arab pogroms,riots in which they killed hundreds of Jews or Arab army invasion is not a title deed.

"Muslims if confronted with the same situation as the jews would have destroyed the edifice (Temple)" It would of course depend upon the geopolitical climate, wouldn't it? If the jews thought they could get away with, you bet they'd knock the Mosque down. But imagine the repercussions should they ever try to move ahead on that intention in today's atmosphere.

"No one will ever rebuild Solomon`s Temple there or anywhere else.." Are you sure we're talking about "Solomon's Temple?" I thought it was Herod's Temple. But, hey, someone with the historical facts can probably disabuse me of the notion that Solomon's Temple came down centuries earlier.

No one will ever rebuild Solomon's Temple there or anywhere else so I wouldn't worry about it too much. There's a small fringe element trying to raise funds using rebuilding it as their excuse but no normal people will support it.

From your post you seem to think Muslims were doing a bad thing when they did not protect the right of Jews to pray at it's (sic) holiest of temples. If it was a bad thing for Muslims to do, it is also a bad thing for Jews to do. What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.

No non-Muslims will be allowed....! The Muslims make trouble and they gain a reward? Our police are really smart!!

Arguments seem to swirl about the alleged former existence of the Jewish Temple on the putative Temple mount. I believe it was there, and was destroyed in 70AD. But what if the Temple were rebuilt? What would modern Israeli jewry do with it? What kinds of worship would be conducted within its newly constructed walls? Would animal sacrifces be renewed? Would the Ark of the Covenant be restored, or would they fashion a new one? Would a restored Levitical priesthood offer sacrifices, and if so, where would that leave all the "orthodox" and "reformed" Talmudic rabbis? What part would they play in any re-established Temple rites? These are questions which need to be addressed, particularly, in my opinion, by Evnagelical Christians who look forward prophetically to this day.

on the Mosque location based on a dream of their prophet. Mohamed lived in Medina and was influenced by the jews living there in his teachings. He never himself went to Jerusalem, only dreamt of it. The temple site is confirmed by artifacts & texts, survivors of the cohanim. A church was built on top of the temple, which was turned into the mosque we know now. The gold dome came much later. With the wall,it was and still is the center of judaism. Muslims if confronted with the same situation as the jews would have destroyed the edifice & put their own a long time ago. Stop trying to rewrite history, respect our religion like we do yours.

I am sad to read of these petty political squabbles about this most magnificent mosque. I visited many times and wondered at its beauty, tranquility and openess to tourists and locals alike. I hope silly politics won't make it impossible for Jews and others to visit the Temple Mount without incident.

This post is getting a lot of comments I realize this is a verry emotional issue I would like to point out Josepheus wrote about the temple not the location I'm not a big fan of his church but Ernest L martin made the case the temple was over by the Gihon Spring Josepheus wrote there was an inexaustable supply of water at the temple. Most scholars have rejected this theory saying the Jews brought in the water needed for the purification ceremonies by aqueduct. PS Martin claims the Wailing Wall [Kotel] is a remnant of a later building I believe by Herod . Again most scholars have rejected these theries

Never been to any of the chambers under the Temple Mount, have you?

the other way around. One can only remember the events of 1920, 1921, 1929, 1936 to 1938, 1947-1948. After that, until 1967 Jerusalem was kept "cleansed" of its Jewish residents by its Arab rulers. Then again, 1987, 1996, 2000 and the list continues... Events in Jerusalem this year are a continuation of the same string of events caused by the Muslim-Arabs - not Druze, not Christians, mind you!!! - with which we are familiar and during which thousands of Jews lost their lives. Thanks God, this time we have security forces that protect the Jewish community.

