House of God

I write in reference to Gershon Baskin’s “The house of God” (Encountering Peace, July 20), where he states that “a majority of Muslims living under Israel’s control do not have free access to [their] most important holy place” in the area.

Assuming that limiting access to what one considers holy is the wrong thing to do, why does he not also point out that the vast majority of Jews are prevented from ascending to the Temple Mount? Not only that, the few who gain access are prohibited from praying! Why is it wrong when the Muslims cannot ascend, but alright when the Jews cannot ascend?

Second, in his final sentence, he begs all to “work together toward ensuring that we don’t reach another round of horrific violence spurred by religious fervor.” To that, Mr. Baskin, there is a simple solution: Use your influence to direct the Muslims to not bring weapons to the Temple Mount. Use your influence to direct them to treat the location as holy, as they claim it is to them. ZE’EV M. SHANDALOV Ma’aleh Adumim