Abbas' Fatah Faction: Campaign For Jerusalem Has Begun, We Won't Stop Until Palestinian Victory - by Deborah Danan -
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah party on Saturday called for a campaign "to take control of the Al-Aqsa mosque."
In a statement, the party said the "campaign for Jerusalem has effectively begun, and will not stop until a Palestinian victory and the release of the holy sites from Israeli occupation."
Fatah praised Palestinian rioters who took to the streets of Jerusalem over the past week to protest the installation of metal detectors at the Temple Mount compound following a deadly terror attack at the holy site. Three Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli police.
Fatah called for three days of mourning and a general strike for the dead rioters and added that they were engaging in "initifada (armed struggle) against the enemy."
"Their acts were for the protection of Al-Aqsa and their struggle against the Israeli plans, while sacrificing souls and blood," the faction said.
Two days earlier, a senior Fatah official in charge of Jerusalem affairs said Israel's "violence will be met with violence."
"We are moving towards an escalation. The Israelis are moving towards an escalation, and we have no problem on our part that there will also be an escalation from the Palestinian side," Hatem Abd Al-Qader said. "Escalation is answered with escalation, and violence is answered with violence. Those who begin are the guilty ones, and Israel bears the responsibility."
The security measures at the Temple Mount came in response to a deadly terror attack on July 14 in which two Druze-Israeli police officers were shot and killed at the holy site. Nevertheless, Abbas claimed the installation of metal detectors was "falsely presented as a security measure" while in reality Israel wished "to take control of Al-Aqsa Mosque."
"The steps taken by Israel are leading to a religious confrontation and an evasion from a diplomatic process," Abbas was also quoted as saying.
"They don't have a right to place the [metal detectors] at the gates to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, because sovereignty over the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is our right. ... So we took a decisive and firm stance, especially with regard to security coordination and all kinds of coordination between us and them," Abbas said Sunday, according to the Wafa official PA news site.
Abbas, who has given no response to the attack thus far, said on Sunday that he was suspending all security coordination with Israel. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman responded by saying that Israel doesn't need Palestinian cooperation on matters of security.
Fatah added that Israel's security changes were part of a "racist" ploy to "Jewify and take over Al-Aqsa."
Violent riots have erupted every day since the new security measures were put in place, with Molotov cocktails being thrown at Israeli security forces and simultaneous chants of "Allahu akbar," or "God is great."
"Remember Khaybar, you Jews, the army of Muhammad is returning," was a threat heard chanted in unison by the rioters, in reference to a seventh century Muslim massacre of Jews.
On Friday night, three members of the Salomon family from the West Bank settlement of Halamish were stabbed to death at their Sabbath table by a Palestinian terrorist who said he was avenging Israel's actions on the Temple Mount.
The Temple Mount charade - Yaakov Katz -
There is nothing better to set the Arab world on fire than false claims that the Jewish state is altering the status quo on the Temple Mount.
"The Temple Mount is in our hands."
With those famous words, Col. Motta Gur shook the soul of a nation when he announced on June 7, 1967 that his IDF paratroopers had stormed and conquered Judaism's holiest site during the Six Day War.
"In our hands" could not be farther from reality when visiting the Temple Mount this week. I've been there a number of times in the past, but when I went on Wednesday - during a short one-hour window when it was open to Jews - it was eerily different than my previous visits.
For one, the Mount was empty. There were some tourists - one Chinese group, and another from Europe - but almost no Muslims were there. One who was there, wearing a gray jalabiya and holding an umbrella to shield himself from the sun, whizzed by on an electric wheelchair. Another Arab man, a representative of the Wakf identifiable by the walkie-talkie he held in each hand, eyed Jewish visitors suspiciously, but didn't follow.
He couldn't - there were too many police officers. Four walked in front, four in the back and three on each side. Two carried cameras, filming the entire visit in case they would need to arrest and charge one of the visitors for violating the long list of rules posted at the entrance. There, Jews and foreigners alike go through metal detectors and have their bags and identity cards inspected before being allowed to ascend the Mount.
One tourist, for example, had come to the Temple Mount after doing some shopping at the nearby Arab shuk. The guard found a wooden cross and a rosary in her bag. Those had to be left in a locker, since religious paraphernalia - at least those that are not Islamic - are not allowed on the compound.
The identity of the Jewish visitors is also carefully scrutinized. Identity cards are collected, names are punched into a computer, and if something suspicious comes up, the visitor is taken aside for further questioning.
While foreigners can visit the compound alone, Jewish visitors are gathered into groups that are escorted at all times by armed policemen. Observant or not makes no difference - all Jews are forced to stay together.
For the police, there is something strange when a random Israeli decides to visit the holy site. Observant Jews are expected. Tourists are expected. But a random non-observant Israeli? That is already something strange.
Police immediately get suspicious. Either the person is a journalist or a nut. "Don't you know where you are?" was how one police officer greeted me (I was wearing a baseball cap) on Wednesday before I told him that I was a reporter.
So while the Temple Mount is the holiest site for Jews and one of the holiest sites for Muslims, it is also the scene of one of the greatest charades of the last 50 years.
Israel might officially rule the territory that encompasses the Temple Mount, but it does not have it in its hands - that only Jewish and foreign visitors were required until this week to go through metal detectors while Muslim visitors did not, is just one example.
Another is that the Temple Mount is the primary site today in Israel where religious discrimination takes place on a daily basis.
This might be necessary due to diplomatic and religious sensitivities, but the truth needs to be said: 50 years after liberating its holiest site, Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount has declined.
The charade is amplified by the Muslim campaign to erase any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. Dennis Ross, the former Middle East envoy under president Bill Clinton, told of Yasser Arafat's position on the Temple Mount during the 2000 Camp David talks.
"The only new idea he raised at Camp David was that the temple didn't exist in Jerusalem, it existed in Nablus," Ross told Fox News a year after the peace negotiations broke down. "He was denying the core of the Jewish faith."
That denial continues today. The attack last Friday when three Israeli Arabs from Umm el-Fahm killed two policemen underscores the need for all visitors to the compound to undergo security inspection.
CCTV footage of the attack, released by police, shows how the terrorists sneaked up on the policemen from within the compound.
They had already entered with weapons, and then came out and attacked the policemen who were looking in the opposite direction toward people coming in.
The attackers knew what they were doing.
Carrying out an attack on the Temple Mount has the potential to set off a religious war.
