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Jerusalem

Allah imposes on Jerusalem's Jews


By Ryan Jones
September 27, 2006

News Item:

Fearing violence by Muslim mobs fired-up by the Ramadan sermons now being delivered daily atop Jerusalem's Temple Mount, Israeli authorities have instructed Jewish residents of parts of the capital's Old City to remain indoors during the evening hours.

Local Jews complained that police should be enforcing the law equally among all citizens, rather than cowering in fear at the mere hint of Muslim hostility.

But in a further sign that many Israeli officials are more interested in appeasing the followers of Mohammed than in protecting the religious rights of their fellow Jews, police arrested a Jewish prayer leader for blowing his shofar (ram's horn) at the Western Wall during the recent Rosh Hashanah holiday.

Biblical Lens:

"...then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord." (Deuteronomy 12:11)

As the site where the Almighty chose to make His name abide, the Temple Mount stands at the center of the Middle East conflict.

While much of the "peace" process negotiations that appear in the mainstream media focus on various pieces of land throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza, most in Israel understand that control over the Temple Mount is the final and largest hurdle to reaching a settlement.

Israel's enemies -- who are driven by the enemy -- believe that solidifying their hold on the Temple Mount, the heart of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel, will end Israel's hopes, rooted in biblical promises, concerning the arrival of a divine savior and the presence of the LORD.

"And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. ... And the glory of the Lord came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple." (Ezekiel 43:2, 4, 5)

The necessity of a restored Temple prior to the coming of Messiah is also alluded to in the New Testament:

"Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him... Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3, 4)

This building is often wrongly referred to as the temple of the anti-Christ. While it is occupied for a time by the "man of sin," it is still clearly referred to by scripture as "the temple of God." And it is clear that this temple, and not Allah's gold dome, must be situated atop the Temple Mount prior to the return of God's manifest glory to that hill.

Viewed through this lens, it becomes understandable why the enemy is investing so much effort in ensuring the Jews never regain full control over the Temple Mount or feel they have a right to rebuild their temple to the God of Israel. Sadly, many spiritually-blind Israeli officials desiring to be accepted by a "politically correct" world are assisting in this effort by making those Jews faithful to the Word of God feel unwelcome anywhere near His Holy Hill.

But the Psalmist reassures us:

"Why do the gentiles rage and the people imagine a vain thing? He Who sits in heavens shall laugh; the LORD shall hold them in derision (and say): 'Yet have I set My king upon My Holy Hill!'" (Psalm 102:16)

Prayer Points:

  • Pray that those Jews who already today understand the central importance of Jerusalem and God's Holy Hill will be rewarded for their faithfulness with divine protection, blessing and increased courage;

  • Pray that those Jews who today are blindly assisting the enemy of their people and their God will, sooner rather than later, have their hearts and their eyes opened by the only One who can do so.

Full Story:

JERUSALEM - Jewish residents of the so-called "Muslim Quarter" of Jerusalem's Old City have been instructed by Israeli authorities to remain indoors during the evening hours throughout the Islamic month of Ramadan. Police fear Muslim mobs returning from worshipping Allah atop the Temple Mount could lynch Jews in their path.

The Al Aqsa Mosque, which sits atop Judaism's holiest site, is a venue for frequent diatribes against Israel and the Jews by revered Muslim clerics. Local Muslim Arabs typically leave Al Aqsa fired up for confrontation with the Jews they view as de-humanized occupiers. Clashes between Israeli police and Muslim worshippers following Friday Islamic prayers at Al Aqsa are not uncommon.

The danger to the nearly 800 Jews who have reclaimed houses in this part of the Old City is even more pronounced during Ramadan, when vitriolic sermons are delivered on a daily basis.

One local Jew who spoke to the nationalist Arutz 7 news service decried the police decision to restrict the movement of his community rather than impose the rule of law on their often hostile Arab neighbors:

"It is not acceptable to us that the police simply decides that it cannot protect us and enforce the law and that therefore we must be restricted."

Another asked if such behavior on the part of the authorities would be acceptable in America:

"Is it conceivable in the US that the police would inform the Greek community not to leave their homes because the Italians are having a celebration?"

Following a petition of the police order, the restrictions were later reduced to apply only to Hagai Street, which will be designated exclusively for Muslim pedestrians from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and all day Friday. Hagai Street is home to 30 Jewish families, as well as a yeshiva and a pre-military academy.

Tragically, individuals within the Israel police forces, among them high-ranking officers, are so given over to appeasing Muslims that they now view with contempt their fellow Jews who, by publicly worshiping the God of Israel, are seen as provoking Islamic anger.

On Monday, police reportedly forcibly arrested a Jewish man after he twice blew a shofar (ram's horn) as part of a Rosh Hashanah prayer service at the Western Wall. Rosh Hashanah is known biblically as Yom Teruah, or Day of the Trumpet Blast, and is always accompanied by the sound of shofars.

Witnesses to the incident told Arutz 7 that the man refused to go with police until he had finished his prayers. This led to the police becoming violent toward him, and lashing out at those bystanders who insisted he had done nothing wrong.

After what one witness described as "a big brawl," the 20-year-old prayer leader was taken to a police station where he was charged with attacking a policeman, disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, and disturbing the public order. These types of vague charges are universaly leveled against people by police forces seeking to avoid charges that they have abused their authority.

Police officials later denied the accounts given by eyewitnesses, and insisted the man had continued to blow his shofar long after the prayer service had ended, suggesting he deliberately sought to provoke local Muslims.

Information provided subsequently revealed that the police action resulted from a call by a Muslim Arab woman who complained that the sound of the shofar was disturbing her children.

A Jewish resident of the Old City noted the irony of that news, pointing out that imams' prayers blasted over mosque loudspeakers every morning at 4:30 a.m. daily disturb non-Muslims living anywhere near Muslim communities.

The incident was almost completely ignored by the mainstream Israeli press.

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