The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. It is central to Israel's history since it was called Mt. Moriah, and
was the place where Abraham proved his faith in God by his willingness to sacrifice his Isaac (but the Lord provided a substitute sacrifice). It was
purchased by King David as the site for the Temple. Of course, his son, King Solomon actually built the Temple.
Solomon quaried the stones for the Temple from the northern and western portions of the range. The hill of Golgotha was part of the range before
the rock was cut away, leaving a scene that looked like a skull. It was on this portion of the sacred range that Jesus was crucified for the
sins of the world!
Jesus had predicted that the Temple of his day, restored by King Herod, and probably the most glorious structure of the world in those days,
would be utterly destroyed. This prophecy was fulfilled less than 40 years later by the Roman army under the direction of Titus.
Hundreds of years later Muhammad claimed to have travelled to heaven and back from the Temple Mount, so the site became the third-most-holy
place to Muslims. It was conquered by Muslims during the Crusades, who built the "Mosque of Omar," which now has a gold-covered dome. It was
taken back by Crusaders, who used it as a church, and was finally left in disrepair.
During the Six-day War of 1967 the Israelis took control of all of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, but their General, Moshe Dayan,
allowed the Muslim Waqif (an Islamic trust) to control the area to hopefully avoid a major religious backlash. This action was misunderstood by those who were
willfully ignorant of the history or the site. They claim that it has always been their property and that the Jewish claims to the area are
fabricated. Today the true history of the Temple Mount and its future use are the most sensitive issues in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and
Palestinians.
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After Temple Mount activist Yehuda Etzion was barred from the site due to his raising his hands as if in prayer,
Jerusalem District Court rules that prohibiting such gestures leads to 'slippery slope.'
MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) submitted a bill demanding that Jews be allowed freedom of worship on the Temple Mount this week, hoping to pave
the way for full religious freedom at Judaism's holiest site.
Dec. 11, 2015 - According to renowned Egyptian scholar Youssef Ziedan, a specialist in Arabic and Islamic studies, there is
no connection between Jerusalem and ancient Islam.
He says, Jerusalem was a holy city to the Jews, while the Mosque of Omar was not even built until 74 years after Muhammed's death.
Dec. 11, 2015 - A posherd with a symbol resembling a menorah has been found by archaeologists in Jerusalem. The artifact is thought to be 1,000 years old.
The relic was recently discovered at the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem, which sifts through the thousands of tons of ancient debris
illegally discarded from the contested holy site by the Wakf Islamic trust in 1999.
Nov. 22, 2015 - On Friday thousands of Iran's Revolutionary Guards simulated the capture of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. They used a model of the mosque,
erected on a hill in Iran.
The symbolic operations were backed up by Guards helicopters, drones and Tucano planes that bombed hypothetical enemy positions before ground troops captured the
replica of the mosque set up at the top of a mountain.
Nov. 9, 2015 - Dr. David Reagan gives reasons not to accept the thesis of Robert Cornuke book, titled,
Temple: Amazing New Discoveries That Change Everything About The Location Of Solomon's Temple. Cornuke thinks the Temple was built in the City of David,
just South and below the existing Temple Mount. Reagan summarizes the problem with this theory:
There is simply no way that this platform could have fit in the City of David. Again, the City of David was a tiny village when David conquered it.
It consisted of only 13 acres and was 400 feet wide by 1,800 feet long.
The grand mufti of Jerusalem, the Muslim cleric in charge of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, said Sunday that there has never been a Jewish temple atop the
Temple Mount.
In fact, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein claimed and that the holy site has been the home of an Islamic mosque “since the creation of the world."
Oct. 16, 2015 - Islamic radicals have caused riots on the Temple Mount for several days. The Palestinian Authority called for an international force to maintain the
peace there. Israeli Deputy Ambassador David Roet told the UN Security Council,
"Let me be crystal clear -- Israel will not agree to any international presence on the Temple Mount. Such a presence would be a change in the status quo,"
The "status quo" actually gives Muslims control of the area. Muslims are allowed to pray at the site, but Jews are not.
