When I was there I tried to shake hands and say thanks to as many IDF and UN guards as I could.I have been to the temple mount, King David's tomb, the garden Gethsemane, the garden tomb, Bethlehem chapel, the crusader church of the holy mount, the crusader castle in Acre, Jaffa, the archeological dig at Jericho, the fortress Masada, the Catholic shrine of the hill of beatitudes, the Sea Of Tiberias, and the IDF checkpoint at Naharia.Which I acknowledged in the rest of my post, making it very much a three way street. The Jewish people have absolutely no problem with other people and faiths worshiping at their own holy spots near the Jewish ones. As is very evident in Jerusalem. It is part of Jewish theology. Its not the Jewish people causing problems here.I disagree that it should be the one way street you seem to think it should and I think the uniqueness of this situation be recognized.
Yes, it is. Its exactly like that with Islam. (Not that I would use the term 'cult' for Islam, as it is demeaning).It isn’t like some new found cult decided that the Cambodian Temp,es were part of their sacred landscape.
But people and faiths who use violence as a means to control spaces and other people should not be catered to. The violence has to stop. And the other side of the "all religions must have access to holy spaces" coin is that all religions must do so peacefully -- or else they shouldn't be able to have access to holy spaces. Again, its not the Jewish people causing problems here.The Holy Land, which is probably the best term for this area, is important to all three that it has been the flashpoint of so much senseless violence as a result of religious ties. However you might feel about the religions themselves, you can’t ignore this.
And the Holy Land is only important to one faith. There is nothing holy about the land to Muslims and Christians. There may be certain specific locations, but not the land in general.
The Jewish peoples, as the original aboriginal creators of those sacred spaces, must be acknowledged. Its not demeaning to recognize the facts of one's faith. its not demeaning to recognize things done in the past which have had an extremely negative affect on other peoples. For other peoples, that is the basis of reconciliation. In my synagogue, we acknowledge and thank the First Nations peoples, on whose land the building sits. There is nothing demeaning AT ALL about that. Its a powerful acknowledgement of the pain caused.As a result it needs to be treated as a sacred space and the rights of all three respected, not demeaned by claims of usurption,
1. I have emphasized multiple times the importance of peaceful behavior. Do I need to repeat it? Nor have I said Jews are the cause of the violence.
2. I don’t have any issue with Jews as the creators of those sacred spaces being acknowledged and with gratitude, in fact that is a really nice tradition.
3. I Dont see how it matters whether the entire land or specific sites are important. Those specific sites ARE important to those faiths and they have a right to access those sites as a result.
Beautiful place. A heritage for Christians and Jews.
There is a wealth of history in those places...I would love to see them. And I have to say I trust the Israeli’s far more than any other group to conserve, conduct responsible archeological investigations and preserve fair access.
Dangerous job.