Thought you might be interested.
It is more even handed than stuff
the Netzarim usually put out.
From: MEMRI
To: MEMRI
Sent: ? יום ? שני, 2000 ? אוגוסט 28 10:44 AM
Subject: The Debate at Camp David over Jerusalem's Holy Places
Special Dispatch
No. 121
August 28, 2000
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
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Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-mail: MEMRI@erols.com
Website: www.memri.org
[MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations.
Materials may only be cited with proper attribution.]
The Debate at Camp David over Jerusalem's Holy Places
The Jerusalem issue was at the core of the Camp David
Summit negotiations.
The Palestinians regard East Jerusalem as a part of
the occupied territories falling under UN Security
Council Resolution 242, and therefore demand full
Israeli withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 lines. For
Israel, East Jerusalem is an indivisible part of its
territory after being annexed by Israel in 1967.
However, it is the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim holy
sites in Jerusalem that place the question of Jerusalem
in the center of the negotiations. On July 23, the United
States submitted a proposal - based on an Israeli proposal
- to grant the Palestinians full sovereignty in the Muslim
and Christian quarters [including Christian holy sites]
while leaving the Jewish and Armenian quarters under Israeli
sovereignty.
In response to this proposal, Palestinian Authority (PA)
Chairman Yasser Arafat told US President Clinton,
"I will not agree to any Israeli sovereign presence in
Jerusalem, neither in the Armenian quarter, nor in the
Al-Aqsa Mosque, neither on the Via Dolarosa, nor in the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher. They can occupy us by force,
because we are weaker now, but in two years, ten years, or
one hundred years, there will be someone who will liberate
Jerusalem [from them]." (1)
Palestinians Claim Holy Sites
Palestinian claims to sovereignty over Temple Mount are
based primarily on its holiness in Islam. They stated
repeatedly that the Muslim holy places have the status of
an Islamic Waqf [religious endowment].
Arafat stated again and again that he represents all
Muslims, reminding President Clinton that he serves as
the permanent deputy chairman of the 'Islamic Conference'
organization, (2) and that: "The Arab leader who would
give up Jerusalem has not yet been born." (3)(I)
Regarding himself as the heir to the legacy of the Muslim
conqueror of Jerusalem (in 638), Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab
who protected Jerusalem's Christians, Arafat also demanded
recognition as the defender and custodian of Christian holy
sites in Jerusalem. "Arafat told us," said PA negotiator
Saib Ereiqat, "that the Christian quarter is more important
to him than the Muslim quarter because of his wish to uphold
the terms of the 'Omar Pact' [regarding the status of
non-Muslim monotheist religions according to Muslim tradition]." (4)
Israeli Claims and the Palestinian Reactions
Israel too presented its demand for sovereignty over the
Temple Mount on the basis of its holiness in Judaism, as the
site of the first and second temples. On this basis, it
raised - for the first time - a demand for a Jewish prayer
site on the edge of the mountain.
_____________________________
Footnote:
(I) The secretary-general of the Arab League,
Dr. 'Ismat Abd Al-Maguid, also, stated that
"no Arab leader is allowed to relinquish Jerusalem."
Saut Al-Haqq Wa Al-Hurriyya, August 18, 2000.
__________________________
The Palestinians rejected both demands, regarding them
as an attempt to foil any chance for an agreement.
The Islamic Awqaf [Islamic endowments] Council in
Jerusalem explained this position: "The Al-Aqsa Mosque
belongs to the Muslims alone, according to a divine
decision, and is part of the Muslim faith. Prayer in
it by non-Muslims is forbidden by [religious] law.
Any
attempt to harm its holiness or the site itself, or to
desecrate it would injure Muslims all over the world." (5) (II)
The PA Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri
explained that the buildings surrounding the Al-Aqsa mosque
are also holy and therefore establishing a synagogue there
would be impossible: "All the buildings surrounding the Al-Aqsa
mosque are an Islamic waqf. These buildings have direct openings,
doors and windows, to the site of the Al-Aqsa mosque, and
therefore their status is similar to that of Al-Aqsa in terms
of blessing and holiness. Therefore, according to Islamic law,
it is impossible to plunder any of these buildings and turn it
into a synagogue for the Jews." (6)
The Palestinian rejection of Israel's demands to sovereignty
and prayer sites on Temple Mount is based on a complete denial
of any Jewish affiliation with Temple Mount. According to the
Palestinians, the "so-called temple" that Israel recalls, has
never been there, and there is no evidence to suggest its
existence. This position was voiced by Arafat as well as many
high-ranking Palestinians, such as PA Minister of International
Planning and Cooperation Nabil Sha'ath (7), Saib Ereiqat, (III)
and PA Legislative Council Chairman Abu 'Alaa.
