Essay Example on Conflict Over Jerusalem as Israel's Capital City

The issue of the capital city has for a long time been the source of conflict between the Jews and the Muslims. In 2017, the Jerusalem was declared the capital city of Israel despite Tel Avin being the capital for a long time. The declaration made the Muslim groups to believe that Israel is planning to start a war on Islamic religion. The Muslims also claimed that Israel is attempting to turn the Dome of the Rock into a praying site for the Jewish religion (Sale 14). The president of Palestine reacted in the declaration by saying that restriction of access to the Temple Mount is a declaration of the War between the Jewish and Islam. Up to the time when Jerusalem was declared a capital city of Israel, Christianity, and Islamic religions recognized Jerusalem as their holy place.

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The conflict about who should take control of the Temple Mount started a long time ago when Islamic claimed that Temple Mount in their third-holiest place and there is no evidence to prove that the Dome of the Rock was the Jewish's holy place. In the current conflict, the Israel and Palestinians are involved. These religions wanted to fully own and control Jerusalem, especially the Dome of the Rock. Consequently, there is a conflict between the Islamic religions and Christianity concerning who should make the Dome of the Rock their holy place. Since the establishment of the Israel state, the conflict between the Arabs who are mostly Islamic and Jews has intensified. Jewish believers believe that the Temple Mount is the holiest place for Christians, while Islam believes that the Temple Mount is the third-holiest place after Mecca and Medina. Jews believe that the Temple Mount was given to them by God while Islamic religions made the Temple Mount their third-holiest place because they wanted to choose an area which they will use to commemorate the ascent to heaven of Prophet Mohammed. The conflict over the Dome of the Rock is escalating because biblically, Jews are believed to be the first inhabitants of Jerusalem while the Muslims do not accept this fact thus; they keep on destroying the remains of the Jewish Temple in the Dome of the Rock and deny that Jewish never existed in the Temple Mount (Cohen 15). Jewish want to destroy the Dome of the Rock and replace it with the Temple of Solomon while the Muslims are renovating the Dome of the Rock because they believe that it is their third-holiest place and it is their responsibilities to keep it holy. The issue surrounding the Temple Mount is who should take control and worship in the Temple Mount.

The Jewish and Islamic have different perspectives concerning the Temple Mount. According to the Jewish, they believe that declaring Jerusalem as the capital city is a plan to make the Temple Mount the worshipping site for the Jews. The site is also where the Dome of the Rock is built is where the ancient Jewish Temple was built. According to the Muslims, the Temple Mount is known to be their noble sanctuary where Mohammed ascended to heaven. Currently, the Temple Mount is where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, which is the third-holiest place for Muslims. Therefore, both Islamic and Jewish perceive the Temple Mount as their holy places.

Jewish and Islamic religions are having misunderstandings regarding who should pray in the Temple Mount. The misinterpretation has caused conflicts between the Jewish and Islamic religions. One religion's point of view tends to contradict other religion's perspective towards the Temple Mount (Reiter 102). For instance, Muslims speculates that Jewish has the intentions to change the status quo put in place for the site, some Palestinian leaders went ahead to urge the Muslims to go and worship in the Temple Mount despite being closed by the Israel. This misunderstanding is causing conflicts between the Jewish and the Islamic religion.

Jewish and Islamic religions are in a battle the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. None of them wants to lose the fight because they believe that their perceptions are correct; therefore, each of them is entitled to control the Temple Mount where the Muslims have constructed the Dome of the Rock. The two religions' arguments are based on the knowledge they have about the Temple Mount. For instance, Muslims believe that Prophet Mohammed flew to the Temple Mount for a visit, and this was when he ascended to heaven.

On the other hand, Jewish believe that Temple Mount was given to them by God (Schenker 121). Palestine and Israel are attempting to protect and appreciate each religion's identity by restricting access to the Temple Mount. Through this restriction, conflicts over the Temple Mount will reduce. Currently, Israel government is in control of the Temple, and this has led to a negative response from the Islamic religions who claim that Israel wants to destroy the Dome of the Rock and make the Temple Mount a worshipping site for Jewish.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the issues surrounding Jerusalem, especially the Temple Mount, is very critical, and both the religions will not agree to solve these issues amicably. Jewish and Islam want their religions to be appreciated, and the knowledge they have about the Temple should be respected. Until the issues surrounding the Temple Mount are resolved, conflicts will still escalate every time because both religions are protecting their religion and none of them will want to be sidelined.

Works Cited

Cohen, Hillel. "The Temple Mount/al-Aqsa in Zionist and Palestinian national consciousness: A comparative view." Israel Studies Review 32.1 (2017): 1-19.

Reiter, Yitzhak. Contested Holy Places in Israel-Palestine: Sharing and Conflict Resolution. Routledge, 2017.

Sale, Giovanni. "Concerning Jerusalem as Capital." La Civilta Cattolica, English Edition 2.4 (2018): 9-20.Schenker, Hillel. "Our Jerusalem." Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics, and Culture 22.4/1 (2017): 115-133.