The Battle for Jerusalem Has Just Begun

The Fellowship  |  August 3, 2017

While the Battle for Jerusalem took place nearly 70 years ago while Israel fought for her independence, another battle for the Holy City continues to be waged. Gatestone Institute’s Bassam Tawil writes that feeling triumphant over Israel’s removal of metal detectors from the Temple Mount, the Palestinians’ aim is now to remove all Jewish presence from Jerusalem’s Old City:

As far as the Palestinians are concerned, the controversy over the Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount, which came after three terrorists murdered two Israeli police officers at the holy site on July 14, is part of a larger battle with Israel.

We have reached a new level in this discourse: Palestinian Authority (PA) officials are now openly admitting that it is not the metal detectors or security cameras that are at issue.

Instead, they admit, this is a battle over sovereignty on the Temple Mount and Jerusalem. For the Palestinians, the real battle is over who controls Jerusalem and its holy sites. The real battle, in their eyes, is over the Jews’ right to live in their own state in the Middle East. Many Palestinians have still not come to terms with Israel’s right to exist, and that is what this battle is really about.

The Palestinians, feeling triumphant now that Israel has complied with their demand to remove the metal detectors and security cameras, have been clarifying that it is only the first step in their fight to eradicate any Israeli presence in the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount…