So, A "Holy Mountain" Is An Okay Thing

The Temple Mount as the foremost primary Jewish holy site is a concept the world's press has a problem accepting as a given.

So, my eyes lit up when I saw this headline:-

Visiting the Samaritans on their holy West Bank mountain

What is the story's thrust?

Samaritan High Priest Abdel Moin Sadaqa was relaxing on his porch watching Al-Jazeera on a wide-screen TV when we dropped by his home to talk about his ancient religion. “I like to keep up with the news,” the 83-year-old head of one of the world’s oldest and smallest religions explained as he turned down the volume.

And what is that religion?

The museum looked like a treasure trove of ancient Judaica, but Kohen made sure to point out the differences between Samaritanism and Judaism. “We are Israelites but not Jewish … we have 7,000 differences between our Torah and the Jewish one,” he declared as he showed a copy of a Samaritan scroll he said was the oldest book in the world.

but

While most of Samaritanism’s outside brides have been Jews from Israel, Kohen said three were Muslims and five Christians like Shura. All of them came from far away — the Muslims from Turkey and the Christians from Russia and Ukraine. Seeking converts among the local Muslim majority or the tiny Christian minority in Nablus could strain the good relations the Samaritans have with their neighbours.

Who are these religionists?

the descendants of the biblical Samaritans

A 52 minute clip was produced commercially (here) on the 'New Samaritans' - and the transcript is there - and a short YouTube promo here, although pay attention, they're speaking in...Hebrew.

Just in case you are wondering

The Samaritans are a religious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, a parallel but separate religion to Judaism or any of its historical forms. Based on the Samaritan Torah, Samaritans claim their worship is the true religion of the ancient Israelites prior to the Babylonian Exile, preserved by those who remained in the Land of Israel, as opposed to Judaism, which they assert is a related but altered and amended religion brought back by the exiled returnees.

...In the Talmud, a central post-exilic religious text of Judaism, their claim of ancestral origin is disputed, and in those texts they are called Kuthim (Hebrew: כותים‎), allegedly from the ancient city of Kutha, geographically located in what is today Iraq. Modern genetics has suggested some truth to both the claims of the Samaritans and Jewish accounts in the Talmud.

But going back to my opening point, I guess if you are not exactly Jewish and even a bit unique and fanciful, you're allowed a "holy mountain".