An American Journalist

Attempts to Destroy the Haram al-Sharif Have a Long History

By Stephen J. Sosebee

The violent clashes that left 70 dead in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are both the result of Arab frustration over the lack of progress in the so-called peace process and an example of how greatly Palestinians fear for the security of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque, which make up the Haram al-Sharif. Their fear for Islam’s third holiest site, called the Temple Mount by Jews, is not unfounded. Palestinians have seen 29 years of violent provocations by Jewish extremists seeking to end the “Islamic occupation of the Temple Mount.” They fear that the Netanyahu government’s effort to settle the political issue of Jerusalem unilaterally will ally them with violent zealots eyeing Al-Aqsa.

Following the Israeli capture of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel announced it would respect the status quo of the religious sites in Jerusalem. At that same time, however, a movement began among religious nationalists in Israel to gain a foothold on the Haram al-Sharif in order to build a new temple there on what they claim is the site of the destroyed first and second Jewish temples. During a conference on Jerusalem, Dr. Z. Wahrhatig, the Israeli minister of religious affairs, stated that while he did not object to the idea of rebuilding the temple, the time had not yet come. An “earthquake” would occur, he said, to ruin the mosques and enable Israel to rebuild the temple there.

Swiss Ambassador E. Thalman made a fact-finding tour of Jerusalem in late 1967 and reported fear among Arabs concerning Israeli intentions on the Temple Mount. “Statements by Israeli official representatives and Jewish personalities concerning Jewish claims and plans in the temple area had an alarming effect” on him and the Arabs, Thalman said. He also expressed concern about Dr. Wahrhatig’s “provocative” statements that sooner or later Israel would “rebuild their temple on the Dome of the Rock.” At the same time, prominent rabbis formed an organization called el Har Adoni, which was devoted to “regaining” Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount.

In 1969, an Australian set fire to Al-Aqsa’s southeastern wall. Though linked to messianic groups, the man was declared insane and deported.

There has been a serious growth in right-wing religious nationalism in Israel over the past 29 years. Settlements are built on biblical sites and religious rationales employed by the right wing to justify political policies that violate international law.

Within this emergence of the settler movement in Israel is the creation of several groups devoted to “reclaiming” the Temple Mount for the Jewish people. There are adherents to a school of thought in Israel who believe that the coming of the messiah cannot occur without first “rebuilding” the temple. Unfortunately, they want to place it on the land administered by an Islamic trust known as the Waqf.

In the 1970s extremist groups devoted to retaking the Temple Mount began a campaign of provocation and violence against the Haram al-Sharif, including the digging of tunnels, attempts to enter the area by force and, increasingly, efforts to bomb the two mosques. Between 1978 and 1982, the Waqf documented 200 acts of desecration and provocation on or near the Haram al-Sharif by Israeli extremists.

In 1982, Allan Goodman, an Israeli soldier with an American passport, charged into the Haram al-Sharif, spraying worshippers with gunfire, killing two and wounding 30. According to Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper, Goodman was recently seen trying to enter the area with tourists during one of his 48-hour releases from prison. Goodman has not shown any remorse for the murders, saying that his actions were not bad because “no Jews were killed.”

In the early 1980s, the Haram al-Sharif was seriously targeted for destruction by Israeli underground terrorist groups. In January 1984, a terror cell was arrested while trying to scale the walls around Al-Aqsa carrying arms and explosives. Several months later, members of a larger cell were arrested as they placed bombs under Arab buses in Jerusalem. Calling themselves “Terror Against Terror,” they bombed three West Bank mayors’ cars, killed students in a machine gun attack on Hebron University and put bombs in Arab markets and sports stadiums. This group of settlers had detailed plans and the explosives to blow up both mosques, Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. Palestinians are well aware that despite their records of murder and their serious threats to Arab religious sites in Jerusalem, the last members of this terror cell were released from prison by Israeli presidential pardon in 1990. None expressed remorse for the violence, and one leader, Yehud Itzion, is back leading a group devoted to desecrating the Haram al-Sharif.

The massacre of 17 unarmed Palestinian civilians and the wounding of hundreds more by Israeli soldiers at the site in 1990 was sparked by a group called “The Temple Mount Faithful,” who were marching to set a cornerstone for the building of a temple on the site of Islam’s third holiest shrine. These zealots are led by Jerusalem councilman Gershon Solomon, who is connected to the Likud political establishment in Israel. Since the massacre, there have been almost weekly marches by extremists around and on the Haram al-Sharif, often resulting in clashes near the site.

This August, an Israeli court reversed a 28-year policy and ruled that “The Temple Mount Faithful” would be allowed to enter the Islamic areas to pray on the Jewish holiday of Tisha Be’av. Despite protests from Muslim leaders, the group entered al-Haram with police protection, but left quickly due to opposition from worshippers outraged that a group calling for the destruction of the Haram al-Sharif was permitted near its sacred sites.

The Netanyahu government may claim the new tunnel entrance is harmless, but such diggings have caused serious damage to Islamic property at the Haram al-Sharif in the past. In 1969, 14 Waqf properties were damaged by Israeli digging in the area. In 1971, a tunnel partially collapsed the Rabat Kurd building on the Mount. Three years later, serious cracks were discovered in the wall of Al-Juwhariya School due to tunneling. Other tunnels dug by extremist groups to get near the Mount to pray have caused damage and clashes in Jerusalem in the past.

Recent history shows that the actions of extremist groups on all sides can undermine the stability of the entire region. Mix provocation by religious zealots with deep frustration over the lack of progress in the peace process and there is little wonder that the West Bank and Gaza turned back so quickly into a killing zone. For the peace process to succeed, the Netanyahu government must denounce and prevent desecration of religious sites in Jerusalem and begin the final status negotiations under the Oslo framework. Otherwise, the Oslo accords also are a casualty from the bloodletting following the tunnel opening.