The Third Temple and the Third World War

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clipped from www.israeltoday.co.il Israeli Muslims seem to take the possible building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem much more seriously than the nation's Jews. This became a hot-button issue with the reconstruction of the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City, which Israeli Arabs and Palestinians saw as a sign that the Jews are planning to rebuild the Temple. Muslim politicians and clerics issued dire warnings: "Save Jerusalem from the Jewish threat!" "Save the the Mosque of Al Aksa from destruction!" "Construction of the Third Temple is a Jewish conspiracy to control the world!" From their point of view, the Third Temple is a recipe for the Third World War. The Temple Mount is the focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As the site of the two biblical Temples it is the holiest place in Judaism, and Muslims claim it as the third holiest place in Islam. It represents the clash between two revelations, the Bible and the Koran, and between Jewish and Muslim nationalism.

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Synagogue opens in Jerusalem

clipped from english.aljazeera.net Israel has stepped up security in occupied Jerusalem amid the reopening of what many Jews consider as one of the most important places of worship. The rebuilt Hurva synagogue opened its doors in Jerusalem's Old City for the first time in more than 60 years on Monday. The synagogue, first built in 1694, was first destroyed in 1721 and then demolished during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial. Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, and the Hurva are about just 700 metres apart. "We permit believers of other faiths to conserve their places of  worship. We proudly protect our heritage, while at the same time  allowing others freedom of religion," he said. "Israel is playing with fire and touching off the first spark to make the region explode," he said. "Certainly the situation is tense here," she said.

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