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Arab Protests about Jerusalem Renovation Reveal the Real Obstacle to Peace

(Commentary) Jonathan S. Tobin - No better example exists of the abiding hatred for Jews that has become entrenched in Arab political culture than how the renovation of a ramp leading to Jerusalem's Temple Mount has become the subject of intense controversy. Any actions by Israel have been regarded by the so-called "Arab street" as a conspiratorial plot to destroy the mosques on the Temple Mount or otherwise offend Muslim sensibilities. The fact that even an anti-Israel institution like UNESCO regards the ramp demolition as in no way compromising Muslim rights or shrines is meaningless to Israel's Arab foes. The resentment the Temple Mount project has generated is rooted in a belief that Jews have no right to be in Jerusalem. Indeed, the carrying on about anything Israel does with the adjoining Western Wall or the tunnels leading to it have never been about any harm to Arabs or Muslims. After all, in an act of magnanimity that has never been equaled in the annals of war, Israel handed over control of the Temple Mount - the most sacred spot in Judaism - to the Muslim Waqf almost immediately after the city was unified in 1967. But Israel got no credit for Moshe Dayan's attempt to appease Islamic sensibilities. In the decades since this gesture, the Waqf has redoubled its efforts to foment violence. The threats over the ramp allow us to see the deep-seated nature of anti-Israel bias. If there is to be any hope for peace between Israel and its neighbors it will have to wait until there is a sea change in the political culture of a Muslim world still stuck in their irrational hatred for the Jews.
2011-11-30 00:00:00
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