Freedom of religion is supposed to be one of the inalienable rights of Western Civilization. It is one of the most easily recognizable identifiers that show the difference between free and unfree societies. It is enshrined in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
This difference was brought home to me today when Farhana Rahman, a Muslim Zionist from New York posted on Facebook a letter she received from Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the Rabbi of the Western Wall. In it, Rabbi Rabinowitz wrote:
I was very moved by what you wrote about your visit to the Western Wall. During these trying times in our region, it is rare to hear the clear voice of truth. The Western Wall is open to any worshipper on any day of the year at any time of the day. We are proud that the Western Wall is one of the only sacred sites in the world where freedom of worship is so carefully preserved for any visitor and any worshipper…
As you yourself experienced – you are always invited, with love and joy, to visit and to pray at the Western Wall.
Non-Jews visiting and praying at the Western Wall is nothing new. Both Christians, like the Pope, and Muslims like Qanta Ahmed (the accidental Zionist) have done so, as well as Israeli and Turkish Muslims as documented by blogger Elder of Ziyon. People of all religions are free to visit and pray at Jewish holy sites and are even invited to do so by rabbis.
However, when anyone even mentions the idea of Jews praying on the Temple Mount (Judaism’s holiest site) it is enough to cause a riot. Suddenly freedom of religion and worship fly out the window in order to appease radical Islamists. Back in September of 2015 as the current violence was just getting underway, Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed:
“The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is ours… and [Jews] have no right to defile it with their filthy feet.”
This message is amplified and radicalized even further by Imams in al-Aqsa itself. Imams like Sheikh Khaled al-Mughrabi who, according to the Times of Israel, openly preach “that Jews kidnap non-Jewish children in order to extract their blood into barrels with nails. He has claimed Jews control the world’s wealth and use their control of the pharmaceutical industry to spread disease.” And what is the only rational conclusion his listeners can conclude from this? The Jews must be exterminated of course:
“We will go after the Jews everywhere… They won’t escape us, they won’t be able to escape us. The Children of Israel will all be wiped out.”
These Jew-hating “sermons,” which would have fit right in at a rally in Berlin in 1939 if they were only in German, are often broadcast on official Palestinian Authority television. The Palestinian Ministry of Religious affairs, at least on paper, has oversight of the sermons and sheikhs who preach in al-Aqsa. That means that either that the PA is either unwilling to do anything about this extremism or is actively encouraging it. Given Abbas’s own statements on the matter, it seems obvious that this is being openly encouraged.
So while Israel is welcoming non-Jews to visit and pray at the Western Wall, the Palestinian Authority is saying that not only will it do everything in its power to prevent Jews from even setting (filthy) foot on the Temple Mount but is actually encouraging the annihilation of the Jewish people.
If ever there was a struggle between freedom and tyranny or good and evil, this is it.
