tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7014209.post3813897335459112681..comments2024-03-28T14:55:27.949+02:00Comments on My Right Word: A Most Controversial SiteYMedadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14333122797414935958noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7014209.post-36379373156901929962007-03-29T13:12:00.000+02:002007-03-29T13:12:00.000+02:00"In 1996, Israeli excavation work near the site re..."In 1996, Israeli excavation work near the site resulted in riots..."<BR/><BR/>Like what happened in September 200, this is also not true - the excavation work in the tunnels had been completed, the "back door" to the Kotel Tunnels was already opened and the shopkeepers nearby it (on the via Dolorosa) were pleased as punch that more tourists would not walk near their shops.<BR/><BR/>The same Arab terrorist "leadership" which planned and encouraged the second "intifada" (which is an inappropriate word since it implies spontaneity) also planned the violence of September 1996.<BR/><BR/>The "focal point of the Crusades" was NOT the Temple Mount but rather the deliverance of the Eastern Church from what Pope Urban II called the "infidels". Under Byzantine Christianity (324-638 when the Moslems arrived, ah, for the FIRST time), Jerusalem was officially (though not actually) "judenrein" (from Church policy) and the distinction of the Temple Mount as the "naval of the earth" had been moved to the site of the Anastasis (later called by the Crusaders, as well as today, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre). In fact, in those Byzantine years, the local Christian population used the Temple Mount as their garbage dump. When Caliph Omar arrived in 638, he understood the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and not only began cleaning away the garbage & rubble himself but hired Jews (who came back into the city with him) to finish the cleaning and to guard the Mount.<BR/><BR/>One more comment, lest anyone actually agree with FP's acceptance of myths & legends as fact: the "night journey" of Muhammed 1) was accomplished in a dream (I fly all over the world in my dreams, but so far, I haven't built any monuments at those sites) and 2) no where in the Koran or Hadith is it suggested that Jerusalem is "al-Aksa" (the far away sanctuary) which, actually, deems that distinction false (IMH, though learned, O).<BR/><BR/>suzanneSuzanne Pomeranzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17011855379486368219noreply@blogger.com