Gideon Ezra, the late Likud minister and deputy head of the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), used to tell me that violence on the Temple Mount has the potential to spark a third world war. That is what the terrorists seemed to be trying to achieve.
In the immediate aftermath, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted responsibly when he put in phone calls to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah. The voices of both those leaders needed to be heard condemning the attack in an effort to prevent further violence.
The installation of the metal detectors - which Israel on Thursday was under international pressure to remove - was justified.
They are needed to ensure that arms will not again be smuggled onto the Mount, and to show that all people are equal. Jews, Christians and Muslims: everybody goes through a metal detector.
As Seth Frantzman showed in Thursday's paper, almost all religious sites around the world - from Mecca to Rome - come with extensive security measures. At Mecca, for example, there are 5,000 CCTV cameras and more than 100,000 people employed to provide security during the Hajj. At the Temple Mount, there are some cameras on the outside walls but none installed inside the actual compound, despite an agreement reached last year between Jordan, Israel and the United States.
Why? The answer is unfortunately simple and is part of the Temple Mount charade.
The Wakf knows about last Friday's attack, and understands why metal detectors are needed. Privately, they even admit to police that they know it is in their own interest.
At the same time, the Wakf needs a cause to rally its troops around. It needs to be able to delegitimize Israel, and there is nothing better to set the Arab world on fire than false claims that the Jewish state is altering the status quo on the Temple Mount. It is a charade, and everyone knows it is, but it works every time.
Israel is in a perilous situation, caught between doing what is right and what is smart. What is right is allowing religious freedom on the Temple Mount, and permitting Jews to pray at their holiest site. But then there is what is smart, which in this case means maintaining the status quo and not giving justification for further violence.
Israelis remember violence the Temple Mount has set off in the past. In 1996, the opening of a new exit to the Via Dolorosa from the Western Wall Tunnel led to deadly riots; and in September 2000, Ariel Sharon went to the Temple Mount, a visit the Palestinian Authority later used as an excuse for launching the Second Intifada.
Will this situation ever change? Probably not. But it is time to unmask the Palestinians' grand charade that perpetuates lies, historical rewrites and hatred for Israel, starting by doing what I did on Wednesday: walking through a metal detector.
Muslim worshipers still refusing to enter Temple Mount - Jeremy Sharon -
Jewish Temple Mount activist groups posted pictures of the site completely empty on Monday morning.
Despite the removal of metal detectors from the entrances to the Temple Mount, Muslim worshipers are still refusing to enter the compound due to the presence of the newly installed smart-cameras at the site.
The worshipers said that they refused to enter the holy place if security cameras and other sensors and security equipment put in place over the last ten days remained in place.
The smart-cameras placed at the Lion's Gate, the central access point for Muslim worshipers going up to the al-Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount, had been removed, Maariv reported, although security cameras inside the compound remained in place.
A statement by the Wakf, the Muslim religious authority that administers the Temple Mount, said that they would only enter the al-Aksa Mosque "once all manifestations of aggression by the Zionist occupation are removed and the situation returns to what it was like before July 14."
Jewish Temple Mount activist groups posted pictures of the site completely empty on Monday morning during the hours non-Muslims are permitted to visit, in contrast to the large number of Muslims usually present.
On Monday night, the security cabinet issued a statement saying that it had adopted the recommendations of the various security services to remove the metal detectors in favor of the smart-cameras as well as "other measures."
Until the cameras and other requirements are in place, the numbers of police personnel at the site will be increased in order to ensure the safety of visitors to the Temple Mount.
The cabinet allocated some NIS 100 million for the implementation of the program which will be completed within six months.
Temple Mount Movement - Terry James -
Rapture Ready News headlines tell the story. Things are shaking on and around Moriah, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is the geographical area most central to Bible prophecy yet future.
Those headlines are:
Muslim authority protests Temple Mount security measures, blocks entrance; Ministers approve bill aiming to take Jerusalem off the negotiating table
Arab-Israeli lawmaker warns of third intifada after Friday attack
Closing the Aksa Mosque;
Jordan's King Abdullah calls for calm after Temple Mount attack..
No doubt about it, things are moving and shaking on and around the Temple Mount. Considering all the other signals taking place in the world today, the import of this activity should alert the student of Bible prophecy to the lateness of the hour.
The Temple Mount is not only the nucleus problem of the historical, Arab/Israeli ages-long conflict. That place where once sat the Holy of Holies in the midst of the Temple, housing the Shekinah glory of God within the Ark of the Covenant, is at the heart of the spiritual warfare that began with man's Fall in the Garden.
It is where the ram was provided for the sacrifice God required, sparing Abraham's son Isaac from serving that purpose. It is very near where God's own Son hung suspended between Heaven and Hell as sacrifice for the sin of mankind in order to provide eternal salvation.
Mount Moriah is where the Tribulation Temple will be built and where Satan's evil one, the son of perdition, will claim himself to be God.
There is coming a great, planetary spiritual earthquake, and its epicenter is this very spot that is smack in the middle of our headlines today.
The rumblings from that spiritual seismic area is growing daily.
When three terrorists murdered two Israeli police officers, the latest quivering of Moriah began.
The officers were killed near the gates to the Temple Mount and the Israeli prime minister took action that infuriated the Muslims of the region and around the world.
Netanyahu closed the Temple Mount to Muslim worship at the religion's sites on the Mount. This brought immediate anger and threats of a third intifada, or violent uprising.
The Israeli prime minister eventually agreed to gradually open some areas for worship on the Temple Mount. (Only Muslims are allowed to worship there; the Jews are forbidden to do so.)
Netanyahu, however, placed detection devices-metal detectors and specially placed surveillance cameras-to restrict possible terrorist activity.
King Abdullah phoned the Israeli prime minister to lobby for the gates to be fully opened, thus access to the worship places restored.
Before leaving on his trip to France and Hungary, Netanyahu dismissed the oft-repeated charge that the Israeli government was "disrupting the status quo" in Jerusalem and at the Temple Mount. This is a charge that has brought on violent rampages from the Arabs in the past.
"I decided that as of tomorrow, in the framework of our policy of maintaining the status-quo, we will gradually open the Temple Mount, but with increased security measures," Netanyahu said.
"This evening, I held a discussion with the top security leadership and I instructed that metal detectors be placed at the entrance gates to the Temple Mount. We will also install security cameras on poles outside the Temple Mount... which give almost complete control over what goes on there," the prime minister added.
