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Thursday, November 20, 2008
One place, two histories
While there was no conclusive archaeological evidence of the second temple, our Israeli guide Amir Cheshin told us, “We know it was there.”
There is the western retaining wall — Judaism’s holiest site — and “those boulders over there.” Several dozen large stone blocks excavated since 1967 are believed to have been part of the temple.
Scientific proof — so far mostly lacking — that the two Jewish temples of the Torah actually existed, is sought by many Israelis as further validation of the creation of the modern state of Israel. Even so, faith trumps science on this holy patch of land.
Our Palestinian guide told a different version of history. There were no temples on this spot, Mohammad Abu Aktash, told us. “Nothing they have in this area for him,” he said, referring to Jews.
In this bitterly contested city, it is arguably the most peaceful spot — called the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims and Temple Mount by Jews — ironic, as it is the primary object of contention.
Closed to non-Muslims since the second Palestinian uprising erupted here in 2000, the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock were opened briefly yesterday for a tour by foreign journalists.
The splendor of the structures and their importance in Islam were in many ways secondary to politics.
“We wait to bring peace and free Jerusalem,” Abu Aktash told us several times, in reference to what many Palestinians consider an illegal occupation of the Old City of Jerusalem, some of all of historic Palestine. Abu Aktash welcomed us to, “the land of the prophet,” meaning the Muslim prophet, Mohammad.
Mentioning the white marble pillars donated by Benito Mussolini was a way of pointing out the pockmarks on the pillars from skirmishes with Israelis. Inside the third holiest site in Islam, a glass case displayed tear gas canisters fired by Israeli troops there.
There was symmetry to the moment. Israelis keep hundreds of homemade Palestinian rocket casings on display at the police station in Sderot, which has been pummeled by Gaza militants over recent years. The collection is largely for the benefit of visiting journalists and diplomats and often serves as a backdrop for televised statements by dignitaries.
