With home demolitions and evictions occurring on a near daily basis, the theft of villagers' land going on round the clock, and the illegal and immoral siege of Gaza still in force years after it began, few would begrudge Palestinians airing their grievances against their oppressors. However, given that there are so many opportunities for legitimate protest against Israeli government policy, it is to certain Palestinians' discredit that they refuse to choose their battles more judiciously.
Meting out violence against worshippers planning to pray at Judaism's holiest site, as occurred several times during the last week, is a disgraceful way to demonstrate against the Israeli authorities, and the sooner Palestinian leaders condemn the aggression, the better for all parties concerned. Letting off steam in such a fashion might soothe the sense of injured pride felt by many on the Palestinian street, as well as score cheap political points among their more incendiary leaders, but it does not mitigate the negative effects of such a base response by the rioters.
The Temple Mount is, arguably, even more important to Jews than it is to Muslims, and as such there is a heavy onus on both sides to tread carefully when attempting to share the site. Anything that sets off a spark in the tinderbox atmosphere which perennially surrounds the compound will have long-lasting ramifications that will continue well after the teargas has cleared and the rock-throwers have been dispersed. By reacting as they did, the Palestinian protesters have done immeasurable damage to their wider national cause.
That is not to say that the Israeli police are blameless for stoking up tension, nor the more extreme elements of the Jewish worshippers who perniciously conflate their spiritual obligations with their nationalist tendencies. Radicals from the settler movement are adept at hijacking religious occasions and turning them into highly charged, political rallies – and when such instances occur, the Israeli authorities ought to stand in their path rather than aid and abet extremists in their provocation.
However, for Palestinians to demand that Jews not be allowed to hold services on the Temple Mount, especially over the Rosh Hashanah-Yom Kippur period, is a step too far, and demonstrates a level of intolerance that no Israeli should have to put up with. Love or hate one another, Jews and Muslims living in Israel and the occupied territories know full well that the contentious locations of many of their holy sites necessitate at least a minimal degree of co-operation.
Hebron is a case in point: the Cave of Machpela, where antecedents of both Judaism and Islam are interred, is divided into a synagogue and mosque on a permanent basis in order for Jews and Muslims to be able to utilise the site in line with their religious requirements. While the setup is not ideal, especially for Palestinians whose access to the cave is often disrupted by curfews or other military activity in the area, the core understanding is that neither side exclusively "owns" Machpela, and such thinking allows a far greater degree of harmony than occurs in the heart of Jerusalem's old city.
Following Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, the Israeli government rescinded control of the Temple Mount to the Waqf (Islamic religious authority), while nominally retaining sovereignty over the site. The decision was taken in light of prime minister Eshkol's declaration during his 1963-9 period in office that "no harm whatsoever shall come to the places sacred to all religions", and was seen as a gesture of benevolence to the Muslim residents of the area.
While responsibility for the escalation of the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies mainly at the feet of Israel's succession of belligerent leaders, the Waqf's continued intransigence regarding the Temple Mount has only exacerbated tensions between the more orthodox factions of Israeli and Palestinian society. Waqf officials have destroyed archaeological evidence from the compound on numerous occasions, blocked attempts by Jewish groups to access the historical artefacts contained therein and made threatening and incendiary gestures whenever religious Jews express their legitimate desire to pray at the site – as most recently witnessed with this week's clashes.
Tarring all religious Jews as radicals hell-bent on "stealing" the Temple Mount from the Muslims and calling for Palestinians to use violence to prevent Jews being allowed to pray there, is an unfair and unnecessary stance to take – yet few dissenting voices have emanated from the Palestinian camp decrying the sabre-rattling. Instead, senior figures like Saeb Erekat have ludicrously compared the presence of 15 Jewish worshippers on the Temple Mount to Ariel Sharon's infamous march around the compound nine years ago, while the Jordanian government rebuked Israel for daring to disperse violent protesters attempting to attack Israeli civilians.
In doing so, officials such as Erekat and his Jordanian counterparts play into the hands of the Israeli right, who will use the incidents as proof that not only are certain elements of Palestinian society untameable, but that their backers both at home and abroad turn a blind eye to their misdeeds and offer no hope of calming such tense standoffs whenever they occur. Just as the Israeli authorities must rein in their own extremists, so must the Palestinian leadership reciprocate when the tables are turned. If they don't, they cannot expect a thawing in relations with their Israeli opponents – which is what the situation desperately needs, for the benefit of those on both sides of the divide.
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