"1) 6th century Byzantine Historian Procopius stated that Western "Wailing Wall" was not Herodian, but built by Justinian to broaden the foundation for his massive Hagia Sophia, soon destroyed by the Persians, and rebuilt to 1/2 scale by the first Caliph of Jerusalem as a mosque to entice Jerusalem`s Christians. " - Ivar "And in Jerusalem he dedicated to the Mother of God a shrine with which no other can be compared.22 2 This is called by the natives the "New Church"; . . .And the Emperor Justinian endowed this Church of the Mother of God with the income from a large sum of money. Such were the activities of the Emperor Justinian in Jerusalem." - Procopius "Buildings" Book V, part 6 Hagia Sophia is in Istanbul, and was touted by Justinian as surpassing Solomon's Temple. Constantinople was proclaimed as the 'New Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem was dedicated to Mary, not Saint Sophia. Procopius did not claim the West Wall was not Herodian.

David's capital was not in Jerusalem. He stole it from it original inhabitants. This is historical fact. JEWS don't belong in the land; they never had a land. GOD PROMISE IT--Yea, Yea we heard it before "cry me a river" YOu conquered the land just like the Muslims conquered it centuries later. Jews never owned the land longer than the Muslims. They constantly held it for 1400 years, Jewish ownership was always sporadic!

Moshe Dayan saw that back in 1967. This attempt by gangs of ectremist Jews to take possession of the Temple Mount will result in nothing less than another Baruch Goldstein massacre. They must be stopped and kept out. They have no interest in sharing, or simply praying and to say so is simply a denial of their own stated agenda. The Muslims are not making this up.

These attempts by extremist Jews are no new. They have been ongoing for yrs, urged on my religious/nationalist groups and organisations such as the Temple Institute which seek to regain total possession of the Temple Mount. Muslims are aware of this, coming as it does on tops of the efforts byy the soame groupts to take over Silwan and Sheik Jarreh. it should be made clear that these same extremist groups are not "tourists" nor are they impartial visitors. They have a religios political aganda which is nothing less than claiming the Temple Mount as a Jewish site and they are fully aware of how this attempt will flame the passions of the Muslims. These extremists must be kept out, at all costs. They are a powder keg resady to ignite the passions of millions.

Slipshod scholarship has mislocated the Jewish Temples, whose true location was to the South of the so-called ?Temple Mount? (TM): (1) 6th century Byzantine Historian Procopius stated that Western "Wailing Wall" was not Herodian, but built by Justinian to broaden the foundation for his massive Hagia Sophia, soon destroyed by the Persians, and rebuilt to 1/2 scale by the first Caliph of Jerusalem as a mosque to entice Jerusalem`s Christians. (2) Agrippa`s testimony of a clear view of the Temple from the Hashmonean Palace locates a spot just to the South of the TM, which would have been too high to have permitted such a view. (3) Historical documentation from the first 6 centuries demonstrates that the Temple location was well known, and conforms to the location in (2), near the Gihon Spring temple water source. The rubble excavated from the basements of the Waqf on the TM proves the TM was built well after the 2nd century CE. http://www.biblemysteries.com/lectures/builtwailingwall.htm http://www.templemount.org/sagiv2/index.html http://www.templemount.org/sagiv2/drawing20.jpg The Temple Mount location was well known up to the 7th century, and conforms to Herod Agrippa`s sighting of it, south of the current "Temple Mount", reared by Emperor Justinian as a platform for his Hagia Sophia in Jerusalem. However, this site neglects the other evidence in my post, which completes the true historical picture. http://www.askelm.com/temple/t991001.htm (4) The Waqf basement excavations on the Temple Mount PROVE that both First and Second Temple debris were swept up from the broad environs of the Temple Mount area and used as FILL by the Temple Mount builder, who could ONLY HAVE BEEN JUSTINIAN, AND NOT HEROD, BECAUSE HEROD WOULD NOT HAVE PUT SECOND TEMPLE DEBRIS DEEP WITHIN HIS ALLEGED TEMPLE MOUNT. Also, these debris have contained Roman coins and artifacts clearly decades after the completion of the Second Temple. The fill of the Temple Mount clearly dates it after Herod the Great. (5) The Temple Mount was the location of the Roman fortress of Antonia, and the seat of the Roman government of Jerusalem and Judea. The Hashmonean architectural features which may be authentic would have served the prominent and politically central Antonia fortress, and not the Temple Mount. Robinson's and Warren's Arches in the Temple Mount could just as well have been Justinian's handiwork.

