The last thing Palestinians want is another crisis in their homeland. It is not enough for Israel to continue its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, with severe famine, daily tightening of restrictions on vital humanitarian aid, increasing Israeli atrocities in Gaza, and the need for Palestinians and their land to be protected. Not least is the increase in settler pogroms in the West Bank. A regional war in the Middle East remains a distinct possibility as long as Prime Minister Netanyahu continues to commit violence and believes he will not be able to get out of prison due to US underwriting.
Beneath the radar is another overlooked threat to regional stability that could easily spread beyond the Middle East into Asia and Africa, drawing the United States even deeper into the fray. On April 9, 2024, a number of Palestinian Christian leaders issued a bulletin and petition against Israeli religious extremists attempting to carry out a bizarre but deadly plan to destroy the Dome of the Rock and the Al Palace. Warned the world of the threat posed by Christian Zionists. Aqsa Mosque makes way for the Third Jewish Temple.
Al-Aqsa Mosque (also known as “Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa” or “The Farthest Mosque”) is the third holiest site in Islam and is the site of the Quran’s Surah 17, or Prophet Muhammad’s Night Journey. mentioned inside. These sacred sites mark the very place where the prophet is said to have ascended to heaven. Al-Aqsa is also called Haram al-Sharif, or “Noble Sanctuary,” reflecting the same designation for the mosques surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site. Any violation or attempt to damage Al-Aqsa or the adjacent shrine known as the Dome of the Rock could spark a backlash from the world’s approximately 2 billion Muslims.
Amid largely sanitized Western media coverage of the crisis in the Gaza Strip, the alarm bells sounded by Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaydah on the 100th day (January 14, 2024) of the Israeli massacre went unnoticed. There wasn’t. He sounded the alarm warning the Islamic world and anyone listening that Israel had recently introduced certain breeds of cattle into settlements in the West Bank. The comments, which seemed irrelevant or bizarre to some, were a serious warning to Islamic leaders that a sinister plot was afoot regarding Haram al-Sharif.
Israel recently bent its ban on livestock entry and allowed the transfer of five red heifers from a Christian Zionist ranch in Texas to an illegal settlement in the West Bank. Over the past 30 years, various Christian Zionist ranchers in the United States have been following the obscure ancient ecclesiastical cleansing process recorded in the Book of Numbers (chapter 19), with commentary by the Jewish sage Maimonides. I have been trying to breed 100% pure red heifers. Begin various rituals leading to animal sacrifices in the rebuilt Third Temple. However, it was almost impossible to find a bright red heifer before the necessary purification rituals were performed in the resurrected Third Temple.
Several ultra-Orthodox Israeli Zionist organizations and Christian Zionist groups around the world are campaigning for control of the Third Temple and what they call the Temple Mount. The event that stimulated speculation about the Third Temple was Israel’s occupation of Arab East Jerusalem in June 1967, but Jerusalem was soon annexed by Israel. Christian and Jewish religious extremists interpreted Israel’s victory as the beginning of a new Messianic era and a countdown to the end of history, culminating in either the first or second coming of the Messiah, depending on religious preference. .
Both ultra-Orthodox Jews and fundamentalist Christians agreed that the construction of the Jewish Third Temple was an important step in the Messianic era. He had only two obstacles in their way. The first step was to find a red heifer that was completely pure and had never been yoked, as specified in Numbers 19:1-3. With the advent of modern science and genetic engineering, several American Christian Zionist ranchers set out to produce bright red heifers. There have been some near-successful cases over the years, but in each case white or black hair disqualified the almost sacred cow.
However, the second major obstacle remains a bit more difficult. It is none other than the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Since the late 1960s, there have been a series of violent attempts by both Jewish and Christian extremists to blow up Islamic strongholds. On March 10, 1982, 45 ultra-Orthodox religious extremists known as the Rifta group scaled the walls of Haram al-Sharif in a monumental attempt, armed with explosives. A Muslim security guard alerted the police, who quickly arrived and arrested the perpetrator. At the time, the Israeli government was committed to preserving the sanctity of Islamic sites and respected Jerusalem’s so-called religious status quo.
Three weeks after Operation Lifta, a 45-page advertisement appeared in the Jerusalem Post demanding the release of the militants, calling them “honest and faithful children of Israel.” The ad was posted by the US-based Evangelical Concern Committee for Freedom of Worship on the Temple Mount. The committee’s three co-chairs were wealthy Oklahoma-based oil magnate Terry Risenhuber, California businessman Doug Krieger, and Houston pastor Ken Loach. What all three men had in common was the extreme Christian Zionist belief that a third temple must be built to hasten the battle of Armageddon, the rapture, and the return of Jesus. They raised legal fees and within a year the extremist attackers were released with minimal fines. Expensive legal fees and other expenses were raised by evangelicals who received tax breaks because the fund secured 501(c)3 tax-exempt status. (See Donald Wagner and Hassan Haddad, In the Name of the Bible, Brattleboro, Vermont, Amana Books, 1986, pp. 25-26).