The action threw the Muslim element into a frenzy of threatened violence. The crowds could be heard shouting: "Disgrace, enough with that, you are suffocating us! Al-Aksa belongs to Muslims!"
The anger is directed at the new safeguards against terrorists bringing weapons into the Temple Mount area. Apparently, the safeguards Netanyahu installed are doing a good job of keeping out those tools of the Muslim militants who plan for future such actions as took the lives of the policemen.
Tremors spawned from the rage that continues to build in and around this most critical promontory on the map of prophecy yet future are scheduled to grow stronger, not weaker. We know that it is all moving toward the time Jesus Himself prophesied nearly 2 millennia ago.
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:15-21)
At the Temple Mount, it's not about metal detectors, it's about sovereignty - By Dov Lieber -
Abbas is calling for a return to the way things were before July 14's deadly attack in which two Israeli cops were killed. The worshiper-protesters on the streets of the Old City have more ambitious goals
The Israeli government missed the point of Palestinian anger directed at metal detectors placed at entrances to the Temple Mount and, having misdiagnosed the situation, made a decision that failed to resolve the crisis and has only made it worse. At least, that's what many of the Muslim protesters in the streets of Jerusalem's Old City have been saying since the metal detectors were removed early Tuesday morning.
Israel thought it was making a concession by removing the detectors, which were installed after three Arab Israelis carried out a shooting attack at the Temple Mount, killing two policemen with weapons they had smuggled into Al-Aqsa Mosque. Instead, the security cabinet decided advanced monitoring equipment, at the cost of NIS 100 million (around $27 million), would eventually take their place. This would make physical access for Muslim worshipers to the mosque easier and quicker, and make the area outside the holy site look less like a military checkpoint.
However, on Tuesday and Wednesday, many protesters in the Old City repeated the same line: "The smart cameras are worse." Worse, they explained, because such cameras represent a more sophisticated way of controlling the entrances to the Temple Mount.
And therein lies the real issue: The initial quarrel over metal detectors has evolved into a battle over sovereignty at what is possibly the world's most sensitive holy site.
Complicating matters for Israel is the fact that the thousands of Palestinians heading to pray in the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem every day have no clear leader.
While the Jerusalem Waqf - a branch of the Jordanian government that administers Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem - may have initiated the boycott of the Temple Mount in protest at the metal detectors, the situation has spiraled out of its control.
On Tuesday morning, for example, the head of the Waqf, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib al-Tamimi, told The Times of Israel that no decision had been made about whether it would accept alternative security arrangements being put in place by Israel, including "smart cameras."
The Waqf tried to buy time by saying it would wait to make a decision until a full assessment of Israeli measures taken inside and at the entrances to the Temple Mount had been completed.
But worshipers in the streets of the Old City that morning had already made up their minds. Some thought the smart cameras had already been set up. Many said they believed these cameras would show their naked bodies, or perhaps give them cancer. Whatever these cameras could or couldn't do, many agreed, they couldn't be tolerated.
In Ramallah, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas waited until 7 p.m. to announce what had already been established on the streets in Jerusalem: No cameras, and no increased police presence at the site. Either things go back to the way they were at the Temple Mount before July 14 or, Abbas said, he would continue to freeze contacts with Israel, including security coordination.
The protesters in Jerusalem are fond of saying that they are neither Fatah (Abbas's party) nor rival party Hamas. They are, rather, they say, "the street, the people, the Jerusalemites. "
The Waqf, many have said this week, is no longer pulling the strings. It's now the street controlling the Waqf.
As one worshiper at nighttime prayers outside the Mount put it on Tuesday, "Do we have a leader? Yes. The unified voice of the people."
Because this is a clash over sacred space, the protests are more religious than nationalist in nature. Many Palestinians have become tired of politics, but their religion and its symbols remain a force of mass mobilization.
Underlining this, Tuesday night saw the largest crowd of worshipers since the start of the crisis gather in the streets of the Old City and outside the Lions Gate for evening and nighttime prayers. When the evening prayers finished around 8 p.m., the mass of people waited around another hour and a half for the next prayer service to begin.
Self-made preachers took up microphones, railing against "Jewish" measures at Al-Aqsa, and led chants with clear religious overtones.
"We will not kneel, for Mohammad is our leader."
"Khayber, Khayber, Oh Jews, the army of Mohammad will return." (Khayber was an Arabian Jewish town whose residents were slaughtered by Mohammad in the seventh century.)
I asked one worshiper about the significance of this chant. "It's a promise for the future," he said.
"Of war?" I asked. "Yes, of war."
Another man explained that the current Temple Mount crisis was the fulfillment of a Quranic prophecy about a struggle between Jews and Muslims at Al-Aqsa.
That the current protests are literally just prayer services - at least before some of them devolve into clashes - adds to the religious fervor.
For one whole minute during the Tuesday evening service, the crowd chanted "Oh God, Oh God" repeatedly with the fear of losing of Al-Aqsa likely at the forefront of its thoughts - however improbable this seems to Israelis, and no matter how many times Israel promises it won't change the status quo at the site.
Outside lions gate now. pic.twitter.com/wxwhwdtitv
- Dov Lieber (@DovLieber) July 25, 2017
While five Palestinians died in clashes with Israeli security forces around Jerusalem on Friday and Saturday, and the Palestinian terrorist who killed three members of the Salomon family in Halamish on Friday night cited a determination to assert Muslim sovereignty at Al-Aqsa, the prayer-protests inside the Old City, just outside the Temple Mount, have been relatively peaceful.
For the most part, the worshipers come, pray and, eventually, go home. But minor clashes have broken out almost every night; small incidents, such as a single water bottle being thrown into the air, can lead to police taking action, including with the use of stun grenades, sending thousands running in every direction.
On Tuesday night, some in the crowd said this could all end if Israel fully restored conditions at the Temple Mount entrances to the July 14 status quo ante. But others believed it was too late for that now.
Mohammas Rowais, from Ras al-Amud, said goals now included "for the police to be completely removed from the site, and for religious Jews to stop going up there."
"Maybe," he added, more analytically than provocatively, "this is the beginning of a new uprising."
