Is this Prophetic?

[JohnS]

TISHA B'AV IN JERUSALEM

by Moshe Dan ( by way of Jerusalemdiaries)

Thousands of people gather for the annual march around the walls

of the Old City organized by the Women in Green, a right-wing activist

organization. People of all ages stream through vacant downtown

streets towards the plaza at City Hall. Israeli flags wave in the soft

Jerusalem night breeze. Despite the large number of people, and

scattered emotional reunions and greetings, there is a sacred hush as

Eicha (Lamentations of Jeremiah) echo against the new building of

Jerusalem stone. We live on the edge.

The stark words remind us of the siege of Jerusalem and its

destruction over 2,500 years ago; his descriptions cut deeply into our

consciousness. And the pain is not far away. Nearly a thousand Jews

have been murdered by Arab terrorists during the recent upsurge in

violence; many thousands more have been maimed and crippled, lives

shattered. Most of the teenagers have family members and friends who

were victims. We share the trauma. We are all survivors.

The collective memory of the destruction of the Temple is in us --

now.

We walk past the empty Damascus Gate. We are well protected. The

surrounding Arab neighborhoods have been closed off, preventing any

direct attacks on us. Police spotters are on the rooftops; policemen

and IDF Border Guard units are scattered along the way. A few Arabs

watch us from street corners. We are like a passing river; hardly

anyone says a word.

The crowd passes the Rockefeller Museum where most of the Dead

Sea Scrolls are kept. I am reminded of the destruction of Jerusalem by

the Romans 2,000 years ago, and the irony of it all: we are walking

past the ruins of those who conquered, enslaved and slaughtered us.

We swing past the Lions gate, above the Kidron Valley. Across

from us, like a crown amidst the darkened hills is the Hebrew

University; farther on the Mount of Olives cemetery is illuminated.

Several churches are lit up as well. Above us is the Mercy or Golden

Gate that borders the Temple Mount, through which cohanim (priests)

led the red heifer and goat of Azazel to the Mount of Olives. We walk

past the excavations along the southern side, the Hulda Gates that

lead directly to the Temple Mount. And finally we arrive at the Dung

Gate that leads to the Kotel (Western Wall).

The plaza in front of The Wall is packed. Waves of people move

back and forth. Despite the solemnity of the evening, people greet

each other warmly. Soldiers embrace, slapping each other on the back.

Groups of teenagers laugh and talk excitedly. Thousand of people pray,

touching the 2000-year old retaining wall of the Temple Mount, a

remnant of what had been.

And us, I wonder as I watch from a distance, a remnant. After

hundreds of generations of destruction, we're back. Jerusalem is

rebuilt; Nearly half of the Jews in the world live in Eretz Yisrael.

Our universities and technologies have contributed to civilization.

Our army can and will protect us. The entire country turns this day

backwards towards a time when we were slaughtered and exiled -- and

now we have returned. But it is not only in these accomplishments that

I find joy.

In the morning, after special prayers that include the

enumeration of destructions that are part of our history, we attend

shiurim (classes) dealing with the importance of the day. We are all

part of this rebuilding that makes living in Israel so special. I

think even Jeremiah would smile.

Moshe Dann, Jerusalem

[JohnS]

Turkey asks U.S. to foil Israeli plans for Mount

By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent

ANKARA - Turkey on Thursday asked the United States

to intervene urgently to halt Israel's plan

toallow non-Muslims to visit and pray on the

Temple Mount.

The request came after

Palestinian Authority Chairman

Yasser Arafat appealed to the

Turkish premier, saying that

opening the Temple Mount to

non-Muslims would rekindle

violence in the Middle East.

In a message delivered to the

U.S. embassy in Ankara, Turkey warned that

visits by non-Muslims to the Temple Mount could

negatively impact on its ability to implement

its recent decision to accede to a U.S. request

to send Turkish troops to Iraq. The

government's decision must still be

approved by the Turkish parliament.

"We do not need a religious struggle on the

Temple Mount when we are facing an internal

struggle in Turkey over sending troops to

Iraq," a senior Turkish official said. "A

religious eruption over this issue could cause

anti-American demonstrations in Turkey, leading

parliament to oppose assistance to the

Americans."

Turkish sources said they hope that the

transmission of their message to Israel via the

U.S. will be enough to persuade Israel to

reconsider its plan to allow visits by

non-Muslims to the Temple Mount. "However, if

it turns out that the message has not been

understood, we will apparently have to transmit

sharper and clearer messages," one official

said.

The sources said that Turkish policy toward

Israel has not changed, but "Israel must

understand the interests of Turkey and the U.S.

These are not limited to the question of the

Temple Mount but extend to events in the entire

region."

Meanwhile, no decision has yet been made

regarding a date for a planned visit to Israel

by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The main obstacle to the visit is Israel's

insistence that Erdogan not meet with Yasser

Arafat. Turkey holds that Arafat is a leader

who should not be boycotted. The Turkish prime

minister's visit is expected to take place

before the end of the year, but if Israel

maintains its opposition to the Arafat visit,

Erdogan will have to make separate visits to

Israel and to the Palestinian Authority.

Turkey has contributed $50 million to the

Palestinian Authority since 1993, and intends

to contribute additional money when Palestinian

Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas pays an expected

official visit to Ankara in September. Turkey

is also advising the Palestinians on the

framing of a constitution. Ankara has proposed

that the Palestinians adopt a constitution

similar to Turkey's, creating a secular

democratic state in which Islamic law is not a

source of legislation. But Palestinian experts

oppose this idea, mainly due to pressure from

Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Ha'aretz Article