Judy Lash Balint attended a rally last week to protest the on-going ban on access by non-Muslims to Judaism's holiest place. In this article for Israel Insider, she shares some of her impressions. Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem - It's been almost three years since the last demonstration on behalf of Jewish rights to Har Habayit (The Temple Mount). In December 1999 some 5,000 people came to a well-organized protest against Moslem destruction of the holy site. Truckloads of fragments from the First and Second Temple were then being unceremoniously dumped in the Kidron Valley as Arab construction of a mosque in the Solomon's Stables area at the southeast corner of the mount proceeded sans archaeological oversight or Israeli supervision. Last week, a much smaller band of 1,000 souls congregated at the same spot on Mt. Scopus, overlooking the Temple Mount, to call on Prime Minister Sharon to order the holy site reopened to all non-Muslims. Under the banner "A Return to the Mount: A Return to the Heart," the Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea, Samaria and Gaza marked two years according to the Jewish calendar since Arik Sharon's visit to the site. On my way to the rally on the hilltop just below Hebrew University, I realize that it's the first time I've been on the campus since the terror bomb attack there just over one month ago. Looking up toward the faculty club I notice workers setting up a white huppah (wedding canopy) on the balcony - overlooking the very place every Jewish bridegroom commemorates as he breaks the glass to remember the destruction of the Temple. * * * I pass through Meah Shearim on my way home. It's 10 p.m. and the streets are packed with ultra-Orthodox Jews scurrying about to complete pre-Rosh Hashanah preparations. The presence of a few thousand of them at the rally for their most revered holy place would have been appreciated. But since the event was planned by the YESHA Council, there was no chance that would happen. With all the demonstrating that goes on in the Haredi world against various kinds of immodesty, it's disconcerting to see the seeming lack of interest in bringing their numbers out to cry out against Arab desecration of Har Habayit.Who cares about Har Habayit?
I'm not a fan of the Temple Mount Faithful. I have no desire to see a Third Temple built, not only because the very attempt would result in unimaginable carnage but also because I believe that Judaism has evolved in a different direction over the past 2,000 years. But to me the true test of the intentions of the Muslims of the Middle East is their ability to respect the value of our holy sites. Until they're ready to permit, no, welcome, the peaceful prayers of Jews on the Temple Mount alongside their peaceful prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, we can't take seriously any expressions of willingness on their part to co-exist with us. And until they're ready to respect and preserve the archeological evidence of our connection to that place, their custodianship of it should be revoked.
