Praying for a solution

A seminar at Safra Square discusses the right of non-Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount, which 37% of Jewish Israelis support.

By PEGGY CIDOR
Palestinian men pray in front of the Dome of the Rock in February. (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian men pray in front of the Dome of the Rock in February.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Shortly after Passover, two activists on opposite sides of the political spectrum sat side by side at a table at Safra Square to talk about non-Muslims’ right to pray on the Temple Mount.
The two were Yehudah Glick – one of the most prominent activists for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount – and Aviv Tatarsky, senior field researcher at the NGO Ir Amim, which aims “to render Jerusalem a more equitable and sustainable city for the Israelis and Palestinians who share it,” according to the group’s website.
The panel was part of a day-long seminar that the municipality was hosting on the subject of civics in the national education program, titled “The Rights of the Other.” It was jointly organized by Yesodot – The Center for Torah and Democracy, and the Herzog College and its head, Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Brandeis. Mayor Nir Barkat was in attendance as well.
A poll that Yesodot released shortly before the seminar showed that no fewer than 37% of Jewish Israelis were in favor of some arrangement allowing for Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount – a right that the Supreme Court has upheld, but has left to the police to permit or deny on the ground, based on whether such prayers would harm public security.
Indeed, police have yet to allow open Jewish prayer there, and the growing number of groups and activists claiming the right to pray at the site – including Glick, who was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt a few months ago – have accused the police and the government of failing to ensure their rights.
The workshop session, which took place last week, “was intended for teachers in the public schools – religious and secular – who teach civics, and was therefore very important,” says Tatarsky, who does not deny Jews’ right to pray on the Temple Mount, but stresses the importance of considering the repercussions of implementing that right.
“It is exactly because the current situation on the Mount is so bad, I believe that it is the duty of the Jewish Israeli public and the authorities to open their eyes [to the situation] and understand the reasons for that deterioration,” he says.
Tatarsky says that although there is no argument about whether Jews have the right to pray there, it is too convenient to focus on the issue of rights.
“Whether we like it or not, Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is not an issue of human rights, but of politics, on the international level,” he says.
Glick brought up the need to ensure human rights even in conflictual situations, and emphasized that just as the State of Israel was required to protect the human rights of the Palestinians despite the armed conflict with them, he expected the same authorities to respect his human rights and those of his fellow Jews who wished to pray on the Temple Mount.
“Beyond that, it is clear that these things will be clarified and ensured only when the issue of sovereignty over the Temple Mount is clarified and resolved,” he said.
Glick added that he was emotionally moved to be on the panel with Tatarsky, “since the last time I saw him was when he came to address the participants of the conference on the Temple Mount I organized at the [Menachem] Begin [Heritage] Center, less than half an hour before I was shot.” •