Over the weekend Hamas declared a Day of Rage for Tuesday because of an Israeli dedication of the Hurva Synagogue which was restored over the past five years and which was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948. The Hurva Synagogue is located in the Jewish Quarter. Ostensibly the Muslim community should have had no complaint of a restoration of a historical treasure in the Jewish Quarter. It is true that the Hurva Synagogue is only 700 meters away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it is also true that the Old City is very small and most buildings are only a stone’s throw away from each other, for example, the Western Wall, to which Jews were prohibited access by the Jordanian Government before the Six-Day War and which is the holiest place for Judaism on earth sits right below the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
In order to justify unrest in the Old City of Jerusalem Muslim leaders declared that the restoration of the synagogue is just the first step in destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuilding the third temple in its stead. To that end, hundreds of pamphlets were distributed asking Israeli Arabs from all over Israel to come save the Mosque, even though the Mosque was never in danger. In addition, the Palestinian leadership bussed hundreds of Muslims to the Old City in an attempt to spark clashes with the police. In fact some Palestinian protestors were throwing stones at security forces and were arrested on Tuesday. Because over 3,000 police units were deployed the Old City was relatively quite despite the “Day of Rage”. Muslims under 50 were not allowed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque for fear of clashes, and the moratorium is expected to last until Friday. This is standard procedure when the Jerusalem Police fear unrest either from Jews or Muslims.
In this case, Palestinian resistance to an opening of ancient synagogue first build in the 1700 is completely unreasonable and unfounded. First, the synagogue is a place of Jewish worship in a city, which is the centerpiece of the Jewish Religion, that was first built by King Solomon in Biblical Times. The Old City has become a holy place for the three monotheistic religions of the world, therefore all three must be respected. It is interesting that while demanding respect for Islam the Muslims refuse to respect Judaism. That being said, the synagogue will likely be another attraction in the Old City that will increase tourism benefiting both Jewish and Arab merchants, especially the Arab Shuk.
