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1. Rabbis Discuss Blocking Jews, Gentiles from Temple Mount
by Hana Levi Julian
The Temple Mount is sacred to the People of Israel, rabbis agree, but at least one -- Rabbi Yosef Sholom Elyashiv -- has urged President Shimon Peres not to allow Jews to tread the site.
Rabbi Elyashiv, a leader of the Litvish-Yeshivish hareidi-religious world, discussed the matter when Peres visited the rabbi's sukkah Thursday in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim. The president was accompanied by Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch.
R. Melamed: Block Gentiles from Temple Mount, Sacred to Jews
Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Chief Rabbi of the Samarian town of Beit El, agreed that it is forbidden to allow gentiles to enter the site. However, he said, Jews might approach if they are in a pure state.
But because the Temple Mount is sacred to Jews, Rabbi Melamed noted, "Jews should not enter it as long as they are not pure."
Entrance of gentiles to the site is forbidden altogether due to purity concerns, said Rabbi Melamed, "because this place is sacred to Jews."
R. Elyashiv: 'Block Jews from Temple Mount to Avoid Bloodshed'
Rabbi Elyashiv called on President Peres to block Jews from going up to the Temple Mount, and explained that Jewish law forbids such an act, since the precise location of the Holy of Holies is not known. It is forbidden by Torah law for anyone other than the Kohen Gadol (High Priest -ed.) to enter the Holy of Holies, and that only during specific times during worship in the Temple service.
However, that was not the only reason to prevent Jews from going up to the Temple Mount, said the rabbi, who stated that such an act is viewed as an extreme provocation by gentiles. Rabbi Elyashiv contended that Jews who go up to the Temple Mount are "playing with fire" and said that such an act could lead to bloodshed, and possibly a religious war.
The president received a blessing for good health and praise for having been a good emissary for the People of Israel.
2. MK Levin: Revoke Raad Salah's Citizenship and Expel Him
by Gil Ronen
MK Yariv Levin (Likud) said Wednesday that the way the authorities dealt with the Arab rioting on the Temple Mount is an example of the mistaken approach that the Jewish people have adopted towards the problem of the Arab citizens of Israel, and in the matter of the Temple Mount especially.
"There is a crisis of judicial feebleness here,” he said in an interview for Arutz Sheva's Hebrew service.
Levin said that Israel must not fear violent responses by the Arabs to assertions of its sovereignty throughout Jerusalem and specifically on the Temple Mount. “If we live our lives according to fears of Arab rioting we will not go far,” he said. “We need to take charge of matters and to behave accordingly.”
Expel Salah
Regarding Sheikh Raad Salah, Levin said Israel should withdraw his citizenship and expel him from its territory, and that it should do the same for other inciters like him. At the same time, he said, it should determine regular arrangements for the ascent of Jews to the Temple Mount. The Israeli hesitation to act in this spirit is what causes more and more riots, he said.
"The riots are the result of a public that holds on to an Israeli ID card and wants to heat up religious flames,” the lawmaker explained. “We must take clear, sharp actions [a convey a message that we own the place. We need to stare reality in the face.”
Levin, who understands Arabic, said that he hears what the Arab Knesset Members say and knows that they offer more than quiet support for the rioters, and that they themselves “stoke the fire” with clear incitement. An example of this can be found in the Balad party's internet website, which is funded with Israeli taxpayers' money, but lauds former Balad leader Azmi Bishara, who has escaped Israel after being investigated for treasonous activity.
Balad, he said, is even more extreme than the Palestinian Authority, as could be seen from its criticism and denunciations of the PA chairman for failing to act upon the Goldstone report.
3. 75 Arabs Arrested Since Start of J'lem Violence
by Gil Ronen
Seventy-five Arab Muslims have been arrested in Jerusalem since the recent wave of violence in and around the Temple Mount began.
Twenty-four of those arrested are under the age of 18. The detainees are suspected of attacking policemen, blocking off roads, hurling rocks and fire bombs, disturbing the peace and illegal demonstration.
Police said Wednesday that Jerusalem is calm at present but that they intend to make additional arrests.
