Night after night we hear the Middle East experts pontificating on the issues at stake in the Arab(Moslem)/Israeli conflict. None has ever addressed the underlying cause of the conflict. The ?problem? is religious/psychological. Identifiable patterns and historical trends have emerged over time that have revealed the psychological aspects of Moslems? religious fanaticism. The phenomenon underlying this conflict is ?cognitive dissonance.? This is the name of a condition in which a person or people grow tense when forced to accept mutually exclusive ideas. Over time, the tension builds and a release valve is needed. In its broadest sense, the dissonance arises when Moslems are forced, upon pain of Hell, to believe that their religion is the true religion but the facts on the ground suggest otherwise. In its micro-analysis, the pinpoint source of the tension is Jerusalem.
The reason for the Moslem war against Judaism in our time is that, in the last 120 years, the Moslems have witnessed the Jews surpass them, theologically, culturally and militarily, and the tension has increased. In our day, the tension has burst through Moslem society. Moslems attack Jews in particular because Jewish success, especially theological, causes Moslems to question the truth of Islam. Moslems are suffering the effects of cognitive dissonance and the release valve is Jew hatred.
The ?ground zero? issue is the Temple Mount, current home of the al-Aksa mosque, and previous home to two Jewish Temples, the holiest place in Judaism. For Moslems, whose faith is based on a revelation that took place after the Jewish revelation of God at Sinai, retaining the mount is a seal of approval on their religious truth by denying Jewish messianic fulfillment.
Yet, Moslems have witnessed miraculous success by the tiny Jewish nation since the start of the Zionist movement in the 1880?s. They have seen an influx of millions of Jews to Palestine/Israel. Jews built an economy and concurrently built a country, something the Moslems never did in Palestine. In 1948, the Jewish people declared a state on (part of) its ancient land. It was the first expression of Jewish independence in the Jewish homeland in more than eighteen hundred years. The Moslems responded with violence. A combined army attacked the new State of Israel, and lost. Arab Palestinians became the conduit for Moslem dissonant tension with the formation of the PLO in 1964. Terrorism became the Moslem state response to Israel and the expression of continuing Moslem tension. Then, in 1967, in the aftermath of a stunning war which lasted only six days, the Jewish people re-unified Israel?s ancient capital, Jerusalem, under Jewish sovereignty. In the battle for Jerusalem, the Moslems perceive themselves to be losing. God?s newest chosen is being ?bested? by God?s cursed. Tension grew and Moslems responded with more violence. Moslem intellectual revisionists began expressing dissonant tension by writing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem out of the history books.
Moslem dissonant tension continued to increase when they came to realize that the Jewish army is strong enough to protect Jews all over the world. Recall Entebbe? Osirak? The tiny state of Israel, with perhaps four million Jews, has been able to hold off a billion Moslems hell-bent on Israel?s destruction. Judaism appears to be on the verge of resurrection while the Golden Age of Islam has long past. All of these observations contradict the preferred Islamic view of the world and causes Islamic tension to rise even more. The questioning of the veracity of Islam gnaws at the soul of every Moslem, in light of Jewish successes.
The Moslem position on Jerusalem is the reason why we hear the mantra calling for Israeli withdrawal to the ?pre-1967 borders? and for a Palestinian state ?with East Jerusalem as its capital.? The 1967 borders guarantee that the Temple Mount will be under Moslem sovereignty. If the Moslems acquire sovereignty over the Temple Mount, it would substantially reduce Islamic tension.
With the re-unification of Jerusalem, the retaking of the Temple Mount, site of Jewish messianic fulfillment, and the stunning successes of the Jewish people in making its ancient homeland bloom, Judaism appears to be marching toward theological messianic fulfillment and Moslems are not taking it well. The current conflict is a religious, not a political, issue. Jewish messianic restoration relies exclusively on the status of the Temple Mount, site of the coming third and final Jewish Temple. For the fulfillment of Judaism to take place, the mosque must be moved to make room for the Jewish Temple.
The Moslems send suicide murderers at the Jews to beat Jews down so that the Jews will eventually turn the Temple Mount over to the Palestinian Moslems. Moslems must have the Temple Mount in order to halt the Jewish march toward theological fulfillment and reduce their own dissonant tension. The dissonant tension ruptured in our day because, at the end of this spate of Palestinian terror against Jews, Moslems fear that they will have to compromise their extreme position on Jerusalem in order to make peace with Israel. This is an ultimate issue, so the tension is great. Jerusalem is the symbol of Jewish divine choseness. Islam has taken on Judaism in a fight over divine truth. Islam has volunteered the Palestinians to be the front line fodder for this jihad. The gruesome way in which Palestinians have chosen to fight this war is related to the level of dissonant tension that gnaws at the Moslem soul.
