Perilous Times
Crowd of 10,000 Declare: The Temple Mount Belongs to Jews
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
INR
A huge crowd of 10,000 Jews gathered at the old gates of the Temple
Mount Monday night and declared their allegiance to the holy site,
which rally organizers said is being separated from Jews by
discriminatory practices by the police.
The “pledge of allegiance” to a Jewish Temple Mount and a united
Jerusalem was part of the monthly “March around Old City Temple Gates,”
a colorful event featuring the recital of Psalms at various closed
gates around the Temple Mount.
The monthly march usually attracts 2,000-3,000 people, but organizers
successfully brought out thousands more Monday night as Jews around the
world marked the beginning of the Hebrew month of Av. The Ninth of Av
is marked every year as the day when foreign invaders destroyed the
First and Second Holy Temples.
The marches feature music and dancing and are peaceful, but police have
barred several of the monthly prayer rallies during the past year
because of fears of Arab violence.
National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel told the crowd that
deterioration in security and the increasing discrimination against
Jews in Jerusalem prompted the unusually large turnout. In his speech
he described the “surrender of Jerusalem to Arabs,” the worsening
security in several Jewish neighborhoods, disturbances by anarchists
and the discrimination by police who severely restrict the ability of
Jews to ascend the Temple Mount.
Jerusalem council member Aryeh King reminded the crowd that the Temple
Mount site is closed to Jews most of the time while police allow
non-Jewish tourists to freely visit the holy site.
Israel accepts Muslim rules that forbid a Jew from praying out loud or
even carrying a prayer book when ascending the Temple Mount.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)