Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Will the Temple Mount Trump the Western Wall?

If I read into this what I think I am reading into this, those progressive forces who refused to extend assistance to the campaign for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, because, well, religious Jews are different and the issue is political and that only when peace comes can the issue be addressed.

And now, it seems that the special prayer area for the Wowers aka "Women of the Wall" is having problems due to ... religious Muslims who seek to extend their influence outside the Temple Mount in a political effort to subvert peace.

What do you think?

U.S. demanding swift solution for equality at Western Wall, says Israeli official
 The U.S. administration is highly involved and interested in reaching a suitable and swift solution to non-Orthodox prayer arrangements at the Western Wall, according to an official in the Prime Minister’s Office, who also said the issue affects Israel’s foreign relations.

Washington regards the problem as sensitive and fears that far-reaching structural changes at the site could spark a confrontation with Palestinians over the Temple Mount, according to Reuven Pinsky, chairman of the PMO’s national heritage department...

Pinsky was explaining to a committee why it should grant an exemption from issuing a tender in order to enable the PMO to continue working with an architect long involved in the plans for Robinson’s Arch. An egalitarian prayer platform for non-Orthodox worshipers is supposed to be built at the Robinson’s Arch site, south of the existing Western Wall prayer plaza...the reason for the urgency, he said, is “the sensitive issue on the agenda, which affects both Israel’s foreign relations in the prism of the Jewish communities in the United States and the U.S. administration, which is very involved and interested in a suitable and swift solution, as well as domestic factors and the Israeli public as a whole.”

...The plan was torpedoed, mainly due to the anticipated opposition of the Palestinians and the Jordanians, who were concerned about construction near the Temple Mount. The Israeli Antiquities Authority also opposed the plan.  For the last 10 months, a committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit has been working on a more modest plan for an egalitarian prayer platform at Robinson’s Arch that does not require any significant construction work adjacent to the Temple Mount...

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