On Eve of Tisha B'Av, Discovery Proves Babylonian Burning of First Temple Chronicled in Book of Kings - By Abra Forman -
"He burned the House of Hashem, the king's palace, and all the houses of Yerushalayim; he burned down the house of every notable person." II Kings 25:9 (The Israel Bible�)
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/OgeqAvPoXD0
On the eve of Tisha B'av, the fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, archaeological evidence of that destruction has been uncovered, verifying the truth of the Book of Kings and reaffirming that the Temples stood in Jerusalem.
In a discovery the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) called "mesmerizing proof" of the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple, structures over 2,600 years old were exposed under collapsed layers of stone in Jerusalem's City of David excavation park.
"We have a very very clear destruction level" showing signs of destruction by fire, said Dr. Joe Uziel, Excavation Director of the IAA.
The Second Book of Kings describes the Babylonian attack on Jerusalem in detail. King Nebuchadnezzar and his army besieged the city of Jerusalem for two years before the city walls were breached, and on the seventh day of the month of Av, the destruction began.
On the seventh day of the fifth month-that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon-Nebuzaradan, the chief of the guards, an officer of the king of Babylon, came to Yerushalayim. He burned the House of Hashem, the king's palace, and all the houses of Yerushalayim; he burned down the house of every notable person. The entire Chaldean force that was with the chief of the guard tore down the walls of Yerushalayim on every side. II Kings 25:8-1
The First Temple was burned on the ninth of Av (Tisha B'Av), which has ever since been a day of mourning for the Jewish people. This year it will fall in less than a week, on August 1.
The City of David discovery was full of clues revealing the nature of First Temple-era life. Within the collapse, archaeologists found charred wood, grape seeds, pottery, fish scales and bones, and unique and rare artifacts.
"These findings depict the affluence and character of Jerusalem, capital of the Judean Kingdom," the IAA's statement said.
Dozens of clay storage jars, used for both grain and liquids like wine, were discovered, several of which had stamped seals depicting a rosette on the handle. The seals are typical of the end of the First Temple Judean period, said IAA excavation directors Ortal Chalaf and Dr. Uziel.
The seals "were used for the administrative system that developed towards the end of the Judean dynasty," they said in a joint statement.
They added that some of the ornamental finds indicated the wealth and prosperity of the Judean Kingdom's capital. Among the finds was a "distinct and rare" small ivory statue of a woman, with a particularly high quality of carving attesting to "the high caliber of the artifact's artistic level, and the skill par excellence of the artists during this era."
The excavation also shed light on the true borders of First Temple Jerusalem. The structures were discovered beyond the wall constituting the then-eastern border of the capital, proving that the bustling city had already outgrown its fortifications before the Babylonian destruction.
A Day of Mourning - By Randy Nettles -
The next historical anniversary date for Israel is the 9th day of Av, otherwise known as Tisha B'Av. Av is the 5th month on the Jewish calendar. The current Jewish calendar year is 5777. This year the 9th day of Av is on July 31, 2017.
Tisha B'Av is not one of the appointed Feast days of the Lord, but is a "fast" and a day of mourning. There have been 8 tragic events for the Jewish people that have occurred on this day throughout history.
1) Twelve Jewish spies survey the Promised Land - Moses sent out 12 tribal leaders to spy out the land and its inhabitants for 40 days prior to entering the Promised Land of Canaan. 10 of the 12 spies returned with negative reports about how impossible it would be to conquer the enemy, due to mighty giants living in the land.
Even after witnessing God's miracles and His promise of victory, the 10 spies showed no faith that the newly formed nation of Israel could prevail and take the land from the enemy. They advised the children of Jacob against going to war against the Canaanites.
The Bible records that the people believed the evil report and mourned all night in fear. They turned against Moses, Aaron, and the two faithful spies (Caleb and Joshua). Some rebels in the group led an attempt to stone Moses and to return to the bondage of Egypt .
"According to the ancient Jewish commentary, the Mishna (Ta'anit 29a), this event occurred on the 9th day of the month of Av" [1], in the year 2317 on the Jewish calendar. The date on our modern Gregorian calendar was July 8, 1444 BC, on a Friday.
God destroyed the rebel leaders and informed the people they would wander in the wilderness for forty year for their rebellion and disobedience...one year for every day the spies had searched out the land.
This tragic rebellion and unbelief in God's promises caused the temporary loss of the Promised Land for an entire generation. Everyone 20 years and older would not live to enter the Promised Land, save for Caleb and Joshua. "Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel ; and the people mourned greatly" (Numbers 14:39).
From this day on, the 9th of Av became a "fast" of mourning as the Jews wept over their lack of obedience to God and their subsequent punishment.
2) The destruction of Solomon's Temple by the Babylonians - The Babylonian army under Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in 588 BC. After a 2 year siege they breached the walls on the 17th day of the 4th month of Tammuz. The Babylonians broke through the city walls, killed multitudes, burned the Temple , and took its precious vessels. This tragic event occurred on Av 9, 3175 (July 10, 586 BC), on a Monday.
"According to the Jewish commentary, Me'am Lo'ez, by Rabbi Yakov Culi and Rabbi Aguiti, and other historical sources, including Ta'anit 29a, from the Jerusalem Talmud; the Babylonian army fought their way into the Temple on the 7th day of Av. The soldiers ate, drank, and caroused there until the 9th of Av. And toward evening, they set the Temple on fire. It burned all night and through the next day, the 10th of Av. Jeremiah, the prophet, was an eyewitness to this tragic event.
This national tragedy has been commemorated by the Jews ever since the solemn fast, on the 9th of Av, known as Tisha B'Av. For more than 2000 years, the Jews have read the book of Lamentations in which Jeremiah laments the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the great Temple of Solomon ." [2]
3) The destruction of the second temple by the Romans - The Romans had been at war with the Jews since AD 66. They finally were about to crush the revolt by destroying their capitol, Jerusalem , in AD 70. Over 1,250,000 people were surrounded inside the city by the Roman legions. The original attack had occurred on the Feast of Passover when a huge number of pilgrims came to the Temple to give sacrifices and were thereby trapped in the city.
The Roman general Titus offered terms of surrender that would have preserved the Jews city and Temple , but the Jews refused. Thus the city and the Temple were destroyed on Av 9, 3830 (August 1, AD 70), on a Friday.
This tragic event fulfilled Jesus prophecy 37 years earlier when he said, "for the days shall come upon you, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about you, and compass you round, and keep you in on every side, and shall lay you even with the ground, and your children within you: and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another, because you knew not the time of thy visitation" (Luke 19:43-44).
