On Wednesday, May 14 Ari Soffer of Israel International News reported that two U.S. congressmen experienced first hand what it is like on Jerusalem's Temple Mount now that the site is controlled by Muslims during a trip to Israel. As Ben Caspit of Al-Monitor reported last month, the Temple Mount--which is the most holy site in Judaism and the third most holy site in Islam--is being overseen by members of Hamas and other Islamic groups. Jews have limited access to the place where their temple once stood and they are usually not allowed to pray or conduct other religious rites while they are there.
According to Soffer, "In what has become something of a trend, two U.S. congressmen participated in a fact finding mission on the Temple Mount early Wednesday morning, to witness firsthand the discriminatory treatment meted out to non-Muslims on Judaism's holiest site.
 American lawmakers were also accompanied by their wives.
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While they were there, an Israeli intelligence officer used a video camera to film them and make sure that they didn't engage in any non-Muslim religious activities. This is typical behavior by Israeli military and police forces who try to minimize the number of incidents that might offend Muslims in the area.
A recent Jerusalem Post editorial gave a brief overview of how Muslim control of the Temple Mount has affected the religious lives of Jews living in Israel. The editorial board also provided an historical context that may help people living outside of Jerusalem understand the situation more.
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Soffer added that Jews who are suspected of breaking the rules are frequently banned from visiting for a period of time - "this despite numerous court rulings stating that such measures contravene Israel's Basic Laws concerning religious freedom." He went on to say that Harris expressed concern that Muslims are not allowing people of other faiths to worship in their own ways at the site.
Soffer quoted Harris as saying, ".'"
Frequent Fox News commentator Allen West commented on the situation on Thursday, May 15. He said the way Muslims have been treating non-Muslims who visit the site is very consistent with how followers of Mohammed have behaved for hundreds of years.
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Muslims have not been respecting what Jews value about the site even as they strive to protect the Dome of the Rock and other buildings that were erected long after the first and second Jewish temples were built. Soffer added that some Jewish traditions say that the creation of the world began with the Temple Mount. It would be difficult to find evidence to back those claims up in the Old Testament or historical records from other sources, but they do help explain why the site is so important to practicing Jews.
The Temple Mount is important and sacred to Muslims because of a similar tradition that would be equally difficult to prove. There is a tradition that Mohammed ascended into heaven from a rock called the Foundation Stone accompanied by the archangel Gabriel. While he was there, he prayed with Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Foundation Stone mentioned in the story is supposedly kept inside the Dome of the Rock. The only problem with that story is that the text never mentions Jerusalem by name, so it would be difficult to confirm that they chose the right stone when Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ordered the building of the shrine in 689 A.D.
An argument can be made that the only reason why there are Muslim shrines on the Temple Mount in the first place is that Muslim leaders at the time wanted to make sure Jews could no longer access their holy site. If that was the case, it would be in keeping with West's example of the Hagia Sophia.
Considering that all the claims on theTemple Mount are based on matters of faith, it is disheartening to see that Muslims and Jews can't share the site peacefully. There has been a long tradition of fighting over it. A few years ago, Israeli police restricted Palestinian access to their shrines. More recently, Muslims resorted to rioting as a way to keep Jews and Christians from worshipping there. Now that Muslims have control, it is sad to see that they are essentially getting payback for things that happened in the past instead of trying to build a better future.