If He Can Freely Visit, Why Not I?

Even when Israel provides full religious freedom, there are fanatical enemies of ours who don't appreciate it:

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood on Thursday denounced a rare visit to Jerusalem by the nation's top Islamic theologian that broke with decades of opposition to traveling to areas under Israeli control.  Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa replied that his two-hour visit on Wednesday was a show of solidarity with the Palestinians' claim to Israeli-held east Jerusalem.

The short trip countered a long-standing unofficial view that there should be no contacts with Israel until an Arab-Israeli peace settlement is reached...The boycott is not state-sanctioned, but it has been endorsed by a wide range of Muslims, including the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, more radical groups and institutes whose heads are appointed by the state.

The travel ban also has the backing of professional unions, universities and private associations. In the past, some who have defied the ban have been ostracized... a body of senior clerics at Cairo's Al-Azhar...repeated their rejection of visits to Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa while under Israel's control but stopped short of reprimanding the mufti, who prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest site.

Another visitor - and yet another and another:

The cousin of Jordan's King Abdullah, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, arrived on Wednesday for a visit at Temple Mount in Jerusalem...Two weeks ago, the Hashemite king's son, Prince Hashim Bin al-Hussein arrived on a secret visit to Jerusalem, during which he prayed at al-Aqsa mosque. The visit was not coordinated with the Defense Ministry, which permits the entry of Jordanian citizens into Israel. Ministry officials stated that Jordan's interior minister also paid a visit to Israel.

Maybe Israel will yet extend freedom, full freedom to Jews to respect and honor our sacred and holy site, the Temple Mount, in a proper way.


P.S.  See EOZ's take.

And see this from Benny Morris' rebutal of Daniel Levy on Arafat:

...in 2000 he told President Clinton at Camp David that there had never been a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City—effectively rejecting the legitimacy of Jewish claims to Jerusalem and, by extension, to the Land of Israel/Palestine in toto. Palestinian spokesmen, despite fourteen hundred years of Muslim tradition, continue to deny the e existence of the Temple and, in effect, the Jewish heritage of the Land of Israel/Palestine. No rightful claim means that Zionism/Israel is illegitimate.

That's why Jewish rights to - and on - the Temple Mount are important.



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