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After Muslim rioters disrupted Passover in 2022 by engaging in violence at the Temple Mount,
the holiest site in Judaism, the Biden administration in the U.S. urged “all sides to exercise restraint, avoid provocative
actions and rhetoric, and preserve the historic status quo on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount.” The “provocation
action” in this case is Jewish prayer. Here in the year 2022, the White House is warning Jews that their prayers are
“provocative”!
The “historic status quo” with which President Biden demands Jews comply exists only
because the Muslim conquest of the 6th – 12th centuries deprived non-Muslim minorities, especially Jews, of the right to
pray at their holy sites. That’s like telling Black people riding buses in Alabama to accept the “historic status quo” or
urging Ukraine to accept a “historic status quo” in which it was ruled by Moscow.
Behind the scenes, the Biden administration and its officials have had the “ Chutzpa” to warn the
Israeli government to stop talking about “freedom of worship” and submit to Islamic supremacism.
As one reporter said, “cognizant of how talk of ‘freedom of worship’ can be interpreted,
U.S. officials have sought to push Israel to avoid using the phrase and instead focus solely on affirming their commitment
to the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites.”
Freedom of worship shouldn’t require any interpretation! But here it means that
the Israelis allow Muslims to control the Temple Mount despite the fact that they illegally seized the site during the
brutal invasion and ethnic cleansing of Israel and that occasionally Jews are also allowed to enter the holiest site in
Judaism and visit it, not to pray publicly, but merely to set foot on it.
Israel is not demanding the return of the Temple Mount. All it’s saying is that everyone should be
able to go there - not just the descendants of the invaders and colonizers who now rule over it.
In 2022, a whispered prayer on the Temple Mount outraged the Muslim world, terror groups, and the
Biden administration. Jordan denounced Jewish prayer as a “clear provocation” for Muslims. Hamas warned that the “resistance
is ready and prepared to repel aggression”. To Islamic extremists, “freedom of worship” means that only Muslims should be
able to worship, while no one else should be permitted to pray. Jews silently praying is condemned by these religious bigots
as a “grave violation of international law, international humanitarian law and relevant UN resolutions.”
Rather than agree that everyone should have the right to pray, the Biden administration
blamed Israel and backed the calls for a “status quo” which is a euphemism for banning Jewish prayer.
Fanatic Muslims rioted in the name of the “Religion of Peace” during Passover this year, Hamas and
PLO flags were flown from the roof of the mosque occupying the Temple Mount (named the Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Islamic
colonists), and rioters threw stones and called for Jihad. All of this was going on while Jewish prayers were taking place
at the Western Wall or the Kotel. Several Jewish worshipers were also assaulted – all in the name of the “Religion of
Peace”.
These were not random acts of violence. The Palestinian Authority (PA) and its leaders, including
President Abbas, had urged Muslim rioters to go to the holy site and “defend it” from the Jews.
Apparently, the Biden administration agrees with the bigots that Jews should not be able to visit
their own holy site and silently pray there. Biden officials understand that openly condemning “freedom of worship” would be
very awkward, so they use the euphemism of “historic status quo”.
The Temple Mount situation is a perfect encapsulation of the entire conflict in which the White House
and its European allies treat Islamic demands, no matter how obscenely violent, bigoted and irrational, as the only path to
peace while blaming Israeli actions, no matter how innocent or humble, even silent prayer, for provoking Islamic violence
and violating the status quo.
The status quo is the state of affairs that has ruled the Middle East since the conquests of
Mohammed destroyed every religious civilization there and turned a heartland of world religions into radical Islamic
tyranny.
If President Biden doesn’t believe Jews have the right to pray, does he believe they have
the right to exist?[1]
One out of six people all over the world is a Muslim. To say anything in general about this huge
community – 1.5 billion people – would be wrong. The vast majority of these populations are not involved with the violence
and terror around the world that is being perpetrated by the religious fanatics of their religion.
While there is much truth in the claim that most Muslims are not actively involved in terrorism,
the fact also remains that most Muslims are not actively involved in combatting the violent extremists in their midst.
Indeed, for anyone, with a reasonably informed grasp of world affairs and an iota of intellectual
integrity, the answer to the question of whether Islam and violence/terrorism are causally connected should be unequivocally
clear. To ask whether Islam is associated with terrorism is a little like asking if rainfall is associated with
flooding.
After all, if one in six people in the world is Muslim, then five out of six are not – right?
Accordingly, if there were no inordinate Islamic affinity for violence/terrorism, the number of Muslim acts of terrorism
should be one-fifth that of non-Muslim terrorism - i.e., if Islam had no greater propensity for terrorism, one should
expect non-Muslim acts of terrorism to be five times (!) those perpetrated by Muslims. But, such is not the case.
Percentagewise, Terrorist attacks committed by adherents of Islam far outstrip those carried out by
non-Muslims!
Try as one may, there is no way that, in the modern world, any other faith/creed can be associated
with such violence/ terrorism – in scope, size, frequency or ubiquity of occurrence. For many decades, the ominous writing
has been on the wall and all to often, the message has been ignored, sacrificing lives on the altar of the false deity of
political correctness. The message has been clearly accompanied by a gory chain of violence, committed by the followers of
the prophet, in his name.
