TEMPLE MOUNT - TO LEVEL OR LET LIVE?

Now here’s an interesting article;

"Turkey Converts Church of Hagia Sophia from Museum to Mosque" [Melissa Steffan, Christianity Today, 4 April 2013]

And here’s another;

"'Dig' Isn't Wrong: People Really Are Trying to Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem" [Elon Gilad, Jewish World Features, 7 May 2015]

The immediate question you ask, if you haven’t read either article, is, “So what?”

The “So what?” is that in order for the Jews to re-build their holiest site in Jerusalem, two of the holiest sites for Muslims would need to be . . . “removed.”  And that’s war-provoking stuff.  

I have stood as close as I was allowed to, and marvelled at these stunning examples of Islamic architecture on Temple Mount in Jerusalem: they are the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (pictured right).  The al-Aqsa Mosque is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven and the Dome of the Rock is said to be the site of the Islamic miracle of the Isra and Mi'raj.  Ironically, the Dome of the Rock is (Christian) Bysantine-influenced;

“Its architecture and mosaics were patterned after nearby Byzantine churches and palaces. The octagonal plan of the structure may also have been influenced by the Byzantine Chapel of St Mary.” [Wikipedia, "Dome of the Rock"]

The Dome of the Rock (left), particularly, has been lovingly maintained and restored over the centuries.  The brilliant Turkish conqueror, Suleiman the Magnificent, had the dome encased in tiles that lasted 1,000 years.  And in 1955, Arabic nations and Turkey paid for the Dome’s encasement in a durable aluminium bronze alloy.  In its current gold splendour, courtesy of King Hussain before he passed away, I imagine it looks as inspiring today as it did on the day of its completion.

Let’s come back to the significance of Temple Mount for Jews.  As well as currently hosting the two mosques, Temple Mount is also the site where the former Jewish Temple of Solomon stood, although Muslims deny this.  For Jews, though, there is absolutely no doubt this is their holiest place.  The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.  So when Jews talk about restoring the Temple, they talk about building “The Third Temple.”  Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the ruined plateau became known as "Temple Mount." The magnificent Dome of the Rock was built on the top of Temple Mount in 691AD by Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik, shortly after his conquest of Jerusalem, and is today Jerusalem’s most dominant landmark.  

When Israel conquered all of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War, far from bowling either mosque, the victorious Moshe Dayan turned over administration of Temple Mount to the Jordanian religious authority, the Ministry of Awqaf.  Clearly, Moshe Dayan was keen to consolidate his victory and not provide a unifying cause for the fractured Arab armies.  However, this decision ensured that, not only would the Third Temple not be built, but Muslims would continue to pray in peace at two of Islam’s most holy sites.

Now here’s where the issue becomes thorny.  Despite Palestine – including all of Jerusalem - being conquered by the Jews, Jews are forbidden by the Muslim authority to pray on Temple Mount.  Indeed, non-Muslims are not even welcome to set foot on the Mount, far less pray.  So, I have seen Jews relegated to praying beside a remnant of the Temple Complex ruins; the West Wall, or “Wailing Wall” (shown, right).  As you can see from the picture, they pray in the shadow of the very mosques they feel they have conquered.

Not surprisingly, then, there are serious calls – and indeed, plans - by Orthodox Jews to build the Third Temple.  I doubt many Orthodox Jews would mourn the resulting mosque demolitions.  The Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf, knows this.  The Arabic Muslim world knows this.  I think there is enormous fear among Muslims for the safety of these beautiful mosques on Temple Mount, as long as the Jews hold Jerusalem.

The Israeli government has only become more powerful since 1967.  No other middle-east nation holds nuclear weapons.  Even the Israeli conventional military machine is still the envy of the middle-east.  In addition, Orthodox Jews have become more powerful inside Israel, as the continued Israeli tolerance of settlements in the West Bank have shown us.  So, there must be enormous pressure on the Israeli government – lobbied heavily by Orthodox Jews – to level the mosques. 

I don't condone the Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.  However, with Temple Mount, I think the conquering Jews are being incredibly restrained: much more restrained than the conquering Turks towards Hagia Sophia.

