Jewish Holy Sites: Not In This Land!

Israel's Supreme Court is currently deliberating over the fate of the 30 synagogues that remain in Gush Katif, as reported in the Jerusalem Post. In an effort to try and save these Jewish holy sites, the "Palestinian" Authority was asked on two separate occasions to guarantee the safety of the synagogues in the Gaza Strip, to which they refused. (Islamic (and Arab) hatred of holy sites is not limited to Jewish sites, rather, this hatred has been manifest against other faiths, as well, as can be seen from this article).

The question that begs to be asked is the following:

Why are the "Palestinians" against preserving Jewish holy sites in the areas under their control?

The answer is rather simple. The "Arab - Israeli" conflict is not a conflict over land, rather it’s a conflict between Judaism and Islam. It is not enough for the "Palestinians" to take control over land in Israel on which they can establish a “Palestinian” State, rather they feel compelled to cleanse any presence of Jewish ties from the land of Israel (Palestine) in the process.

Let us look at a number of examples which will prove this point:

1) The systematic destruction of the Temple Mount by the Muslim Waqf in order to remove any physical evidence of the two Jewish Temples that existed on the site.

This can be further seen from the open denial of Arab leaders of any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount or Jerusalem. (Compiled by the ADL)

"For 34 years [the Israelis] have dug tunnels [around the Temple Mount]…they found not a single stone proving that the Temple of Solomon was there, because historically the Temple was not in Palestine [at all]. They found only remnants of a shrine of the Roman Herod… They are now trying to put in place a number of stones so that they can say 'We were here.' This is nonsense. I challenge them to bring a single stone from the Temple of Solomon."

Yasser Arafat
Al-Hayat (London), October 5, 2002
[Trans. MEMRI and BBC Worldwide Monitoring]

2) The destruction of Joseph's Tomb in Shcem in October 2000 at the hands of "Palestinians".

3) The burning and pillaging of the ancient synagogue "Shalom Al Yisrael" in Jericho by "Palestinian" mobs.

4) The fact that on official maps of "Palestine" distributed by the "Palestinian" Authority, Israel does not exist.

All of these examples show that the true desire of the Islamic world in general, and of the "Palestinians" in particular, is not a desire to live in peaceful co-existence with Israel as a Jewish State, but for the destruction of any Jewish connection and presence from within the Land of Israel. (This hatred, by Islam and its adherents, of Jewish holy sites has expressed itself against other faiths, as well, as can be seen from this article).

It is for this reason, and this reason only, that the Arabs of Gaza refuse to guarantee the safety of the Jewish holy sites, as according to their worldview, it is a holy task to cleanse "Palestine" from the presence of the Jews - and they will be not be prepared to live in peace until they have finished the task.

Cross posted at IsraPundit

Israel
Zionism
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