Tag Archives: Temple Mount

In early May 2021 Israeli authorities had to cope with a high level of unrest and accompanying violence on the part of Arabs in Israel in several locales; nowhere was the situation more intense than at the Temple Mount. Those riots were incited by Hamas. During that time of unrest, …

It is time to assert our sovereignty over our holiest site, to send a clear message to the world that the Temple Mount will indeed be a place for free worship. The expression “ground zero” connotes the place of essence, of origin, of fundamental significance. In Israel, Har Habayit, The …

I take this opportunity to wish all a year of peace, good health, abundant love of family and friends, and spiritual growth. Credit: My Jewish Learning ~~~~~~~~~~ Something disturbing happened in Jerusalem earlier this week, and the story is not yet over: Temple Mount activists Yehuda Glick, former MK and …

What ensued has been one of the greatest failures and embarrassments of the state of Israel: the willing severance of the connection of the Jewish people from its holiest site. For centuries, indeed millennia, our ancestors have reaffirmed the centrality of Jerusalem to their understanding of what it means to …

We, the Jewish People, are a miracle.  That we were dispersed from our Land 2,000 years ago and then returned is a one-time happening that defies all historical precedents and all logical understanding. That the Land has flourished when farmed by Jews, in a way that it simply does not …

The Israeli government must reassert its sovereignty and control, starting with the Temple Mount. The columnist Melanie Phillips has suggested that governments should fight anti-Israel hate and antisemitism through the adoption of the successful though controversial law enforcement strategy known as Broken Windows Policing (BWP). BWP holds that the police …

Next Sunday, May 29, is Yom Yerushalayim – a day that marks Israel’s liberation of eastern Jerusalem in 1967 and its subsequent formal reunification with western Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. It is over 3,000 years ago – which is way before Islam existed – that King David chose Jerusalem as …

Yom Ha’atzmaut, with its euphoria, was just coming to an end. (Please see my posting reflecting that euphoria if you have not done so yet!) We seemed to be back to normal. But it’s tough, because “normal” has just become obscene. ~~~ I was going to write about the Temple …

It is my practice, always, to begin a posting with news of a terror attack – when one occurs – before dealing with other matters.  And sadly, painfully, I must do so again here: On Friday night, Vyacheslav Golev was working as a security guard at the entrance to the …

The final day of Pesach is over, as is Shabbat, and – grateful for a brief hiatus that brought me a modicum of temporary peace – I return now to write about the situation in Israel, which simply must not be permitted to continue as it has been going. ~~~ …

My heart sunk when I woke up Friday morning to the news of riots on the Temple Mount. Flipping through an endless barrage of cell phone videos flooding the many WhatsApp and Telegram news groups I subscribe to, scrolling through reports on social media from those who witnessed the destruction …

The outrage is very real, and very serious.  Its focus is Har Habayit (the Temple Mount). Credit: Wikimedia commons Palestinian Arabs today claim that Har Habayit is theirs: Theirs to the exclusion of any other claim. But the facts attest to origins of the Mount that are irrefutably Jewish. As …

Fact. The al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is not a Palestinian shrine.  It is considered the third holiest place in Islam after Mecca and Medina. After the Six-Day War, to avoid enflaming the Islamic world, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan agreed the Muslim authorities (the Waqf) would …

Whatever circles about us, here we are, in the midst of the High Holiday season. Rosh Hashana just past, Yom Kippur immediately before us. If ever there was a time to ask what it is all about, it is now. We are called upon, first, to look inward.  For if …

Tisha B’Av – a day of mourning for the destruction of the Temples – has just drawn to a close here in Israel.  Here you see stones from the Second Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden. We mark the calamities that have befallen …

Before I begin, I wish to thank the many people who write to me.  Please know that I read all comments; I trust you understand that it is not always possible to respond. ~~~ And then I want to share material taken from my website: “The Temple Mount: Whose Is …

I write on Tuesday night, impelled by the day’s events, knowing there are multiple stories to tell here, and that I must be succinct. Today was the Jerusalem Flag Parade, which had been postponed from Jerusalem Day because of Hamas rockets, re-scheduled for last week – when the police vetoed …

Of all the outrageous accusations made against Israel by the Palestinian Arabs, this is the only one that I find amusing, in a manner of speaking. How, pray tell, might we “judaize” Jerusalem when it is Jewish? The amusement is fleeting, however, for there is nothing funny about the Arabs’ motivation …

Why a truly solid right wing government is needed in Israel without further delay. The politicking is unbearable, and time drags on.  And so I thought I would devote this posting to a look at situations we must contend with that require strength and a sense of unity. The Palestinian …

Press release – Sheikh Who Praised Murder of French Teacher Banned from Temple Mount Palestinian Arab Islamic scholar Sheikh Issam Amira was issued a ban from the Temple Mount on Saturday after he called the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty a “great honor” for all Muslims during his weekly …