Sunday April 10, 2005

I've Been Thinking:

There has been much talk about Israeli incitement. Specifically, incitement as it relates to Jewish visits on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

The popular presumption is that if or when Jews ascend the Temple Mount the result will be an explosion in the Muslim world.
The Muslim world claims that the visit of Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount is what caused this last Intifada.

I highly doubt the veracity of these presumptions and claims.
It is unlikely that the entire region will go into tumult spontaneously.
It is, however, likely to happen if the public is arranged, organized, to do so.

The threats themselves are very interesting.

Jordan's King Hussein suggested that by ascending the Temple Mount Jews will destabilize the entire region.
Head of Hamas in the region, Hassan Yossef, in an interview on Al Jazeera from the Temple Mount, stoked anti-Jewish flames throughout the Arab world.
Egypt's Sheik Muhamed Sayed Tantawi, the Sheik of al Azhar in Cairo, has shouted that Jews cannot ascend the Mount.
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, said that 1.4 billion Muslims "should instruct (or clarify) to the Zionists."

At this junction it is probably not wise to have an organized Jewish ascent.
It will not cause World War III, but it probably will cause some local tension.
Honestly though, Muslim and Arab leaders should be calming their masses, not provoking them.
That is the true incitement.