Stories I’d Like to See: Background on the Temple Mount Troubles

BY PESACH BENSON  NOVEMBER 2, 2014

By now, we all know the Temple Mount is a hilltop site in Jerusalem that’s holy to Jews and Muslims.

It’s always in and out of the news because of Palestinian violence, concerns about its status quo, security cameras, archaeology or because of puerile pronouncements from the Arab PA, UNESCO, or Jordan denying historic Jewish ties.

It’s 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:

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?

Questions for Jews: 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?

What does Judaism say about praying on the Temple Mount? Why don’t more Jews visit the site? Do Jews really want to start praying on the site or start building the third Temple? How mainstream are these views, and who are the Jews financing this agenda?

Questions for Muslims: Why does the Waqf allow Palestinians to store rocks and firecrackers inside the Al Aqsa Mosque prior to clashes? If the Waqf can’t or won’t maintain order on the Temple Mount, can Israeli security be faulted for going onto the esplanade during clashes?

Would the PA, Jordan, or any other Arab country react differently than if, say, jihadists were hiding weapons inside an Islamic holy site?

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?

When asked to define the word martyr, the PA’s top cleric, Dr. Mahmoud Habbash, said a martyr (or shahid) is “anybody who has been killed in a war against non-Muslims,” adding that Arab/Palestinians are in a “state of war” with the “Israeli occupation.” Does this mean the Palestinians see the Mideast conflict as an inherently religious war? Is this why the Temple Mount seems to be an especially ideal point of Palestinian incitement?

What do other mainstream Jewish and Islamic religious scholars have to say about all this?

I don’t have answers to all these questions. 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.

Next time violence flares up, will cooler heads prevail?