Arafat told Clinton in this regard: "I am a religious man,
and I will not allow it to be written of me [in history] that
I. confirmed the existence of the so-called temple underneath
the mountain." (8)
Abu 'Alaa claimed that the Israeli demand is nothing but a
plot: once it is accepted that the temple existed beneath the
mosques, and Israel gains sovereignty over the land under the
mosques - "It will mean that within a few years they will
destroy the mosques." (9) This was a reference to the September
1996 Western Wall Tunnel riots, in which the Palestinians
claimed that the tunnel was dug with the aim of destabilizing
the foundations of the mosques, to ultimately destroy them.
Abu 'Alaa also claimed that "at Camp David the Israelis offered
Palestinian sovereignty over the ground and Israeli sovereignty
under the ground.
Who would agree to this? They offered Palestinian sovereignty,
and Israeli super-sovereignty. There is no precedent such a
thing. They also offered Palestinian control under Israeli
sovereignty, in a sort of diplomatic representation, similar
the status of an embassy that has sovereignty in Israeli land.
Whoever agrees to such offers betrays faith." (10)
A classified report by the Palestinian leadership on the
Camp David summit refers to this Israeli offer: "The Israelis
offered to divide the sovereignty .so that the Palestinians
would have vertical sovereignty from the sky to the ground,
and the Israelis would have sovereignty from the surface to
the center of the earth. What they intended by this offer
was the right to dig for the remains of the so-called temple,
which [archeological] digs have failed to find for the last
seventy years."
(11)
PLO Executive Committee Chairman Abu Mazen too denied the
right of the Jews to a prayer site on Temple Mount.
He raised a practical argument: the Palestinian experience
with Jews in joint Jewish-Muslim prayer sites.
He stated: "We have learned the lessons of the Tomb of the
Patriarchs in Hebron, and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem. The
Jews asked to visit them, then it became the basis for
[further] demands. In the Hebron mosques, they asked to
pray at the site, and today anyone who visits the Tomb is
beaten [by them]. For these reasons, as a matter of principle
we will allow neither [Jewish] sovereignty nor prayer in,
around, or above the mosques. (12)
_________________
Footnotes:
(II) Arafat recalled that even Moshe Dayan himself
prohibited Jews from praying on the Temple Mount after
1967: " [So] why do they want to do it now? The [Israeli]
proposals are like mines that will ignite fires in the region
and throughout the world. Beware not to repeat these proposals
[because] they are dangerous and destructive." Al-Ayyam.
August 6, 2000.
(III) According to the reports, Ereiqat made this denial at
a Camp David meeting in the presence of President Clinton,
who noted that the Christian Minister at Camp David believes
Israel's version. Ha'aretz (Israel), July 27, 2000.
___________________________
Akram Haniya, editor of Al-Ayyam and an Arafat advisor who
participated in Camp David, criticized the Israeli demands, and furthermore their acceptance by the US: "The secular [Israeli] negotiators began speaking the language of extremist religious Jews. Suddenly, the Jewish access to the [Muslim] holy sites and Israeli sovereignty over the mountain became a basic Israeli demand. But the dangerous thing about it was that the Americans
endorsed these demands without hesitation or any thought about the
implications." (13)
Palestinian claims to the Western Wall
The Palestinians state that the Western Wall is also a holy Islamic
site and an Islamic Waqf. Its holiness derives, according to The Koran and
Muslim tradition, from its being the site where the Prophet Muhammad landed
in his divine nocturnal journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. The Western Wall is
where he tied his horse called 'Al-Buraq,' and it is known in Islam as 'The
Al-Buraq Wall.'