Iron Dome aerial defense batteries were deployed in the southern Israeli cities ... due to concerns
... that Friday's deadly clash with Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border could lead to further escalation in rocket fire.
July 28, 2015 - On the Jewish day of mourning and fasting for the destruction of both Jewish Holy Temples, Muslims threw stones at Jewish visitors.
The Police were also attacked when they responded to the attacks.
“The police were attacked immediately upon entering the Temple Mount compound by Palestinians armed with rocks, firebombs, fireworks and metal pipes.”
The attackers were forced to retreat to the Al Aksa Mosque, and the police did not enter the building.
July 26, 2015 - The Temple Institute has built all of the furnishings for the future Temple, and now they have released a video of their
three-dimensional architectural rendition of the structure.
The vivid, three-minute video walks viewers through the main sanctuary, showcasing decades of research and tens of innovative Halakhic (Jewish law) solutions to
various perplexing issues that were resolved to create fully functional, ready-to-use plans.
Under the guidance of Temple Institute rabbis, frozen embryos of Red Angus cattle will be implanted into domestic cattle in Israel, leading to
the introduction of this breed into the Jewish state.
June 15, 2015 - “The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.” (Genesis 2:12)
It is believed that there are billions of dollars worth of gold waiting to be mined from Mount Eilat in southern Israel.
In an exclusive interview, Rabbi Yehuda Glick, the Executive Director of The Temple Mount Heritage Foundation in Jerusalem, revealed the news,
which had been kept under wraps for the last several years.
Mar. 15, 2015 - The Temple Institute in Jerusalem announced this week that the reconstructed Altar of the Lord [Altar of Sacrifice],
which has taken several years to build, is now finished and “ready for use” in sacrificial services.
The altar is the last major component needed for the long-obstructed sacrifices to resume in a future Jewish temple.
Mar. 3, 2015 - Thee Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court issued a ruling backing the right for Jews be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount.
It was a victory for activist Yehudah Glick who had been banned from the site because a video had shown him praying there.
Glick, who was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt last year by a Palestinian extremist, was banned from the Temple Mount between
2011 and 2013 after he was seen uttering a Jewish prayer at the site in a Channel 10 broadcast.
However the security services still prohibit non-Muslims from worshipping on the Temple Mount because it triggers Palestinian violence.
Jan. 15, 2015 - In recent months there have been several attacks in Jerusalem by terrorists who were previously
unknown to police.
"I see the [tension on] the Temple Mount, if you ask me, to be no less of a threat than the [Iranian] bomb," Israel Police Commissioner
Insp. Gen. Yohanan Danino warned Wednesday during a speech at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Danino said that the upsurge of attacks was caused by speculation about changing the status quo on the Temple Mount.
There has not been a steady, continuous status quo on the Mount since the Israeli victory in June 1967. Rather, there have been constant
changes in the status quo from the Arab Muslim side, and a continuous erosion and retreat of Jewish presence and rights.
In 1967 Israel's Supreme Court ruled that Jewish groups and individuals had the right to pray on the Mount. But Israeli police could decide
day-by-day whether or not to allow it, based on whether or not it might provoke violence.
From 1967 until September 2000, Jews enjoyed the privilege of going to the Temple Mount, even with prayer books and pray silently. Since then
there has been a gradual decline of freedom for Jews in the area.
Jan. 12, 2014 - Last month Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon outlawed three Islamist groups for posing a threat
to Israel's national security. Israel’s Shin Bet security service has now shut the three organizations down because of their activities
at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The groups - Al Aqsa Champions, Muslim Women for Al Aqsa and Al Fajr Foundation for Culture and Literature - paid activists to use
“verbal and even physical violence” against visitors to the Jerusalem shrine with the goal of “agitating and stirring up emotions,” the Shin Bet said.