 

FURTHER READING:

"Christendom's Greatest Cathedral to Become a Mosque"  [Raymond Ibrahim, PJ Media, posted in “Middle East Forum,” 18 June 2013]

"Hagia Sophia, Gezi Park Initiatives Reflect Bid to Put MoreIslamist Face on Turkey" ["Morning Star News," 29 June 2013]

"Controversy at the Hagia Sophia - Paris Review" [Kaya Genc, “Paris Review,” 8 January 2014]

"Israeli scholars furious after new flooring is fitted 'behind their backs'"[AP and Flora Drury, “Daily Mail,” 21 April 2015]

"Excavations at the Temple Mount" [Wikipedia]

"Israelis Excavations Leading To WW3?" [Shoshana Mandelboum, Tel Aviv, “Rense.com,” 21 February 2004]

"Why Don't We Rebuild The Holy Temple?" [Mordechai Housman, www.beingjewish.com]

"We’re Ready to Rebuild the Temple"  [Tuly Weisz, “Breaking Israel News,” 4 August 2014]

"Preparations are going on to build the Third Jewish Temple in Jerusalem" [Christian Broadcasting Network]

“After nearly 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people were close to their dream of a new Temple but that dream  lasted just a few days [after the Jews captured Jerusalem].  The Temple Mount was returned to Muslim authorities.  And four decades later, Jews are still forbidden to worship there.”

"'Dig' Isn't Wrong: People Really Are Trying to Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem" [Elon Gilad, Jewish World Features, 7 May 2015]

“The snag is that this site is currently occupied by the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque”

"Watch: Arabs Abuse Australians on Temple Mount" [Ari Yashar, “Israel National News,” 11 March 2015]

"Arabs confront Jews on Temple Mount" [Aaron Klein, WND, 26 July 2015]

"Muslim Reaction to Rebuilding of Temple Mount Ramp 'A Deliberate Attempt to Incite Violence Against Israel"  [Anti-Defamation League, 16 February 2007]

"The History of Hagia Sophia - The Church of Holy Wisdom" [Bob Atchison, www.pallasweb.com]

ROGER BRERETON - THE ROAD WARRIOR?

Now here's an interesting article: 

"Hero or thug? The tragedy that drove Roger Brereton over the edge" [Samantha Gee and Tony Wall, www.stuff.co.nz, 3 January 2016]

And another view on the same incident:

"Editorial: Mad, bad and dangerous vigilantes on our roads" [Jonathan Milne,  www.stuff.co.nz, 3 January 2016]

And this one might make Roger Brereton (pictured right) a little grumpy again:

"'Shocking' driver given education on driving in New Zealand" [Sam Sherwood,  www.stuff.co.nz, 5 January 2016.]

So the twat who might have killed Roger Brereton has a $150 fine, and another idiot who might have caused a fatal crash receives "education" after video evidence shows him crossing the central line multiple times.  The list of such incidents goes on; look at "Further Reading" at the foot of this article. Brereton has been receiving some flak in the media for the way he reacted (punching a tourist) when he found himself in a similar situation to the one that killed his friend, not that long ago. 

I wonder if Roger Brereton's critics would be quite so harsh if they'd experienced what he'd experienced?

In one of the same articles that criticised Roger Brereton, I was surprised to read that only 6% of “car crashes in New Zealand is recorded as involving an overseas driver.”  I think it’s true that the recent media coverage around the amount of crashes during the height of the tourist season exacerbates our country's xenophobia.  The 5-point quiz, whose results I have posted up and down this article (Q1, left), is a clever way to make us re-think our prejudices.  I scored only 2 of 5, and my wrong answers are in red.  However, I can tell you that the problem is real.  In fact, I'm lucky to be alive today,  to write about my own experience. 

In early 1999, I drove from Alexandra to Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand.  I remember the day precisely, as my fiancee (now wife), Karyn, described it as “the worst birthday” she’d ever had.  She was in the car with me.

I say, “car,” but it was actually a four-wheel-drive utility vehicle.  That’s “ute” to you colonials.  We were moving Karyn’s contents back to Christchurch after 2 years of storage with her parents.  The ute we drove was laden to the hilt with furniture and belongings.  And by the time I’d tidied up my mother-in-law’s handiwork, the load was – after a few stops - quite stable.

