by Nadav Shragai
The root of the conflict is a religious one: the Temple Mount. Islam is unwilling to accept our presence there in any form other than an enslaved religious minority.
Like in the riots of
1929 that claimed the lives of 133 Jews, and like the only event on the
Temple Mount that can truly be called "unprecedented" -- the deaths of
17 Palestinians in October 1990 -- and also like the eve of Rosh
Hashanah in 2000 (the start of the Second Intifada), the Temple Mount is
where the Palestinians opt time and again to light their fire of
religious conflict with the Jewish people.
Ever since its
establishment, the State of Israel has tried to avoid, and find a way
around the interreligious conflict, but the Muslims always revert back
to it. It is their tribal campfire, the Arab-Muslim campfire. It's the
glue that holds them together.
Around this campfire,
"moderate" elements like Egypt or Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas and extremists such as Hamas or the Northern Branch of the
Islamic Movement all join hands and turn up the hatred through the
blood libel that "Al-Aqsa is in danger," which is the ultimate stamp of
approval for any Muslim leader in the eyes of his people and his
surroundings. But when the campfire gets out of control, it's hard to
put out.
You don't have to look
far to find reasons why Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria are being lit up
now. The metal detectors installed by Israel at the entrances to the
Temple Mount are just an excuse. The root of the conflict is a religious
one: the Temple Mount. Islam is unwilling to accept our presence there
in any form other than an enslaved religious minority. Certainly not as a
sovereign people.
The fire always expands
in the same circles. It starts at the Temple Mount, then spreads to the
Old City, east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, Israeli Arabs, and the
entire Middle East. This is not unprecedented. In fact, we've seen this
play out dozens of times. We've made it though before and we will make
it through this time as well. We might be looking at another round of
violence and maybe even a war, but any concessions to terrorism and
incitement will only invite more terrorism and incitement. Terrorism
sniffs out weakness, breathes it in, and draws strength from it.
But when Israel battles
terrorism and inciters without compromise, without letting anyone off
easy, and without deals; when it refuses to tolerate a low-scale
conflict and refuses to contain terrorism; when its declared goal is
victory -- it gets what it wants. Hesitation, apologies, blinking,
stuttering, and negotiating with terrorists and sponsors of terrorism
will only turn up the flames. Anyone who hasn't already learned that
lesson will learn it this time.
When the Palestinians
forced a war on the British Mandate rule at the time of the Great Arab
Rebellion, the British invaded the Temple Mount, closed it for three
months, and confiscated the stocks of weapons that had been stored
there. Now we are in charge in Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the
Jewish people. Until the Palestinians fabricated and rewrote their fake
version of history, it had never been the capital of any nation other
than the Jews. The Muslim name for Jerusalem, Al-Quds, comes from the
Arabic words "holy city." Its epithet "Beit al-Maqdis" is derived from
the Aramaic "Karta Dekdusha" (holy city), and even its bygone epithet
"Tzahiyun" is taken from the biblical "Zion."
We indeed need to be
wise and cautious on the Temple Mount, but we also need to talk about
our right to it and about justice for ourselves. Caution and wisdom
alone will not be enough to quell these flames.
Nadav Shragai
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=19491
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