DP Tool Club 26/CD_ASCQ_26_1295.iso/vrac/peace_me.zip/PEACE.ZIP/THIS_ZIP.6

Text File | 1995-10-29 | 4KB | 62 lines

A Tale of Two Pictures^15

Nothing could express  the present situation  in Jerusalem better  than
two photographs published in The Jerusalem Post.  The first,  appearing
in the edition of  July 30, showed Gershon  Salomon, leader of a  group
called  the  Temple  Mount  Faithful,  being  turned away from entering
Temple  Mount  by  police  on  the  anniversary  of  the  date  of  its
destruction, even though  the group had  obtained the prior  permission
of  Israel's  High  Court  of  Justice.   The  second, appearing in the
edition of  August 20,  showed a  beaming PLO  chief negotiator,  Nabil
Shaath, during his visit  to the Al Aqsa  mosque on the site  of Temple
Mount.   The caption  under his  picture included  his quote,  "We have
always believed  that Jerusalem  one day  will become  the capital of a
Palestinian state."  The rights of  the Jews to Temple Mount have  been
trodden under foot by the present government of Israel and traded  away
for peace with  the Palestinians and  the Jordanians.   Israel provides
police protection for one of Mr.  Arafat's key aides to visit the  site
while using police force to  bar zealous Israelis access.   In relation
to the Scriptures, these events  are exciting because they confirm  the
predictions  of  the  prophets  in  remarkable  detail.   The  prophets
describe  the  Arab's  boastful  desire  to  repossess  the  land   and
especially the "high places" or Temple Mount.

The prophecy of Zephaniah makes reference to the Almighty having  heard
the  reproach  of  Moab  and  the  revilings  of the children of Ammon,
whereby  they  have  reproached  my  people  and  magnified  themselves
against their border (Zephaniah 2:8).  Ezekiel refers to the Most  High
hearing the  blasphemies spoken  by Edom  against the  land: Thus saith
the Lord  GOD, Because  the enemy  hath said  against you  Aha even the
ancient  high  places  are  our's  in  possession  (Ezekiel 36:2).  The
Psalmist speaks of  the confederacy of  Arab peoples declaring,  Let us
take to ourselves the houses of  God in possession (Psalm 83:12).   The
strident calls of Mr. Arafat  for Arab sovereignty over east  Jerusalem
and control  of the  holy sites  are fulfilling  these prophecies.  The
ultimate defiance of the will of the Almighty is that the Arabs  should
presume to take possession of Temple Mount and city of Jerusalem.

Not all  the elements  of Israeli  society have  been won  over to  the
pro-peace position of the intelligentsia.  There are still many on  the
right,  some  motivated  by  purely  nationalist  aims  and  others  by
religious ones, who  oppose the moves  Israel has taken  towards peace.
These diverse opponents of the peace process appear determined to  make
their stand  over Jerusalem  and not  allow the  present government  to
further disadvantage the rights of  the Jews there.  Representative  of
this thinking is Zalman Shoval, Israel's ambassador to the U.S. at  the
time of the Gulf War:

Now  that  (Arafat)  has  established  his  political (and to a certain
extent, military) bridgehead in Gaza and Jericho, Arafat isn't  keeping
his plan to make Jerusalem his next target a secret.  The PLO  leader's
plan to "come and pray" on Temple Mount is but a thinly veiled ploy  to
stake his political claims on Israel's capital.  Arafat's schemes  have
nothing to do  with freedom of  worship.  All  Israeli governments have
agreed  to  leave  the  Temple  Mount  and  its mosques to the de facto
administration of Arab-Moslem religious authorities - thus  consciously
restricting the  right of  Jews to  pray on  what in  ages past was the
very focus of the Jewish religion and nation.

(Zalman Shoval,  The Jerusalem  Post International  Edition, Jerusalem?
Never, Never, Never, August 6, 1994, p.6)