Stumbling Over Mumbling At The Temple Mount

Sometimes you just have to wonder who’s worse — your enemies, or your own “family.”

This past Wednesday (12/9) I came across a story that got me pretty fired up. Slot this one in the “geez, I don’t have to give anyone else respect” category.

It seems that very recently, a Jewish bride and her father were arrested by Arab Waqf police patrolling Har haBayīt, the “Temple Mount” in Jerusalem. As a Jew, my level of disgust over Jews being arrested by Arabs, turned to anger when I read that the reason they were arrested: the father allegedly “moved his lips” while on the Temple Mount, and his daughter was allegedly “nodding” her head.

The Stupid Status Quo

The ruckus stems from what’s known as the “Status Quo” protocol with the Arab Waqf, administrators of the site, which was arguably one of Moshe Dayan’s biggest blunders by effectively allowing Muslims to do whatever they wanted at the site, while restricting Jewish visitors from various activities – including as it turned out, public prayer.  Over the years, the Waqf had strictly enforced the prohibition.

To put this in American perspective, this situation would be like Congress passing a law prohibiting Christians from praying anywhere within 500 yards of the White House or the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., but allowing members of every other religion to do whatever they wanted.  If such a law were imposed here, I’d pretty much feel safe in guaranteeing that every congressman and senator who voted for such a measure would be forcibly kicked out of office the very next day.

But I digress.

The “Incident”

This specific incident centers on one Mahmoud Hativ, a Waqf policeman patrolling the site, who claims to have seen the father “muttering prayers” and the bride “nodding her head.” Anyone who’s read even the slightest amount of news on Israel/Arab conflicts can figure out the rest — they were stopped, accosted, arrested, held against their will for several hours, forced to sign a “confession”, and finally let go – but only after more Arab policemen taunted and mocked the young bride-to-be.

Now, passing aside the remote possibility that this father was actually praying silently, there’s an even more plausible, and actually logical, explanation.

The father was moving his lips – because he was TALKING. He was there with his daughter and his son (who as a tour guide at the site was showing them various archeological points), and it’s illogical to assume that the three of them would be walking around the Mount without saying a word to each other.

Hativ’s insistence that he saw the man moving his lips, does nothing to prove that he was actually praying, versus simply making comments on what his son was showing him at the time. It was out of sheer coincidence and “luck” as it were, that Hativ just happened to notice the man’s lips move, and upon obviously picking him out as a Jew, figured he’d have some fun with it by falsely accusing him of praying. Gee, thanks — remind me to never trust another Arab again if they’re all like that (fortunately they’re not).

Writing Tickets

But maybe these days, the nabbing of Jews ascending the Temple Mount for supposedly “praying” every time they open their mouths to so much as breathe, is the Waqf equivalent to the highway patrol’s habit of using the last couple of days each month to “manhunt” for speeders on the highway, in order to make sure they’ve fulfilled their quota of speeding tickets before the month ends.

It seems like Mahmoud Hativ is just another mindless thug, strung along like a puppet at the hands of a larger Arab conspiracy, part of which includes convincing the world that a separate ethno-nationality called “Palestinian” actually exists. Hint: it doesn’t.

Delving a bit more into this issue, I read of one Amr Moussa, Arab League Secretary-General, who earlier this year, claimed that Jewish prayers at the Temple Mount were “a serious blow to the holiness of the site.” He insisted that under international law, Jews and Christians are forbidden from praying at the Temple Mount.

Put Up or Shut Up

First of all, I would like Mr Moussa to show me chapter and verse. Shut me up, and actually show me where this international law is, that states non-Muslims are actually prohibited from praying in any way, shape, or form, at the Mount. Then, for Mr Moussa, and the Waqf policemen, I’d recommend a course in “Basic English for Dummies”, since their wild misinterpretation of any such law on the books makes me wonder what else they’re misinterpreting. Hopefully it’s not the owner’s manual to his car. Maybe misinterpretation runs in families, and his wife misinterprets dinner recipes… “OK Amr, it says ‘1/2 cup of water’, so if I fill the bowl with water, that would make it better, yes?”

