The history
It was where Herod the Great ('Great' because of his buildings) constructed, or re-constructed, the Second Temple - and where King Solomon had probably built the First Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians.
The Old Testament story of Abraham offering his son Isaac for sacrifice is placed here by tradition. For the Jews, it was once the centre of their world - and the place to which they always promised themselves in exile that they would return.
Even today, Jews pray at the nearest point they can reach to the Temple Mount, its Western Wall, once known as the Wailing Wall. Most are content to leave the eventual reconstruction of the temple to the future - and to God. Religious Jews will not even go onto the Temple Mount for fear of stepping on some holy place.
Christians know it as the temple where Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers. The Romans knew it as a place of Jewish rebellion and, under Titus, demolished it in 70 AD (the Common Era) after the Zealots' revolt, which also saw the siege and fall of Masada.
JERUSALEM HOLY SITE
SACRED TO MUSLIMS: Site of Prophet Muhammad's first prayers and ascent into Heaven, home to al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock
SACRED TO JEWS: Site of first and second Temples and the rock on which Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice. Western Wall is the holiest site in Judaism
After the Roman empire developed into the Byzantine, it lay largely empty for centuries. Christians were more interested in the site of Jesus' crucifixion. The place was a rubbish dump.
Then in 638, the Muslim army of Omar, Commander of the Faithful, conquered Jerusalem. There was then built one of the most beautiful edifices in the world, the Dome of the Rock, followed by the al-Aqsa mosque nearby.
The Dome became, in Muslim eyes, holy because they believe that it was from this rocky outcrop that the Prophet Muhammad in a night journey ascended into heaven on his horse Buraq to receive commandments from God.
The al-Aqsa ("The Furthest") was built to commemorate the furthest mosque to which Muhammad states that he travelled from Mecca in his dream. It has become the third most holy place in Islam, after Mecca and Medina.
Politics
One now has to roll forward until 1967. When the Israelis captured the Old City from the Jordanians, the question as to the future of the compound obviously arose. Political realism prevailed. A compromise was reached.
Actually, why do we have to roll forward until 1967?
Why skip over Arab violence directed at Jews, whose perpetrators streamed out of the Temple Mount gates to kill, maim and pillage in 1929?
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1 comment:
"For the Jews, it was ONCE the centre of their world"???? (emphasis mine)
And now? This is the problem, of course, as you know - and as was shown on the Hardtalk interview as well - while the Arabs are given priority over all things, the Jews "once" had legitimacy here but aren't allowed to have it now (here or anywhere) - at least, not according to the "laws" of today (of course, this discounts Torah as legitimate in the eyes of the world, even if most constitutions and law codes are based on Torah... and even if most of the world's Christians "say" they believe in it (except for maybe the WCC and its affiliates).
suzanne
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