As appalling as Muslim violence against non-Muslims might be, it pales into insignificance when
compared to violence between Muslims. It would be impossible to give a comprehensive survey of the intra-Muslim carnage
that has raged – and still rages – across vast swaths of the globe, from the shores of the Atlantic Ocean to the islands
of Asia-Pacific. Even before the unspeakable barbarism of al-Nusra and ISIS began to sweep across much of the Levant, and
the ghastly savagery of Boko Haram and al-Shabaab ravaged huge stretches of Africa, merciless massacres of Muslims at the
hands of Muslims abounded.
For example, in the almost 10-year Algerian civil war, internecine frictions between rival Islamist
factions resulted in massive fratricide – with a death toll reaching, by some estimates, 150,000. Acts of unimaginable
brutality were perpetrated, with entire villages wiped out and victims’ bodies mutilated.
Likewise, regular bombings of markets and mosques across countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and
Pakistan have produced massive loss of Muslim life at the hands of belligerent brethren.
According to the Somalian-born former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, forced to flee to the US because of
threats from Muslims who objected to her caustic criticism of Islam: “Islam is not a religion of peace. It’s a
political theory of conquest that seeks domination by any means it can. Every accommodation of Muslim demands leads to a
sense of euphoria and a conviction that Allah is on their side.”[2]
Muslim extremists claim that Jews have no right to the Temple Mount, the heart of Judaism in the
Jerusalem. They deny Jews the right to pray there and, if they get their way, would not even allow Jews on the Temple Mount.
Islamic extremists have no compunction against lying in the face of undeniable archaeological, biblical and historical facts.
They not only unashamedly create untruths to back up their demands, but they even believe their lies. The facts that obviate
the baseless Islamic claims to the Temple Mount are as follows.
Around 1,000 BCE, about 1,600 years before the birth of Muhammad and Islam,
the Hebrew King David conquered Jerusalem and declared the city to be the capital of his Jewish
Kingdom.[3] The first Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount was completed in 957 BCE -
more than 1,500 years before the birth of Muhammad and Islam - by Solomon’s son, Israel’s King
David.[4] This First Temple or Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian
Empire in 586 BCE. Some 70 years later, in 516 BCE and nearly 1,200 years before the birth of Muhammad and
Islam, a new grand Jewish temple on the same location as Solomon’s Temple was constructed on the Temple Mount.
This Jewish Holy Temple - called the Second Temple - was the holiest Jewish site of worship until it was destroyed by the
Roman Empire in 70 CE as punishment for a Jewish revolt.[5]
It was not until 637 CE that Jerusalem was first conquered by the Muslim Caliph, Umar ibn
al-Khattab.[6] For the next thirteen hundred plus years, control of Jerusalem went back
and forth between Muslims and Christians until 1967 when Jews (and Israel) once more took control of the Holy City.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Arabic) today sits atop the Temple Mount. The building
was originally a small prayer house erected by Umar ibn al-Khattab shortly after the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in 637 CE.
It was later rebuilt and expanded, until it was finished in 705 CE, long after the building and destruction of the two
Jewish Temples that previously sat atop the Temple Mount. This mosque did not last long - it was completely destroyed by
an earthquake in 746 CE and rebuilt in 754 CE. It was rebuilt yet again in 780 CE. But it didn’t stop there - another
earthquake destroyed most of Al-Aqsa in 1033 CE, and two years later another mosque was erected, whose outline is
preserved in the current Al-Aqsa Mosque structure.[7] So, the Jewish First Temple,
built by King Solomon, predates the Muslim Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem by about
1,500 years.
But historical, archaeological and biblical facts have never stood in the way of Islamic fanatics.
In addition to attacking and murdering and even beheading “non-believing infidels”, these Muslim extremists have no
compulsion against creating historical lies and fantasies to justify their stealing others’ lands, religious sites and
religious heritages.
Muslim extremists simply cannot stand there being any religion or religious practice but
their own – these religious fanatics have no concept of tolerance or sharing. “Dozens of Muslims rioted on the
Temple Mount and desecrated the Al-Aqsa Mosque on 5 May 2022 as Jews were allowed to resume visits to their holiest site
on Israel’s Independence Day.” (Ref. 8) Throughout lands controlled by Muslims, houses of
worship other than Islamic have been attacked and destroyed by Islamic extremists. Freedom of religion is an
unacceptable concept for Islamic fundamentalists!
The “Palestinian” terrorists who used axes to murder three Israeli Jewish men in the city of Elad
on May 5, 2022 cited the violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound (Temple Mount) in Jerusalem as their main motivation for
the attack.
The violence began when “Palestinian” rioters attacked Israeli police officers at the compound with
fireworks, stones and other objects during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan – supposedly a holy period of time
for religious Muslims. The goal of the rioters: to prevent Jews from simply conducting peaceful walking tours of
the Temple Mount, as has long been officially agreed.
