Israeli occupation has decided to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Jewish Temple in its place. On November 5th, Israeli forces raided and searched villages and neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, detaining over a dozen youths. On November 4th, Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel told a massive rally of Israeli settlers that the time to build in Jerusalem and the West Bank without restriction had come. Speaking to the Israeli Kol Berama radio station run by the Jewish extremist movement Shas, Ariel said building the Jewish Temple is the paramount demand of the Torah as it is at the forefront of Jewish salvation. He called for a third Temple to be built on the site, which is today home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and is considered Judaism’s holiest site and Islam’s third holiest. The very words to focus on are ‘the time to build…has come’
Israeli settlers and officials keep desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque every day. They believe that Zionism is an occupying power that enabled Zionist Jews to occupy Palestine with the help of world powers. No place in the Holy Land is as fiercely contested as the 37 acre hilltop compound where the Al-Aqsa mosque stands. Last year, Jewish Home MK Zevulun Orlev also called for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple, saying that removing the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque would mean that the “billion-strong Muslim world would surely launch a world war.”
Some Muslim scholars, such as Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi and Imam Dr Muhammad Al-Hussaini believe that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land, and the establishment of Israel, is in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, Islamic Law scholar of the San Diego State University, noted that Surah 5, Verse 21 of the Qur’an, says that Israel belongs to the Jews. He translates it thus: “Moses said: O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you, and do not turn tail, otherwise you will be losers.” Mohammed here understands “written” to mean this is the final word from God on the subject. In the light of the given verse, it is not to be taken that Jews have every right to occupy the Holy Land.
In the current scenario, the crisis in the Middle East shows a great change in the region. Israel has seen its strategic position enhanced by the overthrow of Egypt’s populist Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, a political change that has further isolated the Hamas-led Palestinians in Gaza. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Shiite movement of Hezbollah has come under increasing military and political pressure after sending militants into Syria to support the Assad regime. Israel is benefiting from the Sunni-Shiite divisions ripping apart the Islamic world as well as from the Egyptian coup which further weakened Hamas by reimposing the Gaza blockade. Now, Israel has a freer hand to dictate a political solution to the already weak Palestinian Authority on the West Bank when peace talks resume. “The twin crises in Syria and Egypt have marked the emergence of a new superpower coalition in the Middle East, the odd couple alliance of Israel and Saudi Arabia, with Jordan serving as an intermediary and the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms playing a supporting role.”
Israel would like to see Iran undercut and isolated, with the additional benefit of hurting Hezbollah and further alienating the Palestinians from important sources of support, i.e. Iran and Syria. The emerging Saudi-Israeli alliance may also have serious ramifications for global geopolitics. In 2013, the US has strengthened itself and in turn its global position by starting the process of normalizing relations with Iran. But this strength of the US doesn’t seem probable for a long time. Only a generation ago, the United States was in such sound financial condition that it was the world’s greatest lender. That is no longer the case. Due to its overspending, it is now one of the most indebted nations in history. Moreover, Jewish lobbies control the world’s money and, by extension, it’s political systems. Israel refuses to cooperate with the UN. Israel has long had stormy relations with the UN Human Rights Council. Jewish author Arthur Herman in an article at Fox News on January 31, 2013, claimed that the Arab Spring has made Israel stronger than before. “The Arab Spring has spawned a chaos and instability in every country it has touched that’s going to grind on for years to come. A new report warns that Egypt is on the verge of collapse; Israel’s old adversary Syria, already is. Both are also very likely headed towards economic ruin– as has already happened to Israel’s other foe, Hamas in Gaza, and could hit Iran next,” he wrote. All these factors contribute to the belief that Israel would be the next superpower.

The writer is researcher and designer. She can be contacted at aishaz99@gmail.com