The following articles are compiled by:

Rick Allinson

Rick@WatchmenWatching.com

 

 

 

Jerusalem Emerges as Stumbling Block in Mideast Peace Talks
Source: VOA
 

11 October 2007 – Jerusalem is emerging as a major stumbling block in new peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.  As Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, both Jews and Muslims are claiming the city's holy sites as their own.

A senior Palestinian official has thrown a wrench into peace talks by saying that the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, the holiest place in Judaism, belongs to Islam and the Palestinians.
 

The Palestinian Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Adnan Husseini says the Western Wall is a "Wakf" or Islamic Trust that must be returned to Palestinian control.  He told Israel Radio that it is a supporting wall for the al-Aksa Mosque, the third holiest place in Islam.
 

For Israel, the wall is the last remnant of the biblical Temple, and turning it over to the Palestinians is unthinkable.
 

As Israel and the Palestinians try to hammer out a declaration of principles to be presented at an international peace conference this year, Jerusalem is back on the negotiating table.
 

In a compromise proposal earlier this week, Israel offered to hand over some Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem to Palestinian control, though that would not include the Old City, where contested holy sites are located.
 

Israeli parliamentarian Reuven Rivlin, of the hawkish opposition Likud party, says the government made a mistake by negotiating on Jerusalem in the first place.  

 

Rivlin told Israel Radio that if you begin by offering Arab neighborhoods to the Palestinians then you end at the Western Wall.  He said no Israeli leader has the right to negotiate over Jerusalem, which he says is the eternal capital of the Jewish people.

 

Reinforcing Palestinian demands, President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel must withdraw from all territory captured in the 1967 war, including Jerusalem's Old City.  Israel's government says that is a non-starter.  

 

 

Temple Mount remains peace obstacle
Source: IMIDINews
 

14 October 2007 – Palestinian authorities say the Arab world would never make lasting peace with Israel if the site of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem was not handed over.

 

Islam's Nobel Sanctuary in the Old City of Jerusalem, which includes the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is on a religious site that also contains the Temple Mount, the holiest site for Judaism. Israel and the Palestinian Authority both claim sovereignty over the site -- one of the most contested pieces of land in the world.

 

A senior Palestinian authority told Haaretz the thought of the site remaining in Israeli control is inconceivable and a deal-breaker for any piece settlement.

No Palestinian leader would agree to this, certainly not (PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas), the official said. No Arab country would agree for a final-status arrangement in which the Temple Mount was not in Muslim hands, particularly not Saudi Arabia.   

 

 

Comments:  Ten to twenty five years ago you could hardly find any news article about the Temple Mount, now it is in the news almost every day of the week. Even the Western wall is getting more attention since the Palestinians are now claiming that as their property too. All these demands by the Palestinians may just derail the ongoing peace negotiations and set the parties into a deadlock again. We will have to wait and see what the summit next month brings.

 

The bible tells us that the Temple Mount will be divided in the future and allow for the rebuilding of the Jewish third Temple. It could be possible that a division of the platform may occur with the current peace process but considering the current status quo on the Mount that may not be likely at this time. The Arabs would never allow the rebuilding of a Jewish Temple without going to war over it first and the Jews wouldn’t rebuild unless there was an unnatural event that inspires them to do so. Something may have to give soon since Jerusalem is the focus of attention now.

 

 

 

Re 11:1 ¶ And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

 2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

 

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'Major earthquake in Israel – a matter of time'
 

14 October 2007 – GII picks up two small earthquakes in Jordan rift valley area over past few days. Study shows major quake is pending

A 3.0 magnitude earthquake struck the Jordan rift valley area. The Geophysical Institute of Israel noted the seismic activity around 6pm Saturday. The Jordan rift valley is in close proximity to the volatile Syrian-African Rift.

 Rami Hofstetter, head of the Geophysical Institute of Israel told Ynet that "our instruments picked up two small quakes in the area over the last few days – the first one registering at 2.9 and the second of a 2.5 magnitude."

Shmuel Marko of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Geophysics in Tel Aviv University and Oded Katz of the GII, have recently published a new study, saying a major earthquake is heading Israel's way.

 Past data, said the two, proves that such a quake is just a matter of time. "We know that the area between the Kinneret and the Dead Sea was subject to several large quakes, in 31BC, 362BC, 749BC and 1033AD. Another major one is coming soon."  

 

 

Comments:  Jerusalem is not far from the Jordan rift Valley and a major quake near Jerusalem could see catastrophic damage to the Southern wall of the Temple Mount. If you remember back in 2002 a bulge appeared in the wall and it was feared that even the enormous crowds on top of the Mount could cause the huge wall to give way and possibly bring down the Al Aqsa Mosque. (Southern Wall picture) Temple Mount Wall May Collapse Due to Ramadan Crowds.  The Coming Fall of the Temple Mount. Engineers have been working on the wall to fix it but only so much can be done without moving the huge stones that are there.

If a major earthquake is heading Israel’s way you can be sure that it will be according to God’s plan.

 

Re 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

 

Re 11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

 

 

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Keep watching (Matt 24:42)!

 

Until next time,

Shalom!

 

 

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