July 27, 2017: Readers weigh in on metal detectors, Temple Mount

Whether the installation of the metal detectors was or was not a good idea is an issue that is useless at this time to debate.

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters (photo credit: REUTERS)
Letters
(photo credit: REUTERS)
So our Arab cousins are boycotting our Temple Mount and refusing to pray at the Aksa Mosque even though we have shamefully taken down the metal detectors put there for everyone’s safety and protection (“Palestinian protests continue over al-Aksa,” July 26). Sounds to me like the perfect time to build a synagogue or two or three on our Temple Mount.
As my mother, of blessed memory, used to say, if you don’t stop crying, I’ll give you something to cry about.
But the truth is that we Israelis and Jews gave up sovereignty on our Temple Mount when Moshe Dayan handed the keys to the members of the Wakf Islamic Trust back in 1967. To me, that is Dayan’s legacy.
This is one real estate deal that even US President Trump will not be able to negotiate. The sooner he realizes it, the better off we will all be.
NORMAN DEROVAN
Ma’aleh Adumim
Whether the installation of the metal detectors was or was not a good idea is an issue that is useless at this time to debate. They were installed, and the consequences were horrific. However, the fact remains that those who resort to violence and wish to see the extermination of the Jewish people here in Israel were, to put it in very simple terms, rewarded for bad behavior – very, very bad behavior.
Innocent people were butchered as they sat peacefully in their home. This was how the angry ones protested. Demonstrations and protests are not the way – they go out and kill.
Our government must be strong. Those who incite young people to go out and murder should be arrested and given long prison terms. Giving in to terror never works. It only encourages more.
ARLENE GHERMAN
Jerusalem
With his decision to remove the metal detectors from the Temple Mount entrances (“77% say PM gave in on metal detectors,” July 26), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sending out two messages.
The first is to the country’s Jewish citizens: Sorry, folks, don’t look to me to defend your holy sites. The second is to the Arabs: Are you happy folks? Is this what you wanted? It seems that when trouble rears its head, Bibi lowers his.
DAVID S. ADDLEMAN
Mevaseret Zion
In Hebron, the Arabs go through metal detectors. No trouble.
At the offices of the National Insurance Institute, the same. All this brings to mind the following quote attributed to Winston Churchill: “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.”
By his actions of late, I think that with all the smiles and brainwashing, Benjamin Netanyahu’s days as prime minister are numbered.
EALLAN HIRSHFELD
Ra’anana
And here are the latest scores: Violence/threat of violence/Arab steadfastness: 10 Israeli determination/sovereignty/ consistency: 0
YISRAEL GUTTMAN
Jerusalem
So, let me get this straight: Arab terrorists use weapons smuggled onto the Temple Mount to murder two Israeli policemen who are there to protect the site. In response, metal detectors routinely used to secure virtually every shopping mall and supermarket in the country are installed to stop future attackers.
This move causes such outrage among Arabs and Muslims here and around the world that there is talk of a new intifada or even full-scale war.
Then, in Amman, an Arab attacker stabs an Israeli diplomatic security guard, who has to use deadly force to defend himself.
Instead of being embarrassed or offering an apology, Jordanian officials accuse the Israeli of cold-blooded murder and the Jordanian government refuses to allow him to leave the kingdom.
Finally, in an effort to defuse the tensions and win the release of its wounded guard, Israel agrees to remove the metal detectors on the Temple Mount and announces that they will be replaced by some kind of fancy hi-tech cameras that will end up costing Israeli taxpayers NIS 100 million.
Hmmm. Sounds just about right... for Chelm.
JOSEPH ALEXANDER
Efrat
The Arab world wants Israel to return to the “status quo” that existed before Israel installed the exact same metal detectors that we Israelis and other people around the world have gotten used to since terror was introduced to the world by many of the same characters who have abused basic western freedoms. I agree: Return to the status quo that existed before the two policemen were murdered and the Salomon family lost three of their own at Halamish.
But you can’t do that. The status quo was changed by these murderous and cowardly acts!
SHLOMO LOSHINSKY
Ma’aleh Adumim
Our government’s decision to remove the metal detectors is hard to understand. It once again quickly caved in to pressure.
Perhaps those who called for the removal of the metal detectors have acknowledged to themselves that the devices actually do add to the security of all. Does it not bother them that all entry points to the holy area that we call the Western Wall have been protected by metal detectors for longer than my aging years allow me to remember? How quickly they forget that the new detectors were put in place because some of their own denigrated a holy site that is so important to all.
It is time to stand up for our rights as citizens of Israel. We are a democracy that tries to be fair to all people. Why can we not be true to ourselves? How many more of us must be maimed or killed because we are afraid to stand up to bullies who do not even deny that they want us to be gone from our beloved country?
JEFFREY ASHENBERG
Modi’in
What would have happened if there were no metal detectors at the visitors’ entrance to the Temple Mount and a crazy Jew, Christian or Druse had gone there with a rifle and opened fire, killing many Muslims at prayer? Naturally, they would blame Israel.
They always do.
Just a thought.
BARRY SHAW
Netanya
All the discussion about putting in metal detectors for Muslims at the entrance to the Temple Mount has been painfully ludicrous.
Every Jew goes through metal detectors to go onto the Temple Mount, and has done this for years. Most movie houses and shopping malls have metal detectors, and everyone, Jew and Arab, passes through. It is unbelievable stupidity that no metal detectors had ever been installed for the Arabs – after the great rioting in Mecca by the Iranians, the Saudis put in security measures at the Grand Mosque.
The whining and hypocrisy of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas knows no bounds. He reminds me of the old adage of the man who kills his parents and claims that he is an orphan. If he had any control or desire to get rid of his murderers, he would do so.
If the Wakf cannot be responsible for security on the Temple Mount, we need a new responsible group. Murder there cannot be allowed!
TOBY WILLIG
Jerusalem
Since the establishment of the State of Israel, all our governments, for reasons unknown, have thought that by appeasing the Arabs, we will have peace.
This has not happened, and in my opinion will not in the future.
The Palestinians are like children.
Their parents say no and threaten some type of punishment but do nothing. The children just repeat their tantrums until they get what they want.
If these people want to play hardball, I say to our government bring it on! They need to know we are here to stay.
MURRAY JOSEPH
Kiryat Motzkin