We drove north up the “Inland Route,” as opposed to up the coast of the South Island.  The Inland Route is beautifully scenic, but involves driving in two of the most challenging passes in the country; the Lindis Pass and Burkes Pass.  Both are heavy tourist routes, as they are arteries to the tourist destinations of Alexandra, Queenstown and Lake Wanaka. 

We survived the Lindis, but on the Burkes Pass in the early evening, we encountered trouble.  I was driving up a slow, long hill, and the ute was feeling the weight.  There was a sheer slope up, against the left of us.  And we were driving along the hill of a valley, so there was  a steep drop on the right hand side of the road.  As well as that, there was a lot of green, so I felt I was driving through a forest.  As I looked ahead up the long hill, the road curved to the right.

And as I looked again, a car – a white saloon car – came from out of the green at the top of that hill, and he was clocking up a fair speed.  But he was driving on the wrong side of the road.

“Oh my God, he’s on the wrong side of the road!!!!” screamed Karyn.

“Calm down,’ I reassured, “he’ll realise he’s on the wrong side.’  Probably a tourist, I thought.

Still he came. He was at full speed.  He didn’t move over.  He was coming straight towards us.

"HE’S NOT MOVING!!! HE’S NOT MOVING!!!! HE’S COMING RIGHT AT US!!!!!" Karyn screamed for all it was worth. “FUCK!!!! FUCK!!! FUCK!!!! FUUUUUUCK!!!!!!”

I couldn’t believe it.  The car wasn’t shifting.  He wasn't slowing. He wasn’t going to move over.  We were heading for a head-on! What do I do?  No room to the left – it’s a sheer wall up.  Shit.  Shit. Shit.

I wrenched the steering wheel round at the last minute and hauled her onto the other side of the road.  The ute wobbled and hurled and leaned - I thought I was going to lose her.  Shit, she’s going over!  I could see the sheer drop down below to my right.  I looked up and left - and the car roared past me.  Still on the wrong side of the road.  

Unbelievable.

Incredibly, the ute stabilised.  And I pulled up.  Karyn was apoplectic, hyper ventilating.  And who could blame her?

I looked in my rear-view mirror – and the car had stopped!  The car had stopped.  Had he realised what he’d done?  What had just happened?  What had just been avoided?

“The car’s stopped.  Do you want me to go out? Do you want me to say something?   Do you want me to go over?”  I didn't know what I was saying, what I wanted to do.

Karyn shook her head.

“Shall we keep going?”  I asked.  And Karyn nodded this time.  She was still shocked to the core by our experience - by our miraculous escape.

What would I have said if I'd confronted the driver?  Worse, what would I have done?  Shocked, emotional and distraught, would I have initiated a  conflagration, like Roger Brereton?

 

So we did nothing.  We drove on.  But an hour or two later in Ashburton, I had uncontrollable shakes and couldn’t drive any further.  That was when it hit me.  So Karyn had to suck in her own shock and finish the last hour, probably still traumatised herself.

Roger Brereton (left) was another traumitised, distressed driver, reacting to a similar situation in which he’d already experienced loss, before; 

“The incident hit close to home for Brereton, who recently lost a friend in a similar accident.”

[Samantha Gee and Tony Wall, www.stuff.co.nz, 3 January 2016]

“Roger Brereton is a bully, a thug and an embarrassment to New Zealand.” [Jonathan Milne, www.stuff.co.nz, 3 January 2016.]

He's not a bully or a thug.  I would probably have reacted exactly as Roger did, if I’d confronted the driver who almost killed us.  Roger Brereton is a normal man, acting in a normal way, demonstrating the normal emotions from a near-death experience.

FURTHER READING:

"Lindis Pass crash inquiry under way" [Otago Daily Times, 4 January 2016]

 "Serious crash blocks Lindis Pass road" [One News, www.tnvz.co.nz, 4 January 2016]

 "Five people suffer serious injuries in Lindis Pass crash"  [Emily Spink, www.stuff.co.nz, 3 January 2016.]

"One million foreign drivers are on their way here, but should we be afraid of them?" [Bevan Hurley and Che Baker, www.stuff.co.nz, 27 December 2015.]

"Foreign driver accused of injuring six in wrong-side TeAnau-Milford crash"  [Hamish McNeilly, www.stuff.co.nz, 18 December 2015.]