Fire on the Temple Mount: Updated 5.16.2021

The conflict, violence, and fighting happening in Israel grieve me deeply.  Both sides certainly have pointed fingers at each other.  One thing that stands out in my mind was the call by Hamas to ratchet up antics and violence against Israel.  At one point, I heard it said that if Israel would keep Jews off the Temple Mount/Harem al-Sharif, there would not be any attacks.  I learned that Israel decided to keep Jews off the mount.  Then I heard Hamas (and perhaps Islamic Jihad) still launched airstrikes against Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.  They evidently want Israeli police off the mount too.  As the tensions have escalated, the image that stands out in my mind is from a video that shows a fire burning on the mount near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Jews are singing and dancing at the Western Wall.  At first glance, someone could be cynical and explain the celebration as a result of the fire on the mount.  However, it was Jerusalem Day and the celebration appears to be going on before the fire broke out.  The irony!  The fire may have been started by protestors on the mount who had been throwing rocks and fireworks at Israeli security forces.    

There are huge cedar trees on the mount and at least one of them caught fire.  I have included a link to videos of the Temple Mount fire here and here.   

Updated: 5/16/2021

According to Yair Wallach, the young Israelis who were singing at the Western Wall—during Jerusalem Day, as the fire broke out on the Temple Mount—were singing a Hassidic rock song associated with Rabbi Meir Kahane based on the biblical story of Samson: “O God, that I may with one blow take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!”  The Israeli youth who were jumping and singing were shouting “May their name be effaced!” 

Meir Kahane is a controversial figure.  While some consider him a hero others consider him a “criminal racist.” He founded the anti-Arab Kach political party, which calls for the annexation of all conquered territories and the removal of all Palestinians.  He approved the use of violence and was imprisoned.  While in prison he wrote his work They Must Go (1981), in which he expressed his negative views of Arabs and Jews living side-by-side in Israel. 

It is not hard to imagine a group of zealot religious youth, combined with a radical/racist mindset, could be highly problematic and a source of contention for both Israel and the Arab community that lives there.  I just hope that is not the case.