Members of the Arab Supreme Monitoring Committee and Arab Knesset Members toured the Temple Mount Wednesday and used the opportunity to hurl insults and invective at the Jewish state's authorities. MK Ahmed Tibi (Raam Taal) responded to a statement by Jerusalem Police commander Maj.-Gen. Aharon Franco who said the Arabs of Jerusalem were “ingrates” by saying that Franco “does not know what democracy means.”
"He is not doing us a favor and it would be best for him to shut up and let the Muslims enjoy their basic right to freedom of worship,” Tibi said. “This is a condescending and arrogant statement,” he added.
Another Knesset member from Tibi's party, Taleb as-Sana, said that the time of Israeli rule is "the first times since Crusades" that Muslim prayer on mount is under limitations.
In recent days, entry into the Temple Mount has been allowed only for Muslim men over the age of 50 and Muslim women of all ages. Jews and other “visitors” are not allowed in at all. The police say that the limitations on Temple Mount access will continue into this weekend.
4. Yad Yair -- From Outpost to Garbage Dump in a Year
by Hana Levi Julian
The site of the destroyed Yad Yair outpost, located near the town of Dolev in Samaria, has become a dumping ground for local Arabs who have turned it into a garbage pit.
Former residents of the budding community, which was evacuated more than a year ago, returned to the site Wednesday and were shocked to discover that it was filled with garbage and other trash dumped there by Arabs who live in the region.
Outraged members of the community told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service, "We were stunned to find piles of garbage dumped there by Arabs, many piles of construction debris. The synagogue had been leveled, there were at least 50 mounds of trash, perhaps even more. It was a sad site -- it's painful to think about."
Meir Goldmintz, one of the residents who was evacuated, added, "This is private land purchased with Western funds. It is unthinkable that someone could transform a person's private land into a trash dump. The place was declared a closed military area when we lived there," he noted.
"From this time on, the army must guard this site and keep it from being harmed," Goldmintz declared. "It is the responsibility of the IDF. We bought the land and if the army declares it a closed military area, it was the IDF's duty to see to it that our land was not harmed," as a legal custodium of absentee property.
According to Arutz Sheva, the IDF responded that the area is under its control, but is technically under the legal jurisdiction of the Civil Administration. The Civil Administration was not available for comment.
5. UN Security Council Compromises with Libya: Goldstone on Oct 14
by Hana Levi Julian
The United Nations Security Council has moved up its regular monthly meeting on the Middle East as a compromise response to Libya's request to convene a special session on the Goldstone Report.
The report, which accuses Israel of "war crimes" in Gaza, also said that Hamas terrorists who control the region "may have" been guilty of "possible" war crimes as well.
The Council is scheduled to meet next Wednesday, October 14, rather than on October 20, and is expected to focus on the accusations by retired South African Judge Richard Goldstone, who led the U.N. commission that investigated Israel's counter-terrorist Operation Cast Lead last winter in Gaza.
The new meeting came as a surprise, inasmuch as an agreement had been reached at a meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva less than a week earlier to put off action on the report until March 2010.
Palestinian Authority U.N. observer Riyad Mansour said he spoke for the PA, Arab nations and 118 nations that comprise the Non-aligned Movement of developing countries in expressing strong support for the Libyan request. Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reneged on his agreement to withhold his support for such a discussion after facing criticism from Hamas and activists on the PA street.
A vote on a Security Council resolution scheduled for this Friday is aimed at condemning Israel for refusing to cooperate with the Goldstone Commission. Israel said the investigation was inherently biased, and thus there was no point in cooperating with the probe.
Individual Israelis who chose to testify before the commission confirmed the truth of Jerusalem's claim. Sderot Media Center director Noam Bedein described committee members yawning, and Judge Goldstone actually falling asleep during testimony about the repeated traumas inflicted on Israelis due to terror attacks emanating from Gaza.
The U.S. said also called the report "deeply flawed," but has not taken any concrete steps to immediately protect Israel from any fallout that might occur.
European Jews Sue EU over Gaza Rockets
Fifteen European citizens living in Israel have filed a lawsuit against the European Union for failing to protect its citizens from Gaza terrorist rocket fire while they are living in Israel.
The citizens of Britain, France, Italy and Hungary filed a claim with the European Commission, demanding that the EU intervene in the funding of terrorism in Gaza, and take action to protect them from terrorists while they live in Israel, the Jewish Chronicle reported.