At Camp David, Arafat also based his claim to the site on an "assertion by the British mandatory government in 1929 that the Western Wall is the Wall of Al-Buraq, and that it is regarded as an Islamic Waqf and an historic Islamic right." (14)
The PA mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri explained that
the Western Wall is part of the Al-Aqsa Wall, and therefore is an Islamic Waqf. On the other hand, he asserted: "no stone of the Al-Buraq Wall has
any relation to Judaism. The Jews began praying at this wall only in the
nineteenth century, when they began to develop [national] aspirations, as
Yossi Beilin has said." (15)
Nevertheless, the Palestinians are ready to acknowledge the right of Jews to
pray at the Western Wall out of "respect to Judaism," but only on the condition that the sovereignty over it will be Palestinian.
PA Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Feisal Al-Husseiny explained that:
"The PA is ready to discuss all the arrangements relating to free access,
worship and Jews visiting Jerusalem, on the condition that the sovereignty
over the city be fully Palestinian." (16) However, as Abu 'Alaa asserted:
"there is no point in discussing the details of these arrangements, before
Israel has recognized Palestinian sovereignty over [East] Jerusalem." (17)
Abu Mazen recognized the fact that "Jerusalem is holy for all
[religions]" and explained that even though the Jews would be granted the right to pray at the wall - the wall will remain an Islamic Waqf: "All parties have
a right to their religious worship on the mountain. The Jews have the
right to visit the Western Wall and pray there, despite the fact that the
British Commission asserted in 1929 that the wall is an Islamic Waqf. Arafat
has always said that he will allow them to pray at the site." (18)
Arafat expressed this idea in an interview with the Japanese news
agency NHK during his last visit to Tokyo. While rejecting Israel's claim to
sovereignty on Temple Mount, he added: "However, I offered them [the
Jews] freedom of prayer at the Western Wall. They are praying there, and I
offered that they would be able to continue with their prayers,
because I respect Judaism." Arafat reiterated this statement repeatedly during
the interview. In an answer to the interviewer's question about the
holiness of the Wall to the Jews too, he said: "I have offered them free access to pray at the Western Wall .they will have an open corridor to reach the
Western Wall." (19)
PA Mufti Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri, dismissed the concern that the prohibitions
that kept Jews from reaching the "Al-Buraq Wall" from 1948 and 1967, may be
repeated if a Palestinian State is granted sovereignty over the Western
Wall. "Circumstances have changed," he said, "[now] there is international
recognition [of the right to religious worship] - and the Jews are able to
reach the Wall. Arafat can tell them: 'Give me sovereignty over Jerusalem,
and I will make it possible for you to reach the 'Al-Buraq Wall' and pray
there. I promise you freedom of worship.' [However] granting free access
to the wall does not mean that the Wall will belong to them. The Wall is
ours." (20)
Endnotes:
(1) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida (PA), August 10, 2000.
(2) Al-Ayyam (PA), August 10, 2000.
(3) Al-Quds (Jerusalem), July 20, 2000.
(4) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 8, 2000.
(5) Al-Quds, August 15, 2000.
(6) Saut Al-Haqq Wa Al-Hurriyya (Israeli Arab weekly), August 25,
2000.
(7) Al-Ayyam, July 27, 2000.
(8) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 12, 2000.
(9) Al-Ayyam, July 30, 2000.
(10) Al-Ayyam, August 12, 2000.
(11) Al-Quds, August 18, 2000.
(12) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 19, 2000.
(13) Al-Ayyam, August 3, 2000.
(14) Al-Hayat (London-Beriut), July 27, 2000.
(15) Kul Al-Arab (Israeli Arab weekly), August 18, 2000.
(16) Al-Ayyam, August 22, 2000.
(17) Al-Ayyam, July 30, 2000 and Al-Quds, July 25, 20000.
(18) Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, August 19, 2000.
(19) Japanese News Agency NHK, August 15, 2000. Asked by the
interviewer
about the possibility of sharing responsibility in the holy sites for
all
three religions, Arafat reacted decisively: "Sharing of
responsibilities?
No! .I cannot agree to that. I am not allowed to accept any
[foreign]
sovereignty on places holy to Christianity and Islam."
(20) Kul Al-Arab, August 16, 2000.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization providing translations of the Arab media and original analysis and research on developments in the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available upon request.