According to Islam, the God of the Moslems, Allah, is the God of Israel, the same God who revealed Himself to the Jews first. Islam teaches that the revelation of God and Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai is true. Unfortunately, Jews do not agree that Islam contains universal divine truth. Moslems understand that Islam is rejected by the Jews, and that the Jewish basis for rejecting Islam, the Torah, comes from a revelation by God that Moslems admit is true. Allah, in His capacity as the God of Israel, promised that the covenant with the Jews at Sinai is eternal (Dt. 4:40). The Jewish connection to the land is also eternal, as it is written. For Moslems to contradict this teaching is to contradict an admitted revelation of God, which also serves to increase Moslem tension.
Moslem responses to dissonant tension did not begin in the modern era. The same insecurity and need to reduce dissonant tension caused Moslems to plant a cemetery at the Rachamim Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jewish Messianic prophecy suggests that Elijah the prophet will pass through that gate announcing the arrival of messiah. Elijah is a Kohen, a priest, and he is forbidden by Jewish law to enter a cemetery (Lv. 21:1). Moslems must have felt better believing that they have prevented one of God?s prophecies regarding Jewish restoration. People do not take action to prevent an event unless they believe that the event will come to pass.
Not long ago, reports describing the video of the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl indicate that after Mr. Pearl was already dead, having confessed the 'sin' of being Jewish and of Jewish lineage, one of his murderers cathartically stabbed Mr. Pearl?s body, over and over, with a large knife. The murder of Daniel Pearl was a ritual execution of Judaism.
Once again, history is repeating itself. In the 20th century Europe took a third of the Jewish people, and the 21st century is opening with the Moslems trying to take away a third of the Jewish country along with the Temple Mount. The Jews are the sacrificial lamb to appease the ravenous Moslems. The non-Jewish nations continue to devour Israel yet they do not become more robust (Gn. 41:17-21). What is needed is a value judgment: the Moslems have no legitimate theological claim to the land. It must be said over and over by Jews everywhere. What are Jews to do about Moslem insecurity about their faith? Give them a shoulder upon which to cry (watch your neck), but, do not give up our divine inheritance to make them feel better.
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Alan Goldberg is a lawyer practicing general, appellate, family and business law in Calabasas, California. He can be reached at e-basher@justice.com.
The reason for the Moslem war against Judaism in our time is that, in the last 120 years, the Moslems have witnessed the Jews surpass them, theologically, culturally and militarily, and the tension has increased. In our day, the tension has burst through Moslem society. Moslems attack Jews in particular because Jewish success, especially theological, causes Moslems to question the truth of Islam. Moslems are suffering the effects of cognitive dissonance and the release valve is Jew hatred.
The ?ground zero? issue is the Temple Mount, current home of the al-Aksa mosque, and previous home to two Jewish Temples, the holiest place in Judaism. For Moslems, whose faith is based on a revelation that took place after the Jewish revelation of God at Sinai, retaining the mount is a seal of approval on their religious truth by denying Jewish messianic fulfillment.
Yet, Moslems have witnessed miraculous success by the tiny Jewish nation since the start of the Zionist movement in the 1880?s. They have seen an influx of millions of Jews to Palestine/Israel. Jews built an economy and concurrently built a country, something the Moslems never did in Palestine. In 1948, the Jewish people declared a state on (part of) its ancient land. It was the first expression of Jewish independence in the Jewish homeland in more than eighteen hundred years. The Moslems responded with violence. A combined army attacked the new State of Israel, and lost. Arab Palestinians became the conduit for Moslem dissonant tension with the formation of the PLO in 1964. Terrorism became the Moslem state response to Israel and the expression of continuing Moslem tension. Then, in 1967, in the aftermath of a stunning war which lasted only six days, the Jewish people re-unified Israel?s ancient capital, Jerusalem, under Jewish sovereignty. In the battle for Jerusalem, the Moslems perceive themselves to be losing. God?s newest chosen is being ?bested? by God?s cursed. Tension grew and Moslems responded with more violence. Moslem intellectual revisionists began expressing dissonant tension by writing the Jewish connection to Jerusalem out of the history books.
