A voice of reason in the Temple Mount

The Six Day War in 1967 was initiated as a response to the mobilization of Egyptian forces on the Israeli border and other provocations. After Israel’s successful conclusion to that short conflict, the territory which included the Temple Mount came under Israeli control.

Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan in a gesture of peace said:

“To our Arab neighbors we extend, especially at this hour, the hand of peace. To members of the other religions, Christians and Muslims, I hereby promise faithfully that their full freedom and all their religious rights will be preserved. We did not come to Jerusalem to conquer the Holy Places of others.”

In fact, as a further gesture of peace, the Temple Mount site was turned over to the Muslim jurisdiction of the Waqf, who then would not allow non-Muslims to pray there. Recently, incidents of violence at the site caused Israel to want to install metal detectors for security reasons to which Muslims took as a personal affront to their freedom to access the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

This struck me as foolish since such measure would also protect them from acts of violence as well. On July 25, Israel reversed its intent to install these devices, once again in a gesture of reconciliation.

By a presentation of these facts, I hope the reader can judge for him or herself just who the reasonable party has been all along. — Edward Wood, Killingworth