This prophecy was fulfilled to the smallest detail. As the Temple burned with tremendous heat, the sheets of gold that covered much of the Temple melted. The molten gold ran down into the cracks between the foundation stones. Afterwards, the Roman soldiers used wedges to overturn every stone to get to the gold, thus fulfilling Christ's words.
4) The Romans plowed Jerusalem and the Temple Mount - One year after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple , the Romans plowed the Temple Mount and the city. This occurred on Av 9, 3831 (July 22, AD 71), on a Wednesday.
This was a complete fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah, "Therefore shall Zion for your sakes be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountains of the house as the high places of the forest" (Micah 3:12).
"A rabbinical source (Ta'anit 26b), records this was done to turn the city into a Roman colony."[1]
5) The destruction of Simon Bar Kochba's army - After the fall of Jerusalem , there was a period of enforced peace between Rome and Israel . In AD 133, a dynamic warrior named Simon Bar Kocbha, led a rebellion against Rome . He was successful for two years until Emperor Hadrian and his vast Roman army destroyed the Jewish rebels.
Many people believed that Bar Kochba was the Jewish Messiah, including the famous scholar Rabbi Akiba. The Jews still believed the Jewish Messiah would be a great warrior and would lead Israel in victory against the Romans and other enemies.
This event partially fulfilled the prophecy by Jesus when he said, "I am come in my Father's name, and you receive me not; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive" (John 5:43).
On that terrible day of the 9th of Av, in the Jewish year 3895 (August 3, AD 135), on a Wednesday; the last great army of an independent Israel (ancient) was slaughtered without mercy. The prophet Isaiah may have referred to this event when he prophesied, "Within sixty five years Ephraim ( Israel ) will be too shattered to be a people" (Isaiah 7:8).
6) England expelled the Jews - Following condemnation of the Jewish Talmud by Pope Gregory IX in the year AD 1236, criticism of Jews increased and Jewish communities began to be displaced throughout Western Europe.
King Edward I of England issued a declaration in 1275, cancelling all debts owed to Jews and forbidding them from making any loans to non-Jews. In addition, Edward arrested a number of Jewish leaders, demanding a ransom before releasing them. On Av 9, 5050 (July 24, AD 1290), on a Monday; King Edward expelled all Jews from England , confiscating all their assets for himself.
The history of England's rise and fall can be traced to this ancient prophecy in the book of Genesis. "And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curses you: and in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3).
England 's decline started approximately at this time and continued until 400 years later, when Oliver Cromwell, granted the Jews the legal right of settlement in 1657. England prospered at this time and later. At the end of World War I, a victorious England held power through its British Empire over one-quarter of the world.
In the 1920s and throughout the period until 1948, England repeatedly reversed its promises to the League of Nations and failed to provide a national homeland for the Jews (as promised by the Balfour declaration). During World War II, the Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis of Germany, because they had no homeland to flee to when the persecution of Adolf Hitler began. Even the U.S. turned down many Jewish immigrants that were trying to enter the country at this time.
In the years between 1917 through 1948, England lost her vast empire; and was no longer the world's preeminent superpower.
7) Spain expelled the Jews - On Av 9, 5252 (August 10, AD 1492), on a Wednesday; the Spanish government ordered the expulsion of Jews from Spain . Every Jew who would not immediately be baptized was required to leave the country. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, desiring to create an entirely Catholic nation, sought to erase Judaism from Spain .
The Spanish Empire declined at this point...never to fully recover.
On this same day in history, Christopher Columbus left Spain and discovered the New World . This event was significant to the Jews because eventually America provided a place of refuge for the Jewish people. When the new nation of Israel was reborn in 1948, the U.S. of America became Israel 's strongest advocate and protector.
The United States was the first country to recognize Israel as a nation of the world. America 's rise to world power status began with her friendship with Israel ...for God said, "I will bless them that bless you, and curse them that curse you." (Genesis 12:3).
8) Russia Mobilized for WWI and launched persecutions against the Jews - On Av 9, 5674 (July 31, 1914), on a Friday, World War I was declared by Russia and Germany . The mobilization of Russia 's army triggered persecutions and attacks against the Jews in eastern Russia , killing tens of thousands, and forced many to immigrate to the Holy Land. This immigration helped set the stage for the historical events leading to the creation of the modern nation of Israel in 1948.
World War I might have been the start of the prophecy by Jesus when he told his disciples "nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom" (Matthew 24:7). More than 12 million people died during this "war to end all wars."
The 9th of Av will also occur on July 31 of this current year 2017. It will be 103 full calendar years, to the exact date (for both the Gregorian and Jewish calendars), that Russia and Germany declared war against one another and entered into World War I. It was also a tragic day for the Jewish people...another day to mourn and fast on Tisha B'Av.
However, the Bible speaks of a time when Israel 's fasts will turn into feasts.
"Thus says the Lord of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace" (Zechariah 9:19).
This will occur when Jesus, the Messiah, returns to the earth to set up his Millennium and eternal kingdoms. The remnant of Jewish believers will inherit all of the land God originally promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Jews will finally become what God intended for them to be...a blessing unto the nations and will lead many to the Lord.
"For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall come to pass, that as you were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong" (Zechariah 8: 12-13).
Will the End-Times Temple Be Built in a Different Location Than We Think? - Kelly McDonald Jr. -
In the end times, there are several references to the temple of God. Jesus mentioned that the abomination that makes desolate would be made in the temple (Matt. 24:15). The desecration of the temple is the halfway point of Daniel's 70th week (Dan. 9:27). Paul said the man of lawlessness would proclaim himself as God in the temple (2 Thess. 2:4).
Of course, there is a small problem. Presently, there is no temple! This means that the third temple will have to be completely or partially rebuilt for these prophecies to come to pass. This is why so many articles relating to the temple are posted here on Charisma News. It is an essential event to end-times prophecy.
Most articles on this subject focus on the temple being rebuilt on the site we presently call the Temple Mount. There is even a wall there commonly called the Western Wall. It is believed to be a wall remaining from the second temple that the Romans destroyed.
One impediment that prevents the third temple from being rebuilt is the fact that the Al-Aqsa mosque, also called the Dome of the Rock, sits on the Temple Mount. This means that it would have to be removed for another temple to be rebuilt, which would cause a major war. What if the actual Temple Mount was in another location?
