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Provocation Atop Jerusalem's Holiest Site | Opinion
SHOSHANA BRYEN , SENIOR DIRECTOR, JEWISH POLICY CENTER
ON 4/12/23 AT 7:22 AM EDT

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SJEWS

Sometimes, when holidays of various religions and ethnic groups fall in
the same calendar space, optimists get misty visions of people praying,
eating, and loving family together. But in reality, it is a coincidence.
Groups and religions retain their boundaries—and sometimes take the
opportunity to provoke.

As Passover, Ramadan, and Easter converged, Israel and the Waqf (the
group that officially controls the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa) agreed on
parameters for the compound to permit as many Muslim worshippers as
possible to ascend. More than 100,000 did so; tens of thousands on the
first day, according to Reuters. Al Arabiya agreed, with pictures.

Israel went further to ensure calm.

The rabbi of the Western Wall and Jerusalem holy sites announced there
would be no Passover ritual sacrifice on the Temple Mount. Israeli
government minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—often castigated as a
rabble-rouser—made a public declaration calling for "calm." "The Temple
Mount is... the most important place in the State of Israel. We won't
give up on it," however, "I'm not encouraging people to go there with a
Passover sacrifice." And, in fact, the director of the "Returning to the
Mount" movement was detained by Israel "as a preventive measure," and
two Israelis were arrested after being seen with a goat in Jerusalem's
Old City—presumably trying to figure out how to get it up there and
sacrifice it.

Israel, it seems, took more than reasonable measures to keep the calm.

For its part, the Waqf agreed that no one would remain inside the mosque
overnight.

Worship Resumes
Muslim worshippers pray as Israeli security forces escort Jewish
visitors at the Temple Mount/Al Aqsa complex, in Jerusalem on April 9.
AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
However, an estimated 300 Palestinian militants boarded themselves up in
sections of the mosque overnight and, at a prearranged time, began to
set off fireworks inside the mosque and threw rocks. Israeli police
removed them. By morning, the next group of peaceful worshippers
ascended again. (You can see a picture here.)

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There appear to be two related motives for the terrorists: First, they
are angry with Muslims who respect the rules, use the holiday time to
actually have a holiday and celebrate in a peaceful fashion. Second,
there is always the possibility that the Israeli police would overreact
("storm the mosque" in the terrorist vernacular) and prevent peaceful
worshippers from gathering.

Either way, peaceful Muslims would pay, and Israel would be blamed.

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But it didn't happen. Israel did not overreact to provocation (unless
one reads The New York Times) and the holidays continued.

So, it was necessary for the terrorists to up the ante. Hamas fired 16
rockets into Israel from Gaza during the Passover holiday. And a
not-unexpected collaboration between Iranian-supported Hamas in Gaza and
Iranian-supported Hezbollah in Lebanon produced more rockets—this time
in northern Israel—as Jews were celebrating Passover. Then two Israeli
sisters (ages 16 and 20) and their mother were killed in a West Bank
shooting, and an Italian tourist was killed and six people injured in
Tel Aviv.

Israel has already undertaken retaliation.

But pay attention here: Demonstrations of peaceful relations between
Jews and Arabs and/or Israelis and Palestinians are antithetical to the
Hamas/Hezbollah/Iranian message—augmented by the Palestinian
Authority—of revolution and the desire to wipe Israel off the map. When
the Palestinian people live and work with Israelis—and pray next to
them—in a positive way, the revolution is dampened. The will to die for
a cause that will never see fulfillment abates.

Israel will remain.

Terrorist groups can't afford to have their supporters lose their
hatred. They have manipulated the situation in Israel to prevent
Palestinians from ascending to Al Aqsa, to ensure Palestinians are
killed, and to force the Israeli military to enter Palestinian villages
to root out terrorists and their weapons.

When you ask the question, "Who doesn't want Muslims to celebrate
Ramadan peacefully and happily at the Al Aqsa Mosque?" the answer is
"Palestinian terrorists."

Then ask, "Should they be allowed to succeed?"

Shoshana Bryen is senior director of the Jewish Policy Center and editor
of inFOCUS Quarterly.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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whosonfirst
6 hours ago

zionist self justification gaslighting in the form of projection

If the european ethnic cleansers were not there, there would have been
no provocation by the right wing terrorists trying to create a single
race/religion fatherland on the Palestinian's land through violence.

The west needs to stop fun...

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gaul
5 hours ago

Look at any muslim majority country and you will see intolerance and
persecution.

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gaul
4 hours ago

Look at any muslim majority country and you will see sanctioned extreme
intolerance. Islam is the problem and we all know it.

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NYIndependent
5 hours ago

Christians be like thank goodness we got transfered to Rome....

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