Sunday, November 1, 2009

Problems in Jerusalem's Holy Compound


This is not meant for you to take sides, for it is peace, not Israel nor Palestine who needs your support.


Alarming problems are growing near Jerusalem's holy compund. We've seen in class the importance of Temple Mount, a site that is both important for Judaism and Islam. Being this a disputed land, precious for these two religions, I believe it is comprehensible the impact that any riot ocurring in this place will have in both Jewish and Palestinians.
Last week, 12 people were arrested in the Temple Mount by the Israeli police, which claims the arrested were youngester who were throwing rocks and petroleum bombs. Confusion and mixed opinions are all over, for the Israeli police denied they made any entrance to the al-Aqse mosque, while there on the other hand, there are Palestinians saying the Israeli police even sealed the compund, leaving around 100 worshipers inside.
Last september, Palestinian protesters presumably attacked non-Muslims with stones. The police from Israel counterattacked them using tear gas. In this story, there are also two variants: Palestinians who say those "non-Muslims" were actually Jewish extremist with intentions of damaging Jerusalem's holy site; and Israeli police saying those "non-Muslims" were tourists who were just visiting the place.

Today, an extremist Israeli tried to attack al-Aqsa and its worshipers. The Islamic Endowments Department arrested the man and handed him to Israeli authorities, saying they figured out he might have wanted to open fire inside the mosque in a radical, massacre attempt.
We know that in this world, every cause has an effect; each clash between Israeli sand Palestinians will continue to have enormous consequences in political decisions and people's minds. In Jordan, various movements in protest have been happening. There was a Jordanian march last October that asked the Israeli ambassador to leave Amman
and that criticized Arab governments for their "calm" while people was facing this kind of problems. A group of Jordanian's also burned an Israeli flag at the time they urged Jordan's governement to abolish the peace treaty made with Israel in 1994. Pro-Islamic people in Turkey have also joined protests against Israel.

More information:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8324539.stm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6891249.ece
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/09/content_12202767.htm
http://www.unnindia.com/english/story.php?Id=5527