A Saudi blogger, Mohammed Saud,
visited the Temple Mount last week following an invitation from the Israeli
government. Saud was harassed by a group
of Palestinians who swore and spit on him telling him to go to the Israeli Knesset
to pray. A video
captures the event. Apparently, they
were angry because of Saud’s support for (and advocacy to live peacefully with)
Israel. As a result four Palestinians,
which included a 14-year-old boy, were prevented from entering the Al-Aqsa
Mosque for 15 days. The harassment of
Saud also resulted with more conflict when a group of Saudis
attacked Palestinians on the Temple Mount in retaliation. This was unfortunate. Perhaps this was part of the mentality of “an
eye for an eye.” The attacks from both
sides show the tensions that exist between these Saudis and Palestinians. Conflicts center on various views concerning
Jerusalem. According to Dr. Mordechai
Kedar, who is an Israeli scholar of Arabic culture, and a staunch defender
of Israel,
Jerusalem [Palestinians]
is known for its hostile attitude toward every Arab or Muslim who was perceived
as a collaborator or peace advocate. They also shot King Abdullah I at the
Temple Mount, only because he had an agreement with Chaim Weizmann. The
negative attitude toward anyone who is perceived as a traitor on the Islamic
issue is known….All the Palestinians, and especially the Islamic Movement, are
trying to make Jerusalem the center of interest of the Muslim world. They're
trying to turn Jerusalem into the cultural destination of every Muslim in the
world. Their goal is to attack the country at its borders and Jerusalem in the
center and they express this in various ways. The spokesmen of the Muslim
movement, like Sheikh Kamal Khatib in 2014, and even before that, Safwat Hijazi
of Egypt said that Jerusalem should be the capital of the Islamic world, not
Mecca and not Medina, but Jerusalem, and this very much angers the Saudis.
So when the Saudis and the
Palestinians met on the Temple Mount this past week, it revealed to me yet
another divide that exists in the Middle East.
In this last episode of conflict, the two meet, and it was not neat. Even the response above from Mordechai Kedar demonstrates
an Israeli perspective that seems to side with Saudis and not with the
Palestinians. I continue to hope and
pray that in Jerusalem people might live peaceful and godly lives.
For more information on the
tensions between Saudis and Palestinians, see “Why a
Group of Saudis Beat up Palestinians on the Temple Mount.”
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| Temple Mount Visit (Summer 2017) |
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| I was happy to see water fountains (bubblers if you are from Wisconsin) on the Temple Mount Visit (Summer 2017) |
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| Temple Mount Visit (Summer 2017) |
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