Several bloggers were kind enough to post my links on the subject before I joined Kesher Talk, the most generous being Tonecluster and InContext (thanks, Jason and Lynn!).
Lynn took the story and ran with it, asking:
. . . . where is the world's outrage? When the Taliban blew up the ancient giant Buddahs in Afghanistan, people all over the globe justifiably erupted in protest and anger. That atrocity couldn't be prevented because the Taliban ruled the land in which those antiquities resided. But the Waqf doesn't rule the land of Israel. The Waqf doesn't rule Jerusalem and, but for the grace of the Israeli government, the Waqf doesn't even rule the Temple Mount. An outpouring of world support for the protection of Judaism's holiest site would surely alert the Waqf that its actions are unacceptable. The world's silence goes a long way toward confirming the opposite.
Just imagine the outrage if Israel conquered Mecca and proceeded to raze the Kaaba to build an office tower.
Tal G now links to the most recent sorry episode.
This was instructive:
MK Abdul Malik Dahamshe entered the room one hour into the session [of the Knesset], and began heckling the speakers, claiming the site is completely Islamic. When he would not desist with his interruptions, he was ordered out of the room. After he refused to leave, Orlev called a three-minute break during which he was ushered out. Five minutes later, Dahamshe was permitted back in.
This guy is an Israeli MP. This would be like Cynthia McKinney haranging Congress to declare Plymouth Rock a site sacred to the Southern Baptists, after they built a church on top of it and wouldn't let anyone but Southern Baptists in. Or something. There really is no equivalent.
Lynn reminds us of yet another example of Arab world's shameless fact-twisting about the Mount for political ends.
I believe this is what is called a "narrative." Tal also mentions a comment by Israel's recent ambassador to the EU (what a thankless job!) to the effect that that "the new generation of Western European leaders "grew up" on the "Palestinian narrative". They have to call it a "narrative" because it sure ain't history, which is based on, you know, facts. Then they convince the rest of the world, with lots of help from pomo humanities professors, that facts are irrelevant and, you know, just not cool. At that point, tangible evidence of a people's cultural history (not to mention its holiest site) becomes marble chips in a garbage dump, certainly not as important as a new parking lot for the mosque.
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