Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[sarai]

And all this killing began over a visit to what is arguably the Holiest site in the world. It is certainly the site that generates the most gut wrenching emotion. Of course, Sharon should have been free to visit Temple Mount, but was a "visit" the real purpose of his visit? And did Sharon think they would extend the olive branch when he got there? Among hardliners, there is no "earthly" resolution to the issue of the Temple Mount - Al Aqsa Mosque.

Putting this into perspective, for everyone, and hypothetically: Imagine the outrage if they built a mosque over the grotto at Bethlehem's Nativity Church, and the Pope was a not permitted to visit.... It's the same thing.


http://www2.haaretz.co.il/special/mount-e/

Al Aqsa Intifada

On September 28, 2000, the eve of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), then the leader of the opposition right-wing Likud party, Ariel Sharon, journeyed to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. Sharon, accompanied by an entourage of security officers and Likud MKs, claimed he was exercising his right to visit the Mount, under Israeli control since the 1967 Six-Day War and holy to Muslims and Jews.
The Temple Mount is home to a number of mosques, including Al Aqsa, which have been built over the remains of the second Temple, the holiest site in Judaism.

Sharon’s visit angered many Arabs, both Israeli and Palestinian, and the day after the visit saw protests on the Mount in which seven Palestinians were killed.

Since then, the Palestinians have dubbed their revolt the Al Aqsa Intifada – a sequel to the original Intifada that lasted from approximately 1988 to 1992. The Intifada has seen attacks on Jewish settlements and their residents in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, IDF troops stationed in the territories and on neighborhoods in Jerusalem. However, there have also been a number of terrorist attacks against the Israeli population, including bombs placed in heavily populated areas such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. There have also been reprisals for these terrorist acts, such as the bombing of PA official buildings and a series of assassinations of leading Palestinian figures, carried out by the Israeli security services.

In October, during the first weeks of the Intifada, Israeli Arabs demonstrated in support of the Palestinians’ cause. Thirteen were killed in clashes with security forces.

The many internationally brokered negotiations to try to revive the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians have so far been unsuccessful.

However, peace efforts and attempts to achieve a final status agreement that benefits both sides continued in the face of the exit from office of former U.S. president Bill Clinton, the driving force behind the negotiations, and Israel's prime ministerial elections in February of this year.

The subsequent election of Ariel Sharon as prime minister led to concern among the Arab leaders of the region and a visible escalation of the level of violence in the territories. However, Sharon, with his vow to return security to the citizens of Israel, put together a coalition from a broad political spectrum, giving the defense and foreign ministries, two key portfolios, to members of the Labor Party.

Sharon has stuck to his election vow not to negotiate under fire, and has also sworn that none of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip will be dismantled. These two promises have proven to be sticking points, in light of the findings of the Mitchell Commission and a new joint initiative by Egypt and Jordan, both of which identify the settlements as one of the keys to reducing violence and returning to negotiations.

The report on the findings and the Egypt-Jordan initiative have both been greeted with tepid enthusiasm by the Sharon government, but the recent escalation in the level of violence, with youthful casualties on both sides, make finding a diplomatic solution even more urgent than ever.