More Temple Mount Progress

I attended the Knesset's Interior Committee meeting today Wednesday relating to the Temple Mount and the police procedures and measures regarding the presence of non-Jews there.  An honored guest was Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who, when asked if he wished to make any remarks, just said that he is asked constantly about the ability of Jews to ascend and how and to where and he also requested of the police to protect the lives of his children who ascend and all Jews who visit from harm and injury.

There I am:

But, first of all, good news from America.  The RCA supports Jewish Temple Mount prayer:

...the full text of “2014 Resolution: Jewish Prayer on Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount)” states:

WHEREAS Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) is Judaism’s holiest site and the focal point of Jewish worship, and has been so continuously for thousands of year; and

WHEREAS The Jewish State of Israel presently controls the Temple Mount;

Therefore the Rabbinical Council of America implores the government of the State of Israel to accommodate Jews who wish to pray on the Temple Mount.

Now, back to yesterday.

The police were bombarded with criticism and questions and warnings and suggestions.

They were asked to consider moving the second, afternoon visiting time to 4-6 rather than at 1:30 as at that time, many Muslims are still wandering around.  They were implored to create a larger 'free-zone' space between the shouters and provocateurs to avoid any incident of possible violence, and MK Moshe Feiglin admonished them that a murder could take place.  The issue of the burnt police station was dealt with by them in an unsatisfactory manner. (Their excuse?  ("As for the officers’ absence from the station at the time...there had been an agreement that they would leave during certain holidays"). Even the Ministry of Justice rep stammered out an inadequate answer causing Chair Miri Regev to demand that a rep of the State Prosecutor Office attend next time.  I am suggesting that she ask if ever anyone was charged according to the second paragraph of the Law for the Protection of the Holy Places, which reads:

Whosoever desecrates or otherwise violates a Holy Place shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of seven years.
Whosoever does anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of five years.

I don't think so since that would establish that the Jewishness of the site is equal to its Islamic value-quotient.  And that would endanger the status quo*.

Here is from Lahav Harkov's summary:

Deputy Jerusalem District Police commander Dep.-Ch. Avshalom Peled [he's to the left of Miri in the above picture] said Jews would be allowed to visit the Temple Mount in the upcoming months, but there were public safety considerations.
...Interior Committee chairwoman Miri Regev (Likud)...added that in extreme cases, such as when there were riots, the site should be closed to everyone, not just non-Muslims.  She also suggested that Jews and Muslims be completely separated on the mount.
MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) agreed, recommending that there be a 100-meter empty buffer zone between Jews and Muslims at the site.  MK David Tsur (Hatnua), who was chairman of a subcommittee to examine the status of the Temple Mount, proposed that Jews and Muslims be allowed on the site at different times.

A major step forward.

Oh, and Aviv Tatarsky, Researcher from Ir Amim was there and was shrply criticized for supporting Muslims who engae in violence.


P.S.  The Muslim (in Arabic) response. They are fearful:-

Islamic Waqf staff...saying that these measures are also a prelude for implementing the temporal division of the Mosque; 

_____________

*

Because of the sensitive nature of the Al-Aqsa compound, Israel maintains a compromise with the Islamic trust that controls it to not allow non-Muslim prayers in the area. Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the site, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.
The compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam.  It is also venerated as Judaism's most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.