“Palestinian” leaders belonging to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas had falsely (what’s new?)
told their people that Israel was planning to “commit crimes” against the Aqsa Mosque. The lies of those leaders led thousands
of “Palestinians” to clash with Israeli security forces at the Aqsa Mosque compound. The rioters chanted slogans calling for
the slaughter of Jews, the bombing of Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities, and “blowing up the head of the Zionists.” The
rioters praised Hamas, the terrorist group that explicitly calls for the elimination of Israel. The riots were the
direct result of the vicious incitement and outright falsehoods by the leaders of the PA and Hamas.
While Abbas and his senior officials were spewing their hatred against Israel and Jews from Judea
and Samaria, the leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip were also repeating these same old lies and libels. Hamas issued another
false and incendiary statement in which it claimed that Jews were planning to conduct “animal sacrifice” and “religious
rituals” at the Temple Mount.”
Islamic terrorists and their families were saying that they actually believed the lies of the
“Palestinian” leaders that the Al-Aqsa mosque was being attacked, violated and desecrated by Jews. They were saying that
this was the reason they were sending “Palestinians” to murder Jews on the streets of Israeli cities in the name of the
“religion of peace”.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque libel was again being used by the “Palestinians” as an excuse to carry
out terrorist attacks to murder Jews. This, of course, was not the first time that “Palestinian” leaders have lied
about either the Jews or the Aqsa Mosque. That goes back at least 80 years. Abbas, Hamas and other “Palestinians”
were/are repeating the same lies in order to encourage young “Palestinians” to take to the streets and murder Jews.
Abbas and other “Palestinian” leaders have become experts at gaming America’s Biden administration
and many in the international community. On the one hand they pretend that they are opposed to violence and
terrorism, while on the other hand they explicitly encourage the murder of Jews.
Americans and Europeans fail to grasp that by using the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a pretext for terrorism
against Jews, the “Palestinian” leaders were also aiming to rally Muslims against Western “infidels” around the
world.[9]
Is there any reasonable doubt that Islamic Extremists will lie, murder, steal, and oppress in the
name of Islam, what they call the “Religion of Peace”?
Muslims are permitted – even encouraged – to lie if it will advance the cause of Islam! Muslim
scholars teach that Muslims can and should lie in order to "gain the upper-hand over an enemy."
There are several forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances,
the best known being taqiyya. These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause of Islam - in some cases by
gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat
them.[10]
Radical Islam is a religion in which many of its extremist believers justify and engage in
deadly rioting, burn down embassies, and kill people over cartoons, but that shows no great signs of sorrow as little girls
are sold and raped. This is an ideology in which its extremists treat women as property.
Violence and intolerance envelop the Muslim world. Islamic extremists are people who commit barbaric
acts -- slaughtering Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus, almost anyone -- and say they are merely upholding Islamic sharia
law against "blasphemy," "apostasy" and "unbelievers." These Islamic extremists daily take those laws into their own hands,
murdering anyone who wants to think freely or differently. Every day, arrests, trials, floggings, torture and the murder of
journalists, poets, students and human rights activists are a routine practice.
To Islamic fundamentalists, it is admirable to blow up children at school; deliberately run over
innocent people for the sake of jihad; slaughter people at prayer and then distribute sweets to celebrate your "victory”;
devalue a woman's worth in countless ways - by taking four wives, beating them, then with a word divorcing them - and you
will then be praised by many Muslims for being a "hero”, a "martyr" or a "true Muslim".
The rise of ISIS in Iraq, Syria and elsewhere, along with the expanding reach of Iran into Iraq,
Syria, Lebanon and Yemen all indicate that there may not be much hope for positive change in the Muslim
world.[11]
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References:
- Biden warns Israel against ‘freedom of worship’ – analysis, Daniel Greenfield,
World Israel News, 2 May 2022.
- Into the Fray: Bombs in Brussels (or 'It’s Islam Stupid' revisited), Martin Sherman,
The Jerusalem Post,
24 March 2016.
- History of Jerusalem: Timeline for the History of Jerusalem, Jewish Virtual Library,
Accessed 4 May 2022.
- When Was The First Jewish Temple Built In Jerusalem?, CJ News, Accessed 4 May 2022.
- Jerusalem conflict: The history of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Temple Mount and the holiest Jewish temple that preceded it,
opindia, 15 May 2021.
- 637 Jerusalem is conquered by Muslims Umar ibn al-Khattab, Century Welfare Association,
21 September 2014.
- Al Aqsa Mosque – The Farthest Mosque, The Israel Blog, Accessed 4 May 2022.
- Arabs riot on Temple Mount as Jewish visits resume, World Israel News, 5 May 2022.
- Palestinians lie and America rewards them – opinion, Bassam Tawil, World Israel News,
11 May 2022.
- What Does Islam Teach About...Deception, Lying and Taqiyya, thereligionofpeace.com,
Accessed 6 May 2022.
- The Most Inexcusable Crime in the Muslim World, Uzay Bulut, Gatestone Institute,
16 June 2015.
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