About the second temple, destroyed in A.D. 70, Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down" (Matt. 24:2b). If every stone was supposed to be thrown down, then how does an entire wall survive?
New archeological evidence suggests that the first and second temples were actually located in a separate part of Jerusalem. If this is true, then the third temple can be rebuilt at any time and does not require the removal of the Al-Aqsa mosque. This has tremendous implications for end-time events.
WATCH: https://youtu.be/zKqDx3RDCos
Ongoing Temple Mount War - Alf Cengia -
We've come a long way since the attack on the Twin Towers. 9-11 was an event which triggered my interest in biblical prophecy. No doubt it did the same for many others.
The world sought to understand the motivation of the perpetrators. Some saw them as "freedom fighters." It was America's fault for dabbling in Middle East affairs - especially in supporting Israel. Some blamed poverty. There were even those who claimed it was a "spiritual" New Age event.
Since 9-11 we've seen the "Arab Spring" turn into a Middle East meltdown. The subsequent Arab Winter has spilled over into the West. Terrorism in the West is routinely accompanied by shouts of Allah Akbar. "Freedom fighters" point to verses in their Qur'an as motivation for their deeds. Yet apologists protest that this is a perversion of Islam.
The media has generally ignored the recent bloody violence surrounding the Temple Mount. Inflammatory sermons and rhetoric from Imams, the PA and Hamas has had tensions brewing for years. The people who perpetrate this violence are often rewarded by the Palestinian leaders.
In case you're not up to speed, I suggest watching John Haller's "Flashpoint Jerusalem." The Jerusalem Journal's Chaim Report (top right hand side) is recommended reading. Dr Randall's website is also an excellent resource for issues regarding prophecy, the Temple Mount and the Jewish temples.
We've come along way with the Mount since 9-11. Back then, building a third temple was a whisper of a dream in the minds of hundreds of "prophecy nuts" and the Temple Mount Faithful.
The whisper has become a murmur among a growing amount of Jews looking for their own place to worship in Jerusalem. But for Muslims in the Middle East and around the world, Jewish presence is turning into an escalating roar. In 2015 thousands of Iranian soldiers staged a mock siege of the Temple Mount.
The Mount is said to be Islam's third holiest site. Yet it's no secret that when Israel recaptured the Mount, it was in a neglected condition. In fact what's commonly referred to as "Palestine" was largely a forgotten, ruinous land.
A Bloomberg article by Noah Feldman offers insight into a 1929 Temple Mount conflict and how it relates to the current status. For instance, the conflict isn't about "metal detectors" unless they happen to be imposed by Israel. Neither is it really about other excuses.
This isn't about alleged Palestinian oppression by Israel. Nor is it Israeli Temple Mount hegemony. Like the 9-11 tragedy and all the other terrorist events; this is about ideology. Feldman's thoughts are interesting:
The truth is more subtle. Jews in Palestine in 1929 didn't have a state, much less a plan to take over the Temple Mount. But some did aspire to a Jewish state that would rule all of historical Israel - and Palestinians knew that.
As was the case in 1929, the status quo at the Temple Mount/Haram is the occasion for the violence, not its underlying cause. The occasion matters, however, because it tends to frame the conflict as one about religion.
The Temple Mount Palestinian-Israeli conflicts bring to mind Spanish Andalusia and the principle of Islamic possession (Dar al-Islam). Jews aren't welcome on the Mount, or in "Palestine." As Hugh Fitzgerald notes:
For on the To-Do list of Muslims, the lands that were once part of Dar al-Islam are those that should be the first to be recovered for Muslim rule. As it says in the Qur'an 2:191, "Expel them from wherever they have expelled you."
We live in a secular culture where criticism of Islam is treated as a xenophobic hatred of Muslims. We're compelled to find other causes related to conflicts connected with Islamic aggression. As frustrating as all this is, I find the Christian anti-Israel position more so.
Why do some Christians go out of their way to implicate Israel in humanitarian crimes they haven't committed? Why do they squarely blame the Arab-Israeli problem to the creation of the Israeli state?
Theologian Colin Chapman recently shared some snippets derived from James Barr's theories in Line in the Sand. He writes:
France supported Jewish terrorism in Palestine before and after the establishment of Israel in 1948 as a way of taking revenge on Britain for the way it had undermined French rule in Syria and Lebanon.
The mention of "Jewish terrorism" isn't incidental. It's a subtle appeal to moral equivalence. There's a vast difference between a state which punishes terrorism and one which condones it. One side celebrates the slaughter of citizens of the other, while the other is vilified for defending itself.
The Arab-Israeli conflict isn't the result of an earlier power play between France and Britain, as some would prefer. Hitler and those before him found their own excuses to exterminate the Jews.
Those Christians who aren't directly anti-Israel aren't helpful by ignoring or rejecting God's revelation concerning Israel. The church has appropriated Israel's blessings, but not its curses. We sing praise hymns based on Psalms about Israel, and have made the church the recipient.
My church's reformed pastor recently preached on Psalm 130. To his credit, he went to Romans 9 and 11. He said a face-value take on these verses addresses Jewish salvation. Sadly, he also said he didn't think this meant national Israel. He missed the face-value connection between Rom 11:27 and Jer 31:31, 35-37.
Much lauded books like Peter Walker's Jesus and the Holy City have been written to refute physical Jerusalem in favor of a solely spiritual one. Proponents of these ideas often rebuke Zionism for being political, yet they indulge in Palestinian politics. They criticize the idea of a future Jewish Temple as being blasphemous, even while sometimes joining the fight to protect Temple Mount from Zionists.
We believe that a Jewish Temple will be built because of our literal understanding of prophecy. See the link to Dr Price's resource page above. The growing Jewish desire for a Temple may be a process back to God. Israel will only be redeemed at Christ's return, when it recognizes its Lord (Matt 23:39, 24:30). The temple wars will continue until then.
Finally, this comment in the above Bloomberg article was most interesting:
Two competing peoples could potentially live in the same land or lands, sharing the same space in a negotiated solution, whether two state or one state. But two competing religious truths can't both be true in the same sense.
Will part of that "negotiated solution" involve shared space on the Temple Mount with a Jewish temple? That would take some exceptional negotiating and peacemaking skills!
Keep looking up.