Moslem dissonant tension continued to increase when they came to realize that the Jewish army is strong enough to protect Jews all over the world. Recall Entebbe? Osirak? The tiny state of Israel, with perhaps four million Jews, has been able to hold off a billion Moslems hell-bent on Israel?s destruction. Judaism appears to be on the verge of resurrection while the Golden Age of Islam has long past. All of these observations contradict the preferred Islamic view of the world and causes Islamic tension to rise even more. The questioning of the veracity of Islam gnaws at the soul of every Moslem, in light of Jewish successes.
The Moslem position on Jerusalem is the reason why we hear the mantra calling for Israeli withdrawal to the ?pre-1967 borders? and for a Palestinian state ?with East Jerusalem as its capital.? The 1967 borders guarantee that the Temple Mount will be under Moslem sovereignty. If the Moslems acquire sovereignty over the Temple Mount, it would substantially reduce Islamic tension.
With the re-unification of Jerusalem, the retaking of the Temple Mount, site of Jewish messianic fulfillment, and the stunning successes of the Jewish people in making its ancient homeland bloom, Judaism appears to be marching toward theological messianic fulfillment and Moslems are not taking it well. The current conflict is a religious, not a political, issue. Jewish messianic restoration relies exclusively on the status of the Temple Mount, site of the coming third and final Jewish Temple. For the fulfillment of Judaism to take place, the mosque must be moved to make room for the Jewish Temple.
The Moslems send suicide murderers at the Jews to beat Jews down so that the Jews will eventually turn the Temple Mount over to the Palestinian Moslems. Moslems must have the Temple Mount in order to halt the Jewish march toward theological fulfillment and reduce their own dissonant tension. The dissonant tension ruptured in our day because, at the end of this spate of Palestinian terror against Jews, Moslems fear that they will have to compromise their extreme position on Jerusalem in order to make peace with Israel. This is an ultimate issue, so the tension is great. Jerusalem is the symbol of Jewish divine choseness. Islam has taken on Judaism in a fight over divine truth. Islam has volunteered the Palestinians to be the front line fodder for this jihad. The gruesome way in which Palestinians have chosen to fight this war is related to the level of dissonant tension that gnaws at the Moslem soul.
According to Islam, the God of the Moslems, Allah, is the God of Israel, the same God who revealed Himself to the Jews first. Islam teaches that the revelation of God and Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai is true. Unfortunately, Jews do not agree that Islam contains universal divine truth. Moslems understand that Islam is rejected by the Jews, and that the Jewish basis for rejecting Islam, the Torah, comes from a revelation by God that Moslems admit is true. Allah, in His capacity as the God of Israel, promised that the covenant with the Jews at Sinai is eternal (Dt. 4:40). The Jewish connection to the land is also eternal, as it is written. For Moslems to contradict this teaching is to contradict an admitted revelation of God, which also serves to increase Moslem tension.
Moslem responses to dissonant tension did not begin in the modern era. The same insecurity and need to reduce dissonant tension caused Moslems to plant a cemetery at the Rachamim Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem. Jewish Messianic prophecy suggests that Elijah the prophet will pass through that gate announcing the arrival of messiah. Elijah is a Kohen, a priest, and he is forbidden by Jewish law to enter a cemetery (Lv. 21:1). Moslems must have felt better believing that they have prevented one of God?s prophecies regarding Jewish restoration. People do not take action to prevent an event unless they believe that the event will come to pass.
Not long ago, reports describing the video of the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl indicate that after Mr. Pearl was already dead, having confessed the 'sin' of being Jewish and of Jewish lineage, one of his murderers cathartically stabbed Mr. Pearl?s body, over and over, with a large knife. The murder of Daniel Pearl was a ritual execution of Judaism.
Once again, history is repeating itself. In the 20th century Europe took a third of the Jewish people, and the 21st century is opening with the Moslems trying to take away a third of the Jewish country along with the Temple Mount. The Jews are the sacrificial lamb to appease the ravenous Moslems. The non-Jewish nations continue to devour Israel yet they do not become more robust (Gn. 41:17-21). What is needed is a value judgment: the Moslems have no legitimate theological claim to the land. It must be said over and over by Jews everywhere. What are Jews to do about Moslem insecurity about their faith? Give them a shoulder upon which to cry (watch your neck), but, do not give up our divine inheritance to make them feel better.
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Alan Goldberg is a lawyer practicing general, appellate, family and business law in Calabasas, California. He can be reached at e-basher@justice.com.