Word: aqsa
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...Maalox, because the city?s historic Temple Mount is shaping up as a flashpoint of, well, biblical proportions. Three right-wing Jewish militants were arrested Thursday after distributing leaflets urging Jews to expel Muslims from the hill, which is also home to Islam?s third holiest site, the Al Aqsa Mosque. The Jewish extremists ? who want the Islamic sites razed in order to rebuild the Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 70 in the belief that it will hasten the Messianic era ? were egged on by a handful of American evangelical Christians, some of whom believe the rebuilding...
These violations include the symbolic attempt to undermine the sanctity of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the denial of Palestinian access to Arab East Jerusalem, a city central to Palestinian life. These are aggravated by the systematic de-Arabization of the city, and the destruction of any demographic obstacles that halt the complete annexation of the illegally-occupied city. Essentially, Palestinians have been reduced to foreigners in their own city. The violated peace process, as it stands, has done little to stop Israeli abuse, and this is what the Palestinians protest...
This charge would be hilarious if it weren't so grievous. There are about as many Israelis who want to tear down Aqsa and build the Temple as there are Americans who believe they've flown on UFOS. Secular Jews view the idea of rebuilding the Temple as loony; religious Jews, as sacrilegious. (Only God can rebuild the Temple.) Yet the Palestinian Authority echoed this incendiary libel, calling on Palestinians "to express their anger" over this "aggression on al-Aqsa mosque" and "desecration of the holy places...
Nearly a week into the crisis, some American media were still broadcasting the charge. National Public Radio, for example, reported on Sept. 30 that Palestinians "claim the project threatens the stability of al-Aqsa mosque...
...there been a word of condemnation from anyone--outside official Israel and the occasional columnist--for the spreading of the Aqsa blood libel? Indeed, when the tunnel pretext evaporated, the press simply moved on. Retraction? Apology? Hardly. Instead, the press shifted seamlessly to a new explanation--justification--of Palestinian violence: it was a product of "frustration." What kind of rationale is that for murder? Timothy McVeigh was frustrated...