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By Ira Sharkansky
 JERUSALEM—Are we seeing the onset of another intifada?
There have been several days of stone throwing, fire bombs, stabbings, and mass demonstrations in and around the Old City and other Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. We have heard explosions, perhaps police tear gas or stun grenades, and helicopters circling over Isaweea, Wadi Joz, and Shoafat.
One can hope this is nothing more than a momentary upsurge that often occurs during Succoth. This is a time for Jews to mass at the Western Wall, and march through Western and Eastern parts of the city. People like us stay at home, visit the Galilee, or go overseas.
It is also a time for Jewish extremists to declare once again that they have a right to pray on the Temple Mount, and that the Third Temple must take the place of al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock.
Their support in Israel is miniscule. Religious Jews ridicule them for overlooking rabbinical prohibitions concerned with the Temple Mount, the principal that only the Almighty can decree the establishment of a Temple, and the sin of provoking violence by extremism. The police do what they can to keep Jews from praying on the Temple Mount. It is not always possible to prevent an innocent looking tourist from whipping out a yarmulke and saying Shma Israel, or the antics of an enthusiastic Christian Zionist from overseas.
Even the boasts of the few Temple Mount activists are enough to provide Muslim extremists with the ammunition they use to incite their faithful. Clerics and politicians are preaching about the evil intents of the Jews. There are thousands of Palestinians, Israeli Muslims, and Muslims elsewhere who believe them, and seem ready to march or do more in defense of Islam.
One of my own insights into the culture came from an Arab student's comment some years ago, in the midst of the previous intifada. He said that many of his friends thought that Jews were blowing up their own buses, in order to give them an excuse to kill Arabs.
No less than extremists who want to recreate a Jewish Temple in place of the mosques are the incitements that come from enthusiastic Jews who are buying land and building apartments in the midst of Arab neighborhoods in or close to the Old City. One must defend the right of Jews to purchase dwellings and l
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ive where they want in Jerusalem. It would challenge their enthusiasm to ask that they do it quietly, or ask their overseas contributors to be less outspoken in their assertions of "Judaizing" Jerusalem.
It is no surprise that this country, and especially this city provokes religious fanaticism. It is appropriate to admit that Muslims have no monopoly on the trait, even though it is they who are most likely to combine messianism with violence.
What will happen?
We can hope that it passes with the end of Succoth.
If not, it would be wise for Palestinians and other Muslims to take another look at Gaza, and remember that Israel did something similar to the cities of the West Bank not too many years ago.
Israel will not easily turn the IDF loose. It would not look good on CNN, or go down well with President Obama and his aides.
The last intifada began at the end of September, 2000. It was only in March, 2002 as a response to the suicide bombing during a Passover Seder at the Park Hotel in Netanya that Israel called up the reserves and destroyed a significant part of Jenin. Remember Secretary of State Colin Powell demanding that Israel withdraw its troops immediately?
By the time of Arafat's funeral in November, 2004 there were piles of rubble in sections of Ramallah, including the Palestinian headquarters, and numerous other locales in the West Bank. The IDF was going in and out of Palestinian areas on a daily basis.
With respect to Gaza, Israel made several modest responses to rocket attacks on its civilians over the course of seven years, until it decided that enough was enough, and did what it did.
As I read the current situation, there is a minority of Israeli Jews who visit the Temple Mount, a tiny minority who want to pray there, and an even a smaller minority who wants to build a Temple. (The stink of all those sacrifices is enough to discourage anyone with the tiniest concern for the environment.)
On the other hand, it is also a minority who would object to doing a Gaza in the West Bank, if the Palestinians lose their sense of proportion and embark on another wave of suicide bombings.
It is time to note again that I welcome comments.
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