Pyromaniac parliamentarians - Dror Eydar

by Dror Eydar

The Dome of the Rock was built on the site of the Jewish Temple, and for that reason only, because Islam wanted to replace the Jews as the chosen people.

Let's not make any mistake about it: Arab Knesset members' actions this past week weren't freedom of expression, they were pyromania, adding fuel to the fire that is engulfing the Arab street. The ones who lose as a result of the violent struggle will, once again, be the Arabs. Their economy will suffer, their business relations will suffer, and it will take longer for them to integrate into Israeli society. It could be that this is what fumbling pyromaniacs like MKs Ahmad Tibi and Jamal Zahalka -- who are seeking not to commune with God on the Temple Mount, but to puff up the lie that "Al-Aqsa is in danger" that the Islamic Movement, the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and the rest of Israel's haters are spreading -- want to happen. The result will be more and more casualties, mainly Arabs. 

But it's important to Tibi, the darling of the Israeli media, to demonstrate that he owns this place and that the Jews are the "invaders," as he puts it. On the contrary: The Dome of the Rock was built on the site of the Jewish Temple, and for that reason only, because Islam wanted to replace the Jews as the chosen people. Fifteen hundred years before the advent of Islam, when Tibi's ancestors were pagans who buried their daughters alive, the Jewish Temple stood on top of the hill and from there came the gospel for Christianity and, later, Islam. After the Muslims conquered the Land of Israel in the seventh century C.E., they appropriated our history and theology and decreed that we had been eradicated and were no more. Surprise: We're still here. So who's the invader, Mr. Tibi? 

Still, after Jerusalem was liberated from the Jordanian occupier in the Six-Day War, Israel did something that some describe as an eternal tragedy: placing (in effect abandoning) the holiest place to the Jewish people under the full control of another religion for which it is only the third-most important place, depending on the historical period. The situation only devolved for the Jews: The Muslims expanded the prayer area on the Temple Mount, destroyed antiquities, and built more mosques (while turning an embarrassing blind eye to the various Israeli governments). So where do they get the audacity to lie about a change to the status quo? How many people will pay for that pile of lies with their lives? 

Tibi and the faction of instigators refuse to recognize the true landlord of the Temple Mount: God. Even people who aren't religious understand that the value of the Temple Mount lies in its holiness, which is why it's such a volatile issue. We all see the chief inciter, Sheikh Raad Salah of the Islamic Movement, a known anti-Semite and a blatant liar, and can't understand why he's still free. On Thursday, Salah said that "Al-Aqsa is above the sovereignty of the Israeli institution." As he sees it, Islam is above Israeli sovereignty, so all methods of fanning the flames are legitimate. Why is the Islamic Movement in Israel still legal? What differentiates it from Hamas and the Islamic State? 

And what about the "secular" Arab MKs? Joint Arab List head Ayman Ouda was asked by journalist Razi Barkai "what his red lines were." Ouda replied, "I don't draw red lines for the Palestinian Arab people." 

In light of this disgraceful situation, the Pavlovian responses from leftist MKs are more amusing than a cause for despair: "The solution is a diplomatic arrangement," "We need to disengage from the Palestinians," and "Seek an end to the conflict." Geniuses.

Dror Eydar

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=13937

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