The EU has a duty under Article 3.2 of the European Treaty to offer its citizens “an area of freedom, security and justice,” reads the group's petition. All 15 litigants currently live in the rocket-battered southern Israeli town of Sderot.
The group is demanding that the EU stop the transfer of European funding to the Hamas terrorist organization that controls Gaza, prevent known terrorists and their leaders from entering the EU, and prevent non-profit organizations from misusing European funds.
6. IDF Strikes Back at Gaza's Al-Qaeda Terrorists
by David Lev
Sources in Gaza said Tuesday night that the IDF fired seven mortar shells into the Sage'a neighborhood in central Gaza, injuring several Gaza Arabs. One of the injured was said by Gaza medical workers to be in critical condition, but the IDF has not confirmed the report.
The IDF said the shelling was in response to earlier shooting by Gaza Arab terrorists at Israeli workers who were conducting engineering work near the Gaza border fence. After the attack, IDF soldiers protecting the workers fired over the fence at the source of the shooting.
A short time later, Gaza Arab terrorists attempted to attack a second time. Three terrorists snuck up to an area near the security fence, positioning themselves to attack the Israeli workers. IDF soldiers again fired in the direction of the terrorists, but it was not clear if any were hit.
To read the rest of this important story, click here!
7. Tales of the 'Broad Wall' of Jerusalem
by Shalom Pollack and Hana Levi Julian
If the stones could talk.....they would certainly chew our ears off in the Old City of Jerusalem! The recently revealed 'Broad Wall" is one spot at the very center of all the action in the Jewish Quarter, one of four in the area.
During the 1948 War of Independence the Arabs cut Jerusalem off on three sides and the situation was critical for the 100,000 Jewish residents, who were reduced to starvation rations.
It was worse within the walls of the Old City. When the Jordanian army joined the local Arab militias, round-the-clock shelling of the Jewish Quarter began. Finally the tiny Jewish force and tattered population was forced to surrender after a lion-hearted fight.
Once again Jews were expelled from Jerusalem, through the bullet-pocked Zion Gate ( If forget thee Oh Zion...) All was destroyed, desecrated and lay in ruins, until the miraculous events of the Six Day War of June 1967. Israel returned to the Old City and was elated -- and aghast -- at what they found, total destruction and mayhem.
There were two silver linings in the cloud, however.
One was the ability to clear and build an even nicer, more comfortable Quarter. The other was the ability to actually dig and excavate under former homes for treasures more valuable than any mineral the earth can offer. Jerusalem of a century ago, a millenia, two, or three -- has been discovered and restored. Oh if the stones could only speak!
One of the more dramatic finds is the "Broad Wall" where 2,700 year ago a great wall surrounded First Temple Jerusalem. It was some 25 feet high and six feet thick. The lower remains of this wall were uncovered.
One of the most famous Biblical pairs, King Hezekia and the prophet Isaiah stood together atop the wall facing the challenge of their lives. Sancehrev, king of Assyria and world conquerer, sent Ravshaka, who spoke perfect Hebrew, to the starving and frightened Jewish population to demand surrender. He suggested they serve his master and live, or rely on the god of Israel and die a terrible death.
King Hezekia and his court were distraught, and asked Isaiah what they should do. The prophet replied, "Don't worry, G-d has promised that 'not one arrow will strike Jeusalem and Sancherev will go back the way he came.'"
The Assyrian king boasted that each one of his soldiers would take one stone out of the walls and the city would be taken the next day. But that night a plague swept the vast army by morning, 185,000 soldiers were dead.
The king fled back to Ninveh, his capital, and there he was overheard by his two sons promising his favorite idol " that which is most dear to him if he saves him from this predicament." Deeply suspicious, the sons killed their father -- and Jerusalem stood for another 100 years, until the Babylonians broke through the walls.
As the Jews were exiled from their beloved Jerusalem to the waters of Babylon and all were distraught, it was the prophet Zacharia who comforted them with a vision shown him. He said "There will yet be children playing in the streets of Jerusalem..."
It is impossible to know for sure whether it was planned that way, but there is a playground just next to the broad wall -- and guess who plays there as the stones watch? Zachariah's prophecy is true today as the quote is quite properly carved into the Jerusalem stone. The stones don't even have to talk.
