sticks and stones

Jim Davila at Paleojudaica has been following news reports surrounding the archaeological dig at the site of a centuries old walkway leading up to the hilltop compound in Jerusalem's Old City known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

The small dig is 50 meters away from the walls of the compound and is being conducted before the a new walkway is built.  Israeli law requires exploratory digs prior to construction to ensure no important artifacts are damaged during construction.  Not that it stopped Arab leaders  around the world - and a few non-Arab Muslims - condemning the dig (Like they are so forthright in supporting religious freedom for their citizens) and all the usual suspects stirring up the masses.

Jews and Muslims in Israel have also clashed over the Temple Mount before.

Today, hundreds of angry worshippers threw stones and bottles at Israeli police in an   eruption of outrage over the renovation work.  Police, say witnesses, responded with stun grenades and tear gas.

The violence came at the end of today's prayers at the site.

They weren't Jewish prayers.

Update: a backgrounder from the BBC. What this item fails to note is that Jerusalem...

...is not the place to which Muslims pray. It is not directly connected to any events in Muhammad's life. And it is not even mentioned by name in the Koran. The city never became a cultural center or served as capital of a sovereign Muslim state. Jerusalem has mattered to Muslims only intermittently over the past thirteen centuries, and when it has mattered, as it does today, it has been because of politics.

And yet:

When the Israelis captured the Old City from the Jordanians, the question as to the future of the compound obviously arose. Political realism prevailed. The Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque would not be demolished. A compromise was reached.

Israel allowed the Muslim religious authority known as the Waqf to administer the whole compound. But the Israelis claimed the right to enter it at will to keep security control. They enforce this claim regularly.

Fast forward some 40 years.

Update 2: Brian at Snapped Shot rounds Selective Outrage Syndrome:  Day of Rage!!! I see some of our favourites from Lebanon like Lefteris Patarakis are at it again.  Notice how, like we have seen countless times before, it is some Muslim leaders again trying to whip up a frenzy over something most Muslims see as inconsequential. 

But who gets the bad name again? Muslims.

I watched some of Dubai TV news on SBS this morning - not that I understand Arabic - I just occasionally watch the visuals on foreign news services to get a feel for what is the lead. The very slick (and perfectly diverse) news team of Dubai TV is one of my favourites.

Dubai TV lead with the Day of Rage story - lots of visuals of cowering and stone throwing "worshippers".  They highlighted it again at the end of the news bulletin. 

Mind you I am always fascinated by their sports reporter, an attractive woman always in a long sleeved black sheath, with a diaphonous hijab wrapped about five times around her head, shuffling cards as she reads the sports news, always with visuals of semi naked men and women running around an athletics track or bouncing basket balls somewhere in the world.  Are they forgetting this is a family channel? 

Not to mention the cognitive dissonance.  Showing haram stuff like that while no doubt pointing at the alleged sacrilege at the Temple Mount. 

But not by Muslims of course.