Most of the extremist Jews who took part in Operation Lifta were disciples of Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose Kahane movement was declared a terrorist organization in the United States and later in Israel. Before Israel banned the organization, Mr. Kahane had a small but influential following in several extremist enclaves, including Kiryat Arba, adjacent to Hebron. Israeli journalist Gershom Gorenberg said that the Qaha party’s platform includes “making sexual relations between Jews and Arabs (Palestinians) a crime punishable by death.” The party’s ultimate goal was the expulsion of all Arabs (Palestinians) from Israel and the occupied territories. ” A small group of aggressive supporters of Mr. Kahane scattered posters across Jerusalem demanding that Israel “erase the mosque from the Temple Mount.” Today, both Jewish and Christian Zionist websites feature posters of the Haram al-Sharif, or Temple Mount, with the Third Temple inserted in place of al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock. (Gershom Gorenberg, The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle on the Temple Mount (Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 128).
Mr. Kahane may be gone, but his racist views are making a comeback not only in Kiryat Arba but also in West Bank settlements, Jerusalem, and throughout Israel, including some members of Netayahu’s cabinet. . To name a few, Minister of Finance Bezalel Smoltrich, Minister of Security Itamar Ben Gvir, Chairman of the National Assembly Security Committee Zikva Vogel, Minister of the Status of Women Mai Golan, and Chairman of Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power Party. Including a certain Zvi Scott. . All are outspoken followers of the Kahane brand of Zionism and support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the destruction of the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque. It is no wonder that radical Jewish extremists have acquired the privilege of “praying” near Al-Aqsa, disrupting Muslim prayers, and sometimes even gaining access to mosques. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s rule has made Kahane’s racist views more widespread than at any time in recent history, increased the likelihood of political support for Israel and weaponized attacks on Islam’s holy sites. The appearance of a precious red heifer may be the first step towards that terrifying reality.
There are also concerns that these views influence a larger segment of Israelis, including secular Jews. A Haaretz poll from a decade ago found that 43% of devout Jews and a whopping 31% of secular Israelis supported the removal of Islamic shrines. Today, estimates suggest that well over 70% of pious Jews support a temple to replace Islamic ruins, and between 40% and 50% of secular Israelis support the project. I support it.
Take, for example, Beth Cronfield, a secular Jewish American who made aliyah and founded Hai on Har, an organization that provides tours of Haram al-Sharif to promote the construction of the Third Temple. Let’s. Cromfield recently told CBS Television: “It’s very important for Jews to return to the Temple and rebuild it. It’s not about taking anything away from our Muslim brothers and sisters, it’s about preserving this place and making it a part of God’s house for all people. Be a protector.” Apparently, Beth is either ignorant or simply indifferent to the violent and sacrilegious effects such an act would have on all Palestinians and the Muslim world. .
Sabir’s petition is an urgent call for people of all religious faiths, and those of no particular faith, to oppose this dangerous conspiracy to weaponize false religious beliefs and turn them into a political nightmare. .
A major concern is that these views are gaining political support not only within the Netanyahu government but also among Republicans in the US Congress. Recently, Third Temple Movement leader Ishak Mamo of Uvne Jerusalem spoke at a national gathering for prayer and repentance convened by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., on CBS TV. described the meeting as follows: “Who’s who” among Christian Zionist fundamentalists, including Republican members of Congress? Mamo described the project’s practical results and introduced Byron Stinson, a Texas rancher who was instrumental in breeding the red heifer. Stinson told the audience that the construction of the Third Temple would usher in the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus.
If there is any hope after Israel’s attempt to completely erase Palestinian life, history, and existence in the Gaza Strip, it is because the ugly dark side of Zionism that rules Israel today has been transformed into a fascist, ultra-nationalist, It’s about how the system was exposed. This is nothing short of a full-scale genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The long-term solution, and perhaps the only hope for security, for Palestinians and Israelis is the decolonization of Palestine and the deterritorialization of Israel. It’s a tall order, but the process has already begun.
But all hopes will be dashed if the Netanyahu regime, or a post-Netanyahu group of fanatical Christians and Jewish Zionists, attempts to destroy Haram al-Sharif. Demolishing the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque to prepare for the construction of the Third Jewish Temple must be avoided at all costs, as it will lead to an unimaginable cycle of violence and repression. yeah.
