Abstract
For both Jews and Muslims the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem constitute highly important religious, cultural, political and national centres. For centuries Jews in the diaspora prayed in the direction of Jerusalem, vowed never to forget it (‘If I forget thee Jerusalem, may my right arm wither’); and blessed one another ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. The Zionist-Jewish movement (since the 1880s) – although predominantly secular – has considered Jerusalem (Zion) as the political and cultural centre of the Jewish people.By comparison, the Palestinian-Arab national movement has, since the 1920s established its national and political-cultural centre in East Jerusalem, while the Haram al Sharif, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has continued to be a top religious shrine for Muslims. They termed it Awla Al-Qiblatayn (the first prayer direction before Mecca); Thani Masjidayn (the second mosque after Mecca); a place where Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven (Isra’ and Mi’raj).This article will examine the changes in Muslim–Jewish mutual relations, especially since 1967, at both government and public levels. Special attention will be given to the development of both Islamic Judeophobia and Jewish Islamophobia, which have been associated with the dispute over the Temple Mount and East Jerusalem.
Highlights
For the last 47 years, on 5 June, many Jews in Israel and abroad have celebrated the military victory known as the Six Days War (1967) and the ‘libera tion’ of East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
For Jews this euphoric occasion meant a return to the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit in Hebrew) after more than 2,000 years of exile
For them the conquest of East Jerusalem (Al-Quds Al-Sharif) and the Al-Haram Al-Sharif by the Jews occurred after more than 1400 years of Muslim rule
Summary
For the last 47 years, on 5 June, many Jews in Israel and abroad have celebrated the military victory known as the Six Days War (1967) and the ‘libera tion’ of East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. A growing number of Jews, in Israel, developed an Islamophobic attitude, partly in reaction to Muslim Judeophobia and partly as a rejection of the Muslim claim to the Temple Mount This hostile attitude has persisted with the backing of Jewish rabbis and with little interference from Israeli authorities. As a response Muslims demonstrated the following day, chanting that Al-Aqsa and Al-Buraq belonged to them, and burnt Jewish prayer books at the Wall This critical event led to a vicious cycle of violent riots and killings in Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed, Tel Aviv and elsewhere, claiming the lives of 137 Jews and 116 Arabs. This visit provoked a long series of violent Muslim riots known as the AlAqsa Intifada, which caused the deaths of hundreds of
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