The Israeli Government is to blame for disturbances.Because there is a policy of judenrein on the Temple Mount.

Josephus is not a philosopher, but a historian. Yes he is not from the 3rd century. He was one of the Jewish leaders at the time of the revolt, he was captured, his life spared. He lived in Rome thereafter, because there was neither Jerusalem nor the Temple left. The Al- Asqa was built on the Mount were from Mohammed was taken to heaven according to tradition. He wrote "The Jewish War", but he is not entirely reliable according to scholars. But, if you want to destroy Israel, please bomb the Mosque, as the settlers are trying to do. I can write "The Jewish/Palestinian War" then. They both will have the same end.

Israel's policiy of unilaterally creating facts is to blame here. The invasion of el-Khalil (Hebron) by Jewish colonists and the campaign to drive out the inidigenous Palestinian population from the Old CIty started with a single person (Moshe Levinger) setting up shop in the Park Hotel in the 1970s. Just check out the video today about Elad digging under Arab houses in Silwan and weakening them. Would Israelis accept it if Palestinians were digging under their houses in this way?? If you walk around in the Jewish quarter of the Old City you will pass a shopfront where fundamentalist Jews show the model of the Third Temple they are going to build on the spot where the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque now stand. In view of the treacherous behaviour of the colonists in Occupied Palestine I would not trust Israeli intentions for one second. The Palestinians are absolutely right here.

they do not care if it is truth. Neither do they care about the sanctity of the Wall to the Jews or respect Judaism. This is just a whole big PR game. This week is well known as pilgrimage week for Jews and the Arabs know this - but do they respect Jews coming to pray at the Wall. No And they always blame them.

When kids are asked in decades to come to write essays about the origins of the Third Initifada, it'll go something like this: 1) Obama raised expectations of Pal freedom and then feebly gave in to Bibi on settlement freeze. 2) Abbas fulfilled his road map obligations to produce a peaceful West Bank. Instead of this leading to Pal freedom as promised, it led to Pals being ignored and settlements and the occupation continuing. 3) Bibi's government, instead of attempting to placate rising Pal anger, went out of its way to offend and alienate them. Bibi could not afford politically to yield on settlements and conflict suited him much better in terms of keeping his coalitio. 4)Abbas discredited himself by dropping support for Goldstone, just at the point when Hamas was showing gains from its tactic of using Shalit as a hostage. 5)Because of all this, Pals saw no other way to progress their dream of freedom, than by resorting to violence. As before Al Aqsa became one of the flashpoints

In the foreground is Sukkot and the right to pray at shrines in peace. The background would be Ras Al-Amoud, Silwan.... if it had been painted in but our Mr Issacharoff preferred the removal from context approach. Reminds me of those photos of the Kotel, Temple Mount rising above it with the Mosques photoshopped out of them. Hag sameah.

How one wishes that such a computer program could be applied to the Temple Mount as well, since the main problem is 'who is abusing the Mount', which in effect means the mutual abuse of Jews and Muslims... One fears that the Jews might come out with 'flying colors', since the settlement industry has 'perfected' the technique as a way-of-life...

So the Palestinians say that Jews are not allowed practicing Judaism at the holiest site in Judaism in the only Jewish Country in the world? All dumb people: "buy cheap propaganda here!"

As Muslims do not protect the rights of Jews to pray at it's holiest of temples, I do not see where Jews must extend such rights to hostile Muslims who have illegitimately stolen Jewish land and holy sites and are violent to the indigenous peoples. Its time to take full control of the Temple Mount and prevent all Muslims from praying on it. Muslims have forfeited the privileged Jews allowed them to pray at our temple and no longer must we be so kind.

