The holy Koran makes for awesome toilet paper.

more like an opinion piece. I would like to know EXACTLY what the status-quo is on the Temple Mount. If it is that no one except Muslims are allowed to pray then this flies in the face of our democracy. A Muslim can lay down a carpet anywhere that will not stop traffic. Christians can cross themselves anywhere they like. A Jew however, must know his/her place even in his own country. It seems that a Jew uttering a psalm on a very holy spot is considered "arrogant" by Arabs, so the govt. of our only Jewish state complies? We NEED to pray MORE in public.

Why badmouth dead Sharon... May be you need a raise? Seems like hug is even better.

Nahum Barnea like many Israelis don't know the details of their own history when discussing the causes of the second intifada. It is no wonder that the western media (who have an excuse for misrepresenting the events leading up to that violent convulsion), As all serious research bias shown, there was nothing spontaneous about the 2nd intifada. Purely a planned and determined plot by Arafat to launch the riots and later the atrocities. The orders were given by the terror chief to launch the terror. Nothing organic about it. As for Sharon's visit to the mount, we now know Arafat was well aware of the visit and cynically approved of it in advance. The goal being to falsely link the intifada to the Temple Mount. Years later useful idiots such as Barnea propagate this myth to make a political statement. It is essential that the record reflect the true historical facts lest the public misled.

now, then we'll never wake up....

Barnea is willing to use an unlimited amount of force and violence to allow "Women of the Wall" to pray at the Western Wall. The feelings of the Jew do not interest him as much as "freedom of religion". Yet when the tables are turned, the most important factor is to respect the Muslim's feeling, and prevent the Jew from having freedom of religion. Hypocrite much?

As for the status quo everyone is yelling about, the status quo was unilaterally changed, not by Israel in about 2000. Before 2000, anyone could go up, anyone could do their own thing as long as they did it discretely and anyone of any religion could pay their fee, take their shoes off and visit the Even HaShesiayah under the Dome of the Rock. Any tour guide worth their salt who was working before 2000 can testify to the change in the status quo. So yes, the status quo should be restored--to at least what it was between 1967-2000 if not to what the status of the place should have been before Moshe Dayan stupidly gave over the keys to a foreign power.

If he would listen to the leaders of Hamas(partners of PLO) in addition to their financial supporters in Iran he would hear that their aim is not only Jerusalem. their aim is the total destruction of Israel. They don't want Israel to exist. What is wrong with these leftists? They live in lala land and distort reality. What is it that is not clear in the words of our enemies. If Jerusalem is not their final stop...they are on the way to Tel-Aviv, Jaffa and all of Israel. I hope the citizens of Israel wake-up and not pay attention to idiots such as Barnea..

I strongly suggest that comment # 1 be removed. Thank you

leftist $hit. Learn from the ghetto uprising and share the thrill of gutting leftists and leaving their soros satanic flesh to rot in the streets. Forward !

wherever one looks in the middle east, one is aware of the expulsion of old jewish communities who lived there for thousands of years. let there be light, but there is no light but only darkness. is it a coincidence that the koran does not incorporate the ten commandments. then should we be stunned beyond belief that for muslims jihad is an obligation and death fighting the infidel is a distinct honour. is it any wonder that muslims play football and picnic on the temple mount and hurl projectiles against the very ones who actually protect them. they pray facing mecca since not once is jerusalem mentioned in the koran while it is mentioned hundreds of times in the tanakh. yet the muslims want the temple mount exclusively for themselves since jews and other infidels cannot be allowed to defile the temple mount by their very presence on top of a mount built by king david, his son solomon and the returning exiles from babylon. any concessions by the arabs on the temple mount would be tantamount to a religious war, as they say so themselves. they have been fighting this war for hundreds of years and will continue to do so for hundreds of years.

anyone who knows the answer to that question surely knows that the muslim war against the jewish state is a religious war of the most ancient kind.

This article needs to be read and re-read by all. An excellent history detailing the problems involved. Is Israel bound by its status quo or can it extend religious freedom to all of its citizens? Freedom of religion and freedom of travel is a given in all democratic countries. Is Israel democratic? This means freedom of Jews to go up to the Temple Mount.

The Muslim claim on the Temple Mount is the biggest fraud in history. According to the Koran, Mohammed took a trip to the Farthest (al-Aqsa means The Farthest) Mosque. The first problem with the story is that it is incredibly vague, and it never mentions Jerusalem by name. The story of the flying horse, Al-Buraq, with face of a woman is found in traditions and commentary. Jerusalem is never mentioned in the Koranic account. It is merely assumed that al-Aqsa is in Jerusalem. But even ignoring that, from the account we can see that whenever this ride occurred, it had to have been before Mohammed died in June 632 AD. On this fact, no one – not Christian, Jew, or Muslim – can debate. Whenever, wherever, and if ever Mohammed made this supposed journey, it was before June 632 AD. History informs us that the Muslims did not start a war against Byzantine Rome – the possessor of Jerusalem – until after Mohammed's death. And Muslims did not enter into Jerusalem until the city surrendered in 637 AD, almost five years after Mohammed's death. On this fact, no one can debate. Islam did not reach Jerusalem until five years after Mohammed's death. Therefore, there was no mosque in Jerusalem during Mohammed's lifetime that he could have visited. Hence, whatever farthest mosque Mohammed supposedly visited could not possibly have been in Jerusalem. The supposed al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is a historical fraud. Even by Muslim claims, the site of Mohammed's Night Journey could not have been in Jerusalem. Worse yet, Muslim scholars have to know this. They cannot possibly be ignorant of this history. There is no way they can reconcile the five-year gap.

We already have a state for Jews and yet the left have a hard time accepting it and keep appeasing and understand the goy who want this state. What's wrong with the left or is it all secular who have this galut - diaspora mentality?

"not the feelings of the men and women who believe in the Matriarch Rachel's wonderful mystical qualities" why are Jew's religious feelings toward the tomb or the temple ridiculous, and Moslem religious feelings are to be taken seriously? Why is the temple mount "volatile"? Mounts aren't, people are! This way of thinking (we have to be rational, because Arabs aren't) smells of colonialism.

An interesting report. It concludes however with a nonsensical recommendation. It also carries within it the usual Netanyahu - bashing of the knee- jerk left- wing. Abbas is instigating violence. He has shown time and again that he does not want Peace if that means recognition of Israel. The Left just refuses to face the painful reality. There is no 'partner' for peace with Israel. Also it is disconcerting to have the symmetical comparisons between our fanatics and theirs. Their fanatics are hateful racist murderers, who would be genocidal murderers. Our fanatics are by and large stupid idealists who did not consider the pragmatic price of their actions. There is a difference between a community which educates toward non- recognition and destruction of another, and a community though it may have a few fanatics which wants Peace with its neighbor. False symmetry is poor journalism, Mr. Barnea.