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Israeli Jews Want To Pray On The Temple Mount – So Why Can’t They?
Israel is really the only place where Arabs and Muslims have freedom in the Middle East. I know this because I’ve seen it.
There are mosques throughout the Jewish State. There is no hindrance to Muslims practicing their faith. There are no stonings, canings, floggings, beheadings, or public disgrace of other religions.
Very simply, Israel is the only place in the Middle East where there is complete religious freedom, as long as you don’t attempt to hurt others.
Actually, the only place where there is not religious freedom in Israel is on the Temple Mount. This is the place where the Jewish people built their temple to Jehovah five thousand years ago. The temple was destroyed by the Babylonians.
A couple millennia later, the temple was rebuilt on the same spot by the Jews and was destroyed by the Romans in the first century A.D. All that remains is the Western wall of the original edifice, which must have been massive in its day.
What many people outside of Israel do not understand is that the Islamic faith also calls this place a holy site, and a mosque was built on the exact same spot centuries ago. The prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended into heaven on this spot. When Israel gained control of the area decades ago, the Jewish security services ceded to the demands of the Muslim trust that administers the site and forbids non-Muslims from praying on the Temple Mount.
This ruling has never sat well with religious Israelis.
In a new poll, this unhappiness among Jews in-country is born out.
A new poll released on Sunday by the Yesodot Center for Torah and Democracy showed a majority of Jews in Israel favoring prayer rights for Jews on the Temple Mount, something which is currently forbidden by police restrictions.
The Supreme Court has upheld the theoretical right for Jews to pray at the site although it has stated that the security services are permitted to take security considerations into account when deciding whether or not to allow non-Muslim prayer there.
Access for Jews and other non-Muslims at the Temple Mount is strictly controlled, and police prohibit any non-Muslim prayer at the site as well as any outward demonstrations of religious worship, in accordance with the demands of the Jordanian Islamic trust, or Wakf, which administers the area.
According to the poll conducted by the Yifat Gat research institute in April on a sample of 500 adults, 37 percent of those interviewed agreed that the government should allow free access to adherents of all religions who wish to pray at the Temple Mount.
Perhaps the religion of peace at some point will find it in its heart to allow Jews in their own country the same religious rights that Muslims enjoy in Israel.
The views expressed in this opinion article are solely those of their author and are not necessarily either shared or endorsed by WesternJournalism.com.
This post originally appeared on Western Journalism – Informing And Equipping Americans Who Love Freedom
Source: http://www.westernjournalism.com/israeli-jews-want-pray-temple-mount-cant/
