History shows current Jerusalem crisis not its last
The closing of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israelis seems to be in line with the objective of a radical Jewish group to build a third temple in Jerusalem and replace the Jordanian authority at the compound.
The recent escalation of tension in East Jerusalem and especially in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque will most certainly confuse many. Why, some ask, would the Israeli government carry on an unprecedented act of closing off the entire mosque area to all but eight Muslim worshipers, only to reopen it the next day and appeal for calm?
The extreme Israeli action included the prohibition of the call for prayer, which has not happened since the Israeli occupation of the city in 1967. Israelis say they could not remain silent following the shooting of Yehuda Glick, a radical American-Israeli activist rabbi who has been calling for Jews to establish a permanent presence in the entire Haram al-Sharif, which is nominally under the joint control of unarmed Islamic Waqf (Jordanian) guards and well-armed Israeli security personnel.
Glick, a member of the small radical group of Jewish extremists called the Temple Mount Faithful, had just ended a lecture at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center titled “Israel returns to the Temple Mount” when he was shot by an unknown assailant who reportedly told him that what he had said at the lecture “really hurt me.”
In turn, Israeli security forces killed a Palestinian resident of Jerusalem. Israeli accounts say that they surrounded the home of Moataz Hijazi and took him out during an exchange of fire. Palestinians deny that an exchange of fire took place, calling his killing an assassination.
