“We don’t want you here.” Those were his exact words: “We don’t want you here.”

The cursing tongue was lashing out in the direction of my brother, Paul, but I was standing right next to him. We were taking a tour to the four gates of the temple in the old city of Jerusalem.

The old city, the part with most of the historical sites and shrines sacred to three major religions, is divided into four sectors; a Jewish Sector, Armenian Sector, Arab Sector and Christian Sector.

Back on my first day in Israel, when we took a standard, popular, official tour, we were under armed guard while going through the Arab Sector. No guards were necessary for the three other sectors, because, as a general rule, they are safe. But people get murdered in the Arab Sector, especially Jews, Jews being destroyed by fellow Israeli citizens, Arab- Israeli citizens.

Today, however, there was nothing ordinary about our walk, or the information being disseminated.  We were on a more informal, unofficial, unpopular tour and we were not under armed guard this time.  Our Jewish tour guide, Simcha , still led us boldly through the Arab streets and shops. As I have said in previous diary entries, I felt safe in the care of God the entire time I was in Israel, even though I was surrounded by places where many Jews have experienced their last breath.  Simcha  brought us to the Temple Mount from the Arab side,(east) facing the Dome of the Rock (the Muslim shrine that sits where the temple once stood.)

“This is as far as a Jew is allowed to venture,” he said. “Orthodox Jews will not set foot in the Dome of the Rock but this spot is the closest permitted space where we can kneel nearest to where the Holy of Holies once stood.”

As you probably know, the Holy of Holies was the inner chamber of the temple, separated from the Holy Place by a curtain. Only the High Priest could venture inside and even he, only once a year. Inside, was the Ark of the Covenant, where the very presence of God dwelt. A rope was put around the foot of the High Priest. This was a precaution. Should he drop dead in the presence of God, others could pull his body out by rope without venturing forth themselves. Our guide, Simcha, was excited to be this close to the presence of God. I personally do not believe God’s presence is there any more, at least not in the same fixated manner as when He dwelt inside the Ark, but it was still awesome to be in this spot, so close to where THE LORD once lived amongst His people.

While standing there, an Arab gentleman brushed by my brother Paul, muttering something in Arabic.

“What did he say?” Paul asked Simcha.

From Simcha’s expression, we could immediately tell that he knew what had been said and also knew we would not care for the translation: “His literal words were, ‘We don’t want you here!’”

“I’ll just bet he doesn’t want us here!” I said. But he was gone now and did not hang around long enough for us to respond. In the mere moments it took for us to understand what this stranger shared, he had disappeared like a wisp of smoke.

People hear all the time about Arab refugees who vacated the land of Israel in 1948. Most of them left to join up with attacking Arab countries, or at least get out of the way as enemy armies attempted to completely annihilate Israel.  What people do not hear about, are the 160,000 Arabs who chose to remain in Israel. They and their descendants became Israeli citizens. The Arabs who live in Israel today have more rights than any Arab living in any Arab country.

After the 1947 armistice, the country of Jordan occupied half of Jerusalem and Israel had the other half. But the ENTIRE old city was in Jordan’s domain! This means that from 1948 until 1967 (The Six Day War) Jews were never allowed on the Temple Mount, not even to pray at the Western Wall.

In 1967, 9 different nations (Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq), declared war on Israel and promised to exterminate every Jew.

“Egypt is ready to plunge into a total war that will be the end of Israel.” (Radio Cairo, May 17, 1967)

Surprising the world with a preemptive strike, Israel defeated these countries in just six days. At that time, their territory was expanded to the West Bank, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, the Sinai, and the ENTIRE city of Jerusalem. What did Israel do when she regained complete control over her holy city again?  Did she throw the Muslims out? Did she forbid them to worship in the Dome that was built over the ruins of a Jewish Temple Mount? Did she treat her enemies the way they had treated her? No. Muslims still have access to their shrine.  There is talk today about world pressure forcing Israel’s return to the Pre-1967 borders. If Jerusalem were put under Muslim control, would Israel be permitted to worship at the Western Wall?  Would Jews be allowed to live in the city? What do you think?  I’ll give you three guesses and the first two don’t count.

The 1948 war also saw Jewish refugees from every Arab country. They were kicked out of their own homes and they were all taken into Israel. We never hear about the Jewish refugees, only the Arab refugees. And again, we seldom learn of the Arabs who continue to live in Israel, such as this fellow who said to my brother, “We don’t want you here.”

Our tour guide, Simcha, was a gutsy fellow. A younger man, he lives with his wife and family in Hebron, home to the burial place of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Sarah. It is part of the “disputed territory” and the Israeli government is considering a coerced, anti-exodus: The citizens of Hebron may be commanded by law to turn the land over to the Arabs. The Israeli government often acts as its own worst enemy. The Liberals in Israel are much like the Liberals of America, blaming their own country for most of the problems of the world, knowing so little about the history of their own nation, dooming their country to a repeat of history, hoping (in naivety) that deals with terrorists will reduce terrorism.

This brave man, Simcha, may be forcefully evicted from his own home in the very near future. Just imagine, a Jew being told that he has no historical claim to the burial spot of Abraham! But Simcha is not one to wait around for trouble. Meanwhile, every Passover, he brings a lamb to the Temple Mount for sacrifice. He is arrested by the Israeli authorities and he does a little time in jail.  It happens year after year.

The temple mount; a sacred place to Jews because of the holy temple that once stood upon it. Will there be a third temple in the near future? This leads me to an additional tour I took that same day, another of those rare experiences which few find when they visit Israel: It’s called the Third Temple Tour and this will be the subject of my next diary entry.

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