Current Edition About Subscribe The Jerusalem Center

Daily Alert Archive

Every Daily Alert Since 2002

Search

Search more than 90,000 news items by topic, author, or source.
Use " " to search for multiple words and phrases.

Trending Topics

August 6, 2010       Share:    

Source: http://www.torontosun.com/comment/columnists/salim_mansur/2010/07/30/14880401.html

A Muslim Pilgrimage to Jerusalem

(Toronto Sun-Canada) Salim Mansur - I arrived on a Saturday, when practically all of Jerusalem shuts down for the Jewish Sabbath. The Old City was open, however, and after a brief rest I headed down Jaffa Rd., Jerusalem's main artery, for my first visit to the Holy Sanctuary or, in Arabic, al-Quds Sharif. I joined the evening prayer congregation at the Dome of the Rock and bowed, knelt and touched the sacred soil of Jerusalem with my forehead. Later I walked over to the Western Wall, where a large number of Jews of all ages were gathered at the end of their Shabbat. The ease with which I moved - alone and without restrictions - from the inner sanctum of the Muslim sanctuary to Judaism's holiest site, embracing both, is a testimony to the openness of Israel as a Jewish state and democracy. Palestinian, Arab and Muslim narratives of Jerusalem's recent history, however, are a denial of what my experience affirms, and the larger denial of Jewish rights that is the source of conflict here.

View the full edition of Daily Alert

Back to Archive

Subscribe to Daily Alert: