The Temple Mount For Sale
By Michael D. Evans
Published: August 29, 2007
According to unnamed sources within the Israeli government, Israel is prepared to cede control of the Temple Mount to the Palestinians in an effort to reach a lasting peace agreement with the ever-insatiable, always unreliable PLO.
In talks with Mahmoud Abbas, it is reported that the Israeli government presented a plan that would relinquish control of the holiest site to all Judaism to the Muslims. Other sites near the Mount would be controlled by a consortium of Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Western Wall, the remaining relic of the last Temple, would remain under Israeli control. They are being pressured by the EU, the UN, Arab League and the U.S. to do this.
The disposition of the Temple Mount has long been the point of contention in negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Apparently, Israel is now ready to put that issue on the table. A similar offer was made to Yasser Arafat in January of 2001, an offer that would have given Arafat almost everything he wanted, including ninety-eight percent of the territory of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, all of East Jerusalem except for the Jewish and Armenian quarters, Palestinian sovereignty over the Temple Mount, conceding only the right of Jews to pray there, and a compensation fund of $30 billion. Arafat chose the route of launching yet another intifada against the Jewish people.
Diplomats within the EU are pushing for a final agreement to be reached before the conference scheduled by the U.S. takes place in November. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been pressing Abbas and Olmert to iron out their differences and have a workable plan to present to the participants at the conference.
In recent meetings between the two men, the concessions have, as always, been very one-sided: Olmert has ordered the release of 178 members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (a wing of Fatah - the terrorist organization that has been responsible for the many suicide bombings in Israel during the past 36 months.) Olmert is being pressed to release another 206 terrorists and remove security checkpoints that are essential in stopping these heinous attacks against the Jewish people. In yet another concession to the Palestinians, the IDF has turned patrolling duties in the West Bank over to Palestinian policemen (simply a more acceptable word for "terrorists.")
What has the Palestinian Authority given up in these talks? Nothing! As is the norm, Israel is the one doing the giving. Any receiving for Israel is on the end of a terrorist’s rocket launcher or suicide bomb. Nothing has changed to insure peace for Israel.
The Jews laid claim to the Temple Mount in the Tenth Century B.C. when King Solomon built the first resplendent Temple. The Muslims were Johnny-come-lately residents, having built the Dome of the Rock on top of the Temple Mount in 681 A.D. For all of the protestations that the Temple Mount belongs to the Palestinians, the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran. Islamic tradition marks it as the spot where Muhammad purportedly took his midnight journey to heaven. The location was markedsimply by the phrase "the fartherest mosque." Only much later was the city pinpointed as Jerusalem.
Israel has been pressured in the past to relinquish land and the results have been catastrophic. Bethlehem, for example, has become a terrorist stronghold where it is unsafe for Christians to travel. Gaza has been returned to the PLO because of U.N. pressure; now Iran, through its proxy, HAMAS, controls the area and is making life miserable for everyone - Jews and Palestinians alike.
The pressure on Prime Minister Olmert is enormous. The danger of the land-for-peace initiative being led by the U.S. is that if it fails, the rockets will fall…and they will fall on Israel. The terrorists will begin attacking and killing Jews in yet another attempt to bring Israel to its knees. Their excuse will be that they are attempting to liberate the Temple Mount. If that succeeds, it will only embolden the terrorists to launch attacks in even greater numbers.
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Michael D. Evans is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, www.beyondiraq.com.
Published: August 29, 2007
According to unnamed sources within the Israeli government, Israel is prepared to cede control of the Temple Mount to the Palestinians in an effort to reach a lasting peace agreement with the ever-insatiable, always unreliable PLO.
In talks with Mahmoud Abbas, it is reported that the Israeli government presented a plan that would relinquish control of the holiest site to all Judaism to the Muslims. Other sites near the Mount would be controlled by a consortium of Jews, Christians and Muslims. The Western Wall, the remaining relic of the last Temple, would remain under Israeli control. They are being pressured by the EU, the UN, Arab League and the U.S. to do this.
The disposition of the Temple Mount has long been the point of contention in negotiations between Israel and Palestine. Apparently, Israel is now ready to put that issue on the table. A similar offer was made to Yasser Arafat in January of 2001, an offer that would have given Arafat almost everything he wanted, including ninety-eight percent of the territory of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, all of East Jerusalem except for the Jewish and Armenian quarters, Palestinian sovereignty over the Temple Mount, conceding only the right of Jews to pray there, and a compensation fund of $30 billion. Arafat chose the route of launching yet another intifada against the Jewish people.
Diplomats within the EU are pushing for a final agreement to be reached before the conference scheduled by the U.S. takes place in November. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been pressing Abbas and Olmert to iron out their differences and have a workable plan to present to the participants at the conference.
In recent meetings between the two men, the concessions have, as always, been very one-sided: Olmert has ordered the release of 178 members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (a wing of Fatah - the terrorist organization that has been responsible for the many suicide bombings in Israel during the past 36 months.) Olmert is being pressed to release another 206 terrorists and remove security checkpoints that are essential in stopping these heinous attacks against the Jewish people. In yet another concession to the Palestinians, the IDF has turned patrolling duties in the West Bank over to Palestinian policemen (simply a more acceptable word for "terrorists.")
What has the Palestinian Authority given up in these talks? Nothing! As is the norm, Israel is the one doing the giving. Any receiving for Israel is on the end of a terrorist’s rocket launcher or suicide bomb. Nothing has changed to insure peace for Israel.
The Jews laid claim to the Temple Mount in the Tenth Century B.C. when King Solomon built the first resplendent Temple. The Muslims were Johnny-come-lately residents, having built the Dome of the Rock on top of the Temple Mount in 681 A.D. For all of the protestations that the Temple Mount belongs to the Palestinians, the city of Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran. Islamic tradition marks it as the spot where Muhammad purportedly took his midnight journey to heaven. The location was markedsimply by the phrase "the fartherest mosque." Only much later was the city pinpointed as Jerusalem.
Israel has been pressured in the past to relinquish land and the results have been catastrophic. Bethlehem, for example, has become a terrorist stronghold where it is unsafe for Christians to travel. Gaza has been returned to the PLO because of U.N. pressure; now Iran, through its proxy, HAMAS, controls the area and is making life miserable for everyone - Jews and Palestinians alike.
The pressure on Prime Minister Olmert is enormous. The danger of the land-for-peace initiative being led by the U.S. is that if it fails, the rockets will fall…and they will fall on Israel. The terrorists will begin attacking and killing Jews in yet another attempt to bring Israel to its knees. Their excuse will be that they are attempting to liberate the Temple Mount. If that succeeds, it will only embolden the terrorists to launch attacks in even greater numbers.
**********
Michael D. Evans is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Final Move Beyond Iraq, www.beyondiraq.com.
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