All of this commotion is the PA's way of deflecting responsibility for its decision to withdraw its motion against Israel at the UN Human Right Council. During Operation Cast Lead the PA was cheering Israel on to destroy Hamas, and Israel has proof of this. Then suddenly Abbas decides to be the tough guy and push the uN to prosecute Israel with the Goldstone report. Then he was forced to back down, so now he invents another "crisis" ment to divert attention and show that he is tough on Israel. It all a stupid game. As an Israeli, in some ways I prefer Arafat to Abba, who was open about his agenda, and since everybody knew he was a liar and a crook, you knew how to deal with him. Abbas pretends to be a Western politician in a suit, but acts just like a conniving desert beduin.

Israel and its ongoing policies of land confiscation, settlements in the heart of East Jerusalem, and ongoing attempts to rid Jerusalem of its Palestinian population is to blame. Don't go blaming the Islamist movement or the PA, which is weak and not allowed by Israel to function in Jerusalem anyway.

Moreover, in historical Arab press and books it is clearly mentioned that once Solomons Temple stood there. Only lately the denial started. The string theory of parallel universes is somewhat outdated, but clearly existing in our own world; although it's one real universe against a fake parallel universe in which many Arabs live. I don't blame them. After all they believe what they are fed by their leaders and "journalists".

It's the holiest month for Jews and just as you would not want to withhold from your trip to Mecca, Jews should and are allowed to _visit_ the Temple Mount. That you are intolerant enough not to stand the view of Jews on the Temple Mount that is your problem. It's no provocation. It's practicing Judaism.

for days on end, while opeing it to the Jews, particularly 'settler herds', is counter productive. In the early days, after Israel's '67 victory, when we kept a low profile on the Mount itself, going up onto the Temple Mount was one of the loveliest and most inspiring experiences. Nowadays the fanatics on both sides have ruined it all. Nothing 'inspiring' there any longer...

Reguarding Hussein's claim that there was no temple, you should have read what Josephus says about Herod rebuilding, yes rebuilding the temple and even mentioning the temple Solomon built. seems there is much hatred for the jews, but soon that hatred will be eliminated

Poor Hussein in Houston!! He is either ignorant, or lives on a diferrent planet! He needs a lesson in history SOON!! Joesphus (born 37 CE) was a FIRST century historian, not in the Third!! He not only confirmed the existance of the Temple, but mourned its destruction by the Romans in his writings. He fought against the Romans in the sixth decade, before joining their army. HE WAS THERE!!! If you can't read any difficult books, at least consult Wikipedia, IT MIGHT HELP OPEN YOUR MIND!!

but little else

for the tension and the inflaming of the situation. This is not a PA with which Israel or anyone else is ever likely to reach a peace agreement. Its leaders' desire is to continue to demonize and de-legitimize Israel and attack it and its people in all possible ways as part of its long term goal of eliminating the Jewish state.

you need to be more carefull with your facts and less inflamatory. Josephus did write about the destruction of the temple . If you're really interested in the truth ( which you are probably not ) just google Josephus and temple. The reason there is no peace is because of people like you . But there is no use lecturing you since you already made up your narrow , weak mind.

The only solution to the I/P problem is to return most of the WB, with the exception of major towns like Ariel and Maale Adumim, to Jordan, from who it was captured in 1967. They will make sure that there are no more riots on the Temple Mount, and take care of any inflammatory remarks by the then former PA, the Wakf and others,

This is not happening in a vacuum, folks. Settler attacks (unpunished) on Arab farmers, eviction of entire Arab families from East Jlem, refusal to live up to agreements on halting settlement construction and on and on. You may write about this as if it were an isolated matter, but it is not. It is the sum of Likud-and-extreme-right policies designed to provoke violence - and it will work. Happy new year.

As usual you always blame the victims after all they are goyim, Well the herds of settler and the Israeli Government is to blame. This is all orchestrated, closing all the gates twice except one to allow the settlers to rush in backed by thousands of Border patrol and police officers who just happens to be there. You are trying to create facts on the ground as a first step to a temple that never was. All you dinging did not find a single evidence. The Jewish Philosopher, Josephus in the 3rd century said there never was one.This behavior will guarantee a 3rd intifada and victims on both sides.