Don't belive it will happen, the
Orthodox will riot in the streets if they try...would bet they already are
no?
- Original Message -
From:
Charles
To: SandBox Discussion Group
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 11:55
AM
Subject: [Sndbox] Geneva Accords: Israel
to surrender Temple Mount
Geneva Accords: Israel to
surrender Temple MountBy
Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
October 13, 2003
Jerusalem (www.jnewswire.com) - Jewish leftists,
acting without the knowledge or authorization of the Israeli government, have
"agreed" to surrender the Jewish nation's claim to their holiest site - the
Temple Mount.
And Palestinians, acting with the blessing of PLO leader Yasser Arafat,
have agreed to sign away their highly prized "right of return" in exchange for
the one thing Muslim Arabs cherish more: the site of the biblical Jewish
temples.
This is according to reports in the Israeli press Monday, after left wing
former government officials and retired military officers met in Jordan with
senior PLO members at the weekend to finalize "negotiations" on what they
dubbed the Geneva Accords.
The Palestinian leadership of temporary Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has
reportedly indicated it will adopt the understandings, set to be signed at a
ceremony in Geneva as early as November 4.
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount
Israelis describe Jerusalem, the city that was King David's capital more
than 3000 years ago, as the heart of the land of Israel.
The Temple Mount, known in the Bible as Mount Moriah and the Hill of the
Lord, they call the heart of Jerusalem. It was the site of Solomon's Temple
and the Second Temple, which Herod the Great began to refurbish shortly before
the birth of Jesus.
It is also the site of the future throne room of the Messiah King,
according to the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.
The mount, enclosed by the walls of the Old City, is the most volatile
issue in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Arafat used a visit by Sharon to the site in September 2000 as
justification for launching what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa
intifada, a terror war in which nearly 900 Israelis, the vast majority of
them civilians, have been killed.
Driven out of Jerusalem in AD70, after witnessing the devastation of the
city and the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews around the world have
prayed daily for nearly 2000 years to be restored to their capital and their
mount.
In 1967, after the Arab states massed their armies in order to drive the
Jews into the sea, Israel retook control of all Jerusalem, including the
Temple Mount.
Sharon: Jerusalem is ours, forever
Speaking to thousands of pilgrims at a Christian celebration of the Feast
of Tabernacles in Jerusalem last night, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stressed
that the city was "the united and undivided capital of the State of Israel
forever."
According to the International Christian Embassy, which sponsored the
event, Sharon reminded his listeners, including the millions who would hear
his words via the media, that "Jerusalem is mentioned in the Bible 677 times."
"Zion as Jerusalem," he said, "is mentioned another154 times."
"And the name of King David, who made Jerusalem his capital 3000 years ago,
was "mentioned 1083 times. "
By contrast, Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Muslims' Koran.
Sharon rammed home the fact that "only after Jerusalem was reunited in 1967
with the Temple Mount at the center, [was] freedom of worship guaranteed at
all the holy sites."
Government on the defensive
Despite the strongly expressed convictions, it appeared Sunday as if the
Israeli left-wingers who negotiated the "deal" - among them chief
Oslo-architect Yossi Beilin and former Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna - had
put the Sharon government on the defensive.
Last Wednesday, Sharon had knifed into the plotters for what he called "a
cynical political attempt by Labor and the left to topple the government by
illegitimate means."
Left wing groups had been "coordinating their actions with the Palestinians
behind the government's back," Sharon said, and this at a time when Israel was
"engaged in a difficult campaign against terror."
Reacting to the news reports on the deal that flooded the Israeli press
Sunday evening, Sharon said the initiative had foiled any chance of advancing
serious negotiations on a peace agreement.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom tried to dismiss the deal as "virtual,"
saying "there is a government in Israel
that deals with such matters," and
adding that he would "not have expected much else from those who brought us
the Oslo Accords, for which foolishness we are still paying the price today
"
Signing ceremony and mailing blitz
Dismissing what Ha'aretz called the government's "fury," the
Beilin-Mitzna