Metal Detectors or Lie Detectors - Who Is Violating What? - by Bassam Tawil -
The metal detectors that were supposed to prevent Muslims from smuggling weapons into the Temple Mount compound, and which were removed by the Israeli authorities this week, have a more accurate name: "lie detectors." They have exposed Palestinian lies and the real reason behind Palestinian anger.
Israel apparently removed the metal detectors from the gates of the Temple Mount as part of a deal to end an unexpected crisis with Jordan over the killing of two Jordanian men by an Israeli embassy security officer in Amman. The security officer says he was acting in self-defense after being attacked by one of the Jordanians with a screwdriver.
The crisis erupted when the Jordanian authorities insisted on interrogating the officer -- a request that was rejected by Israel because the officer enjoys diplomatic immunity. US intervention and a phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah helped end the crisis peacefully and quickly, and the officer and the rest of the Israeli embassy staff were permitted to leave Jordan and head back to Israel.
Shortly after the embassy staff returned to Israel, the Israeli authorities started removing the metal detectors that were installed at the entrances to the Temple Mount after terrorists murdered two Israeli police officers on July 14. The move sparked a wave of rumors and speculation, according to which the Jordanians allowed the embassy staff to return home in exchange for the removal of the metal detectors.
Israel and Jordan have denied any link between the shooting incident in Amman and the removal of the metal detectors.
The crisis that erupted between Israel and Jordan over the killing of the two Jordanians was solved in less than 48 hours -- much to the dismay of the Palestinians.
The Palestinians were hoping to exploit the crisis to exacerbate tensions between Amman and Jerusalem. Their ultimate goal: to cause the Jordanians to scrap their peace treaty with Israel and return to the state of war with the "Zionist enemy." The Palestinians were also hoping to exploit the crisis to incite Jordanians against Israel and the Hashemite monarchy.
Fortunately, the Jordanian authorities did not fall into the Palestinian trap. They realized that it is in their own interest to resolve the crisis swiftly and peacefully. King Abdullah was wise enough not to allow the Palestinians to drag him into a confrontation with Israel.
Since the installation of the metal detectors at the Temple Mount, the Palestinians have been waging yet another campaign of fabrications and distortions against Israel. This Palestinian blood libel claims that Israel is seeking to "change the status quo" at the Temple Mount by introducing new security measures such as metal detectors and surveillance cameras at the gates to the holy site.
Yet if anyone has violated the status quo it is the Palestinians themselves.
Status Quo Violation Number One: For the past two years, the Palestinians have been trying to prevent Jews from touring the Temple Mount -- a practice that has been allowed since 1967.
Status Quo Violation Number Two: The Palestinians and their supporters have long turned the Temple Mount into a battlefield for clashing with Israeli policemen and Jewish visitors. In an ongoing arrangement that ought to interest the international community, they pay Muslim men and women salaries to come to the compound and harass policemen and Jewish visitors by hurling insults at them and throwing stones and petrol bombs. These individuals belong to an outlawed group known as the Murabitun. This is a group of Muslim fanatics who receive money from the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and the Islamic Movement in Israel to do their utmost to stop Jews from entering the Temple Mount.
Status Quo Violation Number Three: Over the past two decades, the Waqf (Islamic Trust) that manages the affairs of the mosques on the Temple Mount, and other parties, have been carrying out illegal excavation and construction work at the site in a bid to create irreversible facts on the ground. The Waqf and the Palestinian Authority claim that the excavation work is aimed at refuting Jewish claims to the Temple Mount and showing the world that Jews have no historical, religious or emotional attachment to Jerusalem.
Status Quo Violation Number Four: The Palestinians and their supporters have been using the Temple Mount compound as a platform for spewing anti-Semitism and calls to murder Jews and all "infidels." This abuse of the holy site as a podium for spreading Palestinian poison is far from a new practice. Palestinians and other Muslims have been doing this at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other mosques around the world for decades.
Take, for example, when the imam at Al-Aqsa Mosque predicted that the "White House would turn black, with the help of God."
This prayer, attended by thousands of Muslim worshippers, came only a few weeks before the 9/11 terror attacks. Last week, another imam prayed to God that Israeli policemen guarding the Temple Mount would be widowed and orphaned.
These are only a handful of the countless examples of how mosques are being used to indoctrinate the hearts and minds of Muslims with hate.
Status Quo Violation Number Five: The murder of two policemen on July 14 is the mother of all status quo violations. Until the murder, Muslims had resorted to less deadly weapons such as stones and petrol bombs to attack Jews and policemen. July 14 represents the first time that Muslims used firearms at the Temple Mount. While it is not unusual to see Muslims blowing up mosques and committing atrocities against fellow Muslims in many Arab and Islamic countries, the shooting attack at the Temple Mount was still unprecedented.
Smuggling weapons into the Temple Mount is a grave desecration of the holy site. Murdering two police officers, who were stationed there to safeguard the site and protect Muslim worshippers, takes the level of violation and desecration to new lows. It is worth noting that the two police officers were not murdered during a confrontation or a violent incident. One of them was shot in the back while he was standing at one of the entrances to the Temple Mount.
After the July 14 murder, Palestinians began waging daily protests by refusing to enter the Temple Mount through metal detectors installed by the Israeli authorities to prevent weapons smuggling for the safety of the Muslim worshippers themselves.
Instead, Palestinians gather every evening at the entrances to the Temple Mount, where they complete their prayers with a volley of stones and petrol bombs lodged at police officers.
Crucially, and contrary to Palestinian claims, there has been no Israeli decision to ban Muslims from entering the Temple Mount.
Rather, we are witnessing precisely the opposite situation: there has been a Palestinian decision banning Muslims from entering the Temple Mount until Israel removes any security measures, whether metal detectors or surveillance cameras. This particular, and serious, breach of the status quo on the part of the Palestinians and Muslims has yet to receive appropriate mention: for the first time since 1967, the Palestinians are denying Muslim worshippers free access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Unsurprisingly, the removal of the metal detectors this week has not sated the Palestinians' and Waqf's lust for Jewish blood. Quite the contrary: the removal has increased their appetite, voracious as they are for Israeli capitulation and retreat. Now the Palestinians are demanding an end to all security measures imposed after the murder of the two officers on July 14.
So, here we are in a situation where Israel is damned if it does and damned if it does not.
In other words, the Palestinians and the Islamic religious authorities are protesting against security measures that are intended to save the lives of Muslim worshippers and prevent the desecration of their holy sites by terrorists and rioters. They are protesting because Israel is trying to make it hard for them to murder Jews. The message is: How dare you try to stop us from murdering Jews?
To clarify what is actually going on: it is not the security measures that really anger the Palestinians; for them, this crisis is not about a metal detector or a security camera. Rather, it is about sovereignty over the Temple Mount, Jerusalem and the whole of Israel. For the Palestinians, the real struggle is not over the Temple Mount, but over the presence of Jews in what they consider "occupied Palestine, from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea."
In the face of the metal detector removal, the Palestinians are calling for yet more "days of rage." The Palestinians were hoping to drag the Arab and Islamic countries into a confrontation with Israel. This is a hope they have thus far failed to achieve, especially as the short-lived crisis with Jordan proved. The Palestinians now feel disappointed that they were unable to drive a wedge between Israel and Jordan.
So, what else is on the Palestinian agenda of violence? They are aiming to stop Jews from visiting the Temple Mount. They are also hoping to show Israel and the rest of the world that sovereignty over the Temple Mount belongs to Muslims and to Muslims alone. In short, this is about strong-arming Israel and portraying it as weak and volatile and scared -- a country ripe for intimidation and taking apart.
First, the Palestinians demanded that Israel dismantle metal detectors. Then, they were demanding that Israel end all forms of security measures at the Temple Mount. It is not difficult to imagine what the next demand will be. It is not the security measures that the Palestinians want dismantled. It is Israel that they want dismantled.
Thus, dismantled or intact, the metal detectors have played a vital role by exposing Palestinian and Muslim lies and blood libels.
Catholic Churches Using Replacement Theology to Deny Divinity of Temple Mount: Christian Leader - By Adam Eliyahu Berkowitz -
"For rebellion is like the sin of divination, Defiance, like the iniquity of teraphim. Because you rejected Hashem's command, He has rejected you as king." I Samuel 15:23 (The Israel Bible�)
The Catholic Church's response to recent turmoil over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem confirms that the Church is using Islamic replacement theology, in "direct violation of the Torah", to "promote heresy" and deny the Jewish and Biblical connection to the Mount, said prominent Christian and Jewish voices in a harsh takedown of anti-Israel Christian vitriol.
"These so-called 'Heads of Churches in Jerusalem' are false prophets," Laurie Cardoza-Moore, an influential Evangelical figure in the global pro-Israel Christian movement, told Breaking Israel News in an exclusive interview. "Their words are in direct violation of the Torah, the prophets, the writings and the New Testament."
Cardoza-Moore, President of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations and special envoy to the United Nations, referred to a declaration made last Wednesday by a group of churches under the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem which placed blame for flaring tensions on the Temple Mount solely on Israel.
The statement transparently sought to placate and pander to Muslim interests by referring to the Temple Mount as "Haram Ash Sharif" and "Al Aqsa" without any reference to the Biblical connection to the site - seemingly rejecting the religious leaders' own Christian beliefs.
"This [statement] should serve as a warning to anyone - flee from these false prophets and their churches," Cardoza-Moore declared.
"Had they read their Bibles instead of promoting heresy, they would have discovered that the Temple Mount (not Al Aqsa) is the holiest place on earth according to God, Judaism and Christianity."
In the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the Vatican has consistently expressed a pro-Palestinian bias overlooking the violence and terror perpetrated on Israel. Pope Francis referred to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, a major inciter of violence, as an "angel of peace", and has insisted that Islam is not associated with violence. The Vatican has also recognized the Palestinian claim to Jerusalem by placing its embassy to the PA in East Jerusalem and its embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv.
Cardoza-Moore accused the Catholic Churches of transgressing the law from Deuteronomy.
Accursed is the one who moves the boundary of his fellow. Deuteronomy 27:17
"These church leaders are promoting heresy in direct violation of God's commandments and the most vile form of anti-Semitic revisionist history and replacement theology," she asserted.
Replacement theology is a Christian doctrine which holds that the Church "replaced" Israel in God's plan and in the covenant with the Biblical patriarchs. Replacement theology has been a core tenet of the Catholic Church for the majority of its existence. Some mainstream Christian theologians and denominations have rejected this belief, perceiving the modern State of Israel as the physical manifestation of God's everlasting covenant with the Jewish People.
Officially, the Vatican no longer adheres to strict Replacement theology. In 1965, under Pope Paul VI, the Second Vatican Council released the monumental Nostra Aetate document signaling a shift away from replacement thinking. However, the belief remains a core aspect of Catholicism for many.
Indeed, charged Cardoza-Moore, the Catholic Church has actually taken a radical step beyond traditional replacement theology beliefs. By rejecting the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount, she believes the Church has actually embraced Islamic theology.
"Not only have they rejected God's eternal covenant with our Jewish brethren, but they have replaced Christianity entirely with a radical Islamic ideology," Cardoza-Moore told Breaking Israel News. "These leaders were either forced at gunpoint to make this heretical claim, or they have replaced their brand of Christianity with Islam."
Islam espouses an even broader and more extreme version of replacement theology than Catholicism, establishing Islam as the one true religion usurping both Judaism and Christianity. The Islamic doctrine of tahrif teaches that earlier monotheistic have been corrupted, while the Koran presents a pure version of the divine message that they originally contained.
Rabbi Tovia Singer, founder and director of Outreach Judaism and an expert educator on all three Abrahamic religions, told Breaking Israel News that the Catholic Church's attitude in this crisis essentially "nullifies God's Covenantal promise of land to the Jewish people."
"People are understandably perplexed when spiritual leaders of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Armenian Church refer to the Temple Mount with the Muslim name 'Haram al-Sharif'," Rabbi Singer said, noting that the Temple and Judea are holy places in the Christian Gospels as well as in Jewish writings.
"An ascription like 'Haram al-Sharif' and the West Bank were unknown to the writers of the New Testament."
Rabbi Singer explained that the present conflict has placed the Catholic Church in an untenable situation in which espousing Islamic replacement theology is actually preferable to acknowledging modern Israel's claim to its holiest site.
"If the bishops of Christendom's most esteemed churches acknowledged that the Children of Israel returned to their homeland and were given sovereignty over Jerusalem, then all the Church fathers were wrong about their core belief on the fate of the Jews," he said.
"Although the Church battled Islam for more than seven centuries, it cannot concede this victory to the Jews. For Rome, better 'Haram al-Sharif' than the Jewish Temple Mount."
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