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Ze'ev Orenstein is a member of the Moledet Central Committee, and serves as Programming Coordinator for Yavneh Olami, a Religious Zionist student organization. He currently lives with his wife and daughter in Ma'aleh Adumim, and finds himself taking an active role in the compelling drama that is the life of .
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By Ze'ev Orenstein
August 5, 2006
This past Tuesday, Israel's Supreme Court issued a ruling allowing Jews to ascend to the Temple Mount on the 9th of Av, the day on which the Jewish People commemorate the destruction of the two Holy Temples (among other tragedies).
What was the response of the Arabs of Israel towards this Supreme Court decision?
Palestinians call for confronting Zionist attempts to invade Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israel's response?
Police chief: We'll use force... if needed
"The scenes we have witnessed throughout last week are very bad. There is something worse than using violence, and that is giving in to violence...".
"This is why we must not accept the phenomenon we have seen. These people are law breakers who do not recognize the state's authority, which is why we have no other choice but to enforce the law and do what needs to be done," Karadi, concluded.
Kadima's Bar-On: Era of restraint in dealing with protests is over
"We will not allow any law-breaker, even if he is a member of Knesset ... to harm the state of Israel as a state of law," Bar-On told Army Radio.
"We restrained ourselves... for a long time. That's finished. The era of restraint has come to an end. From now on, this will be a nation of law, which enforces the law."
"What is more traumatic than a country losing its ability to enforce the law, to carry out the decisions of a sovereign government in Israel?" The result of failure to act against law-breakers, he said, would be "anarchy... No one in the State of Israel will be above the law."
Actually, these excerpted quotes were in response to justifying the use of extreme police brutality against Jews who had come to protest the destruction of Amona, a hilltop community, and as a threat towards the Jews of Hebron who were told that if they would not leave their homes of their own accord, they would be forcibly expelled and beaten senseless.
What was the State of Israel's actual response towards Arab threats of violence should the Supreme Court ruling to allow Jews to enter the Temple Mount of the 9th of Av be enforced?
Fearing Violence, Jerusalem Police Close Temple Mount to Non-Muslims
Citing threats of violent Muslim protests at an already tense time, Jerusalem police announced that the Temple Mount would close to all non-Muslims on Thursday, the day Jews mark the destruction of the biblical temples and other historical calamities.
Police received intelligence information indicating that thousands of Muslims were preparing to go to the site to protest a planned visit by Jews, police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby was quoted as saying...
The head of the Waqf, Mufti of Jerusalem Mohammed Hussein, warned about the consequences of the court ruling, saying the Waqf alone had authority to intervene in the affairs of the site...
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement called on Palestinians to take action and protect the mosque from a Jewish invasion,..
Talab El-Sana, an Israeli Arab lawmaker, warned that the visit would ignite a "third intifada."
Police Bar Non-Muslims From Temple Mount Despite Court Order
In response, the head of the Islamic Movement's northern branch, Sheikh Raed Selah, told Israel Radio that the Supreme Court does not have the authority to rule on the matter, "because Israel does not have sovereignty over [the Temple Mount]..."
Following additional threats by Arab MKs Ibrahim Sarsour and Abbas Zkoor (Ra'am-Ta'al), Police barred not only members of the Temple Mount Faithful group ? but all non-Muslims. They said the decision was due to a fear of violent clashes between Temple Mount Faithful activists and Muslim protesters.
Whatever happened to:
* upholding the sanctity of the "rule of law"?
* the only thing being worse than violence is giving in to violence?
* the recognition that "these people are law breakers who do not recognize the state's authority, which is why we have no other choice but to enforce the law and do what needs to be done"?
* the fear of the trauma that would come from "a country losing its ability to enforce the law, to carry out the decisions of a sovereign government in Israel?"
I guess all of that tough talk only applies when it comes to throwing Jews out of their homes and the destruction of Jewish communities throughout the Land of Israel!
But, in reality, this should not have come as much of a surprise. After all, why should one expect anything different if in the Jewish State of Israel a Jew is forbidden from visiting (let alone praying) at his holiest site, while Arab threats of violence and mockery of the law run rampant, unopposed?
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
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