by Shlomo Cesana
We can put an end to the shock felt every time Muslim riots break out on the Temple Mount -- all it takes is a few simple steps.
The Temple Mount in
Jerusalem is the most volatile place in the world, or at least in the
Middle East, people are always saying. If that's really true, shouldn't
the people entering the gates of the compound undergo security checks
like the ones airports conduct before passengers are allowed to board a
plane? Isn't it time to forbid anyone carrying a match from entering
this flammable holy site?
The hackneyed question
asked repeatedly, often in the titles of opinion pieces in the print
media, is, "Is the Temple Mount in our hands?" For anyone who is still
wondering, the answer is yes. Israel Police officers are stationed at
each of the 10 entrances to the Temple Mount. Neither the Muslim Waqf
nor any other organization has Vatican-like control over the compound.
We can put an end to
the shock felt every time Muslim riots break out on the Temple Mount --
all it takes is a few simple steps. We could demand, for example, that
Muslims be held to the same conditions as non-Muslim visitors to the
mount (advance registration, name and ID card number, a body and bag
search.)
We could set up X-ray
machines and metal detectors at the gates, require visitors to deposit
their ID cards at the gate until they leave, and keep a record of who
enters the compound. Either way, when there are riots, all worshippers
and visitors to the Mount would be evacuated, so it would be clear who
was actually rioting and barricading themselves. That, along with
security camera footage, would make it easier to issue restraining
orders keeping people off the Mount. Those who incite in mosques could
also be kept away through restraining orders. Meanwhile, the Israel
Police could clear out the stockpiles of rocks, pipes and bottles on the
Mount and allow the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Tourism
Ministry to operate in the compound.
None of these courses
of action would harm the status quo that people want to preserve. These
changes do not comprise any alteration to the policy, upheld by Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of not allowing Jews or other non-Muslims
to pray on the Temple Mount. We are talking about steps that would
tighten control over public order and prevent Israel's image from being
tarnished with images of well-shielded Israel Police officers busting
into Al-Aqsa mosque.
Various governments
throughout the years have conducted policy about the Temple Mount in a
manner that edged Israel out of the place that is holiest to it, from
the initial decision after the compound was taken by Israeli forces in
1967 and through the fateful mistake of former Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin, who as part of the peace agreement with Jordan gave King Hussein
special authority over what happens on the Temple Mount in an attempt to
compensate the king for the Oslo Accords.
During his visit to
London last week, Netanyahu said that the Middle East was changing
before our eyes and that decades-long arrangements were collapsing.
Therefore, he said, Israel had to adapt and protect its security. We can
begin to do so in the heart of the capital, on the rock of our
existence.
Shlomo Cesana
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13759
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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