by Eli E. Hertz
Israel
reunited Jerusalem as one city in 1967, after Jordan joined the
Egyptian and Syrian war offensive and shelled the Jewish parts of the
city. One of Israel’s first acts was to grant unprecedented freedom to
all religions in the city. Israeli leaders vowed Jerusalem would never
again be divided.
Despite
the disgraceful treatment of the Jewish Quarter and the Mount of Olives
under Jordanian control and despite their violation of their pledges to
make all holy sites accessible to Jews and Christians, one of the first
acts Israel undertook after reuniting the city was to guarantee and
safeguard the rights of all Citizens of Jerusalem. This included not
only free access to holy sites for all faiths but also represented an
unprecedented act of religious tolerance. Israel granted Muslim and
Christian religious authorities responsibility for managing their
respective holy sites. Additionally Israel granted Muslim administration
of Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount.
Eventually,
however, the Waqf, which holds administrative responsibility over the
Temple Mount, violated the trust with which it was invested to respect
and protect the holiness of the Temple Mount for both Muslims and Jews.
Eli E. Hertz
Source: http://www.mythsandfacts.org/article_view.asp?articleID=261
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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