I suppose Mr Moussa never got the concept that international sites, like the Temple Mount, are supposed to be enjoyed by international visitors… no matter what their religion is. And unless I missed something in the last couple of thousand years, it’s pretty well been proven and upheld that prayer is a fundamental human right, regardless of the religious belief of the person praying.

I don’t see the UN security forces at the New York City headquarters, forcibly keeping Arabs out or telling them they can’t pee in the toilets inside the building, which is another “fundamental right”. Oh, but if Arabs were subjected to that treatment, that would be discrimination, and would cause an international incident. So why is it not the same for Jews and Christians wanting to pray at the Temple Mount?

Visiting

Someday I’ll visit Israel. If at that time, the Temple Mount is still controlled by Arabs, I’ll still visit it. And I’ll stand on the site, and in reverence to the G-d who put His house there, I’ll pray. And whether I pray in my head, or with my mouth, in English, Polish, or in Hebrew, will be immaterial. I’d defy any Arab policeman to try to stop me from a fundamental human right to reach out to his deity, no matter where he is. My congressman and senator, my ambassador, my president (whoever he/she may be at that time), and the UN would all hear about any Arab attempt to stop me from my fundamental human right.

I’d love to be able to organize a trip to Israel. It would bring traditional and Messianic Jews, as well as Christians who love and pray for the Jews, together from various countries – the U.S., Canada, the UK and various European countries, Australia… heck, anyone fitting the above description from anywhere in the world. Our primary purpose would be to visit the Temple Mount and pray… loudly.

Just Like Pentecost

In such a situation, I’d love to see what Mahmoud Hativ and the rest of his Waqf buddies would do with hundreds, or even thousands, of Christians and Jews at and surrounding the entire Temple Mount area, all praying in their native language, all asking for G-d’s intervention and blessing on behalf of Israel. Would some overzealous Arab policeman start shoving, accosting, detaining, or (gasp) shooting at the crowd? Hmm… what a major international incident that could be, which would no doubt rapidly turn world opinion (justifiably) against the Waqf bullies strangling the Temple Mount, and may extend outward to another Arab creation, the so-called “Palestinians”.

More likely, however, I could see a different outcome (especially with a large crowd of Christians around). The tide of corporate prayer, Jew and Gentile together, may turn to the “conversion” (as my Christian friends say) of those Arab policemen, and ultimately the conversion of all Arabs everywhere. Wouldn’t it be interesting if those Waqf policemen trying to keep the “peace” on the truly international site that they ridiculously believe is theirs alone, would be rushed by Messianic Jews and Christians laying hands on them and praying over them, and those Arabs becoming “convicted” and accepting the will of G-d?

A dream? Maybe. The more Israeli/Arab conflict news I read, the more it seems like the mass conversion of hundreds or thousands of Muslims to a Judeo-Christian form of belief would seem radically fictitious. But then again, G-d can do anything, right?

Open To All

The bottom line here is that until Mashiach comes, the Temple Mount area is a truly international site, to be visited, utilized, enjoyed, and revered, by people of every nation. It’s not just for one religion to squander and keep for themselves. Likewise, prayer at such a revered site is not just reserved for one person or one religion, but is to be enjoyed as a right to all people, regardless of religion.

I suppose that even those drafters of the Status Quo protocol forgot about that, and certainly the Muslims are willing to take any tiny opening of the door to shove their feet in. This isn’t just a “tsk, tsk, it shouldn’t be that way”… this issue is a “it cannot be allowed to be.”

Jews of Israel, Jews of the Diaspora, Christians everywhere: visit the Temple Mount, revere its holiness. Worship. Pray. Don’t let the Arabs stop you. Don’t let anyone stop you. It’s your right as a human to pray.

If they can pray there, so can you. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.