A Palestinian Victory at the Temple Mount

by Daniel Pipes
Wall Street Journal
July 26, 2017

http://www.danielpipes.org/17813/a-palestinian-victory-at-the-temple-mount

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[WSJ title: "Why Israel Removed the Metal Detectors"]

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Party announced Saturday that the "campaign for Jerusalem has effectively begun, and will not stop until a Palestinian victory and the release of the holy sites from Israeli occupation." Fatah demanded the removal of metal detectors and other security devices from the entrance to the Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. A week earlier two Israeli policemen were killed by terrorists who had stashed their weapons inside the mosque.

The Fatah statement was illogical and hypocritical. Many mosques in Muslim-majority countries use the same security technology to protect worshipers, tourists and police. Yet Mr. Abbas managed to force the Israeli government to remove them. He did it by deflecting attention from the policemen's murders and stoking fear of a religious conflagration with vast repercussions.

Like other visitors, the author had to go through a metal detector when visiting the Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

The Temple Mount crisis highlights with exceptional clarity three factors that explain why a steady 80% of Palestinians believe they can eliminate the Jewish state: Islamic doctrine, international succor and Israeli timidity. ...

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Related Topics: Arab-Israel conflict & diplomacy, Jerusalem, Palestinians

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