Friday, July 06, 2012

Who Is The Stone Fool?

From Emily Amrousi's column, The fool's stone

If the God particle had not been found in Switzerland, it would have been discovered here...The land of Israel is filled with holiness and God particles. But try to deal with particles that have no public relations representatives.

Take for example the Foundation Stone, a flat stone that lies at the center of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. According to Jewish tradition, it is the holiest place on earth. Even archeologists have no doubt about its precious value...Muslims have maintained the site, which is holy to them as well, for years. They never touch the stone itself except to dust it off once a year and return it to its place.

Last week, images were published showing huge iron scaffolds and construction material covering the stone. The Waqf, the Islamic body with authority over the Temple Mount, is renovating the ceiling of the dome to enhance the structure and emphasize its Arabic design, and has placed metal tools and pales on top of the exposed stone. Workers with shoddy footwear move about the site, and yes, we need to be worried. The Foundation Stone is a powder keg, and ignoring calls for Israel's sovereignty in the area may lead to a dangerous struggle. But in the midst of all the caution, we forgot to cry...The indifference hurts. Cry, Jews, cry over the holy of holies where even a single God particle did not survive this week.

...The strange behavior of the Waqf, which is responsible itself for damaging the Foundation Stone — the spot from which Islamic tradition says the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven — is part of an ongoing struggle based on recollection and identity. The denial of Jewish roots in the area has become a sport.

...Another false claim is that Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine. (In fact, Jerusalem was never an Arab or Muslim capital, even for a single day.)...Palestinians are transferring archeological findings from the Jewish closet to the Islamic closet. History is being rewritten. And what about us? We act like the three iconic monkeys and think that "Foundation Stone" is a great name for a pub.

No comments: