The recent flare-ups of Arab violence on Temple Mount, and all over East Jerusalem have brought the argument of control of Temple Mount (and of East Jerusalem) to the table again.

With Jews, religious Jews really, already being severely limited in their access to Temple Mount, and the Arabs now complaining about the little access already given to the religious Jews, Israeli authority is being questioned.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that there must be equality on Temple Mount, and Jews must be given equal access and allowed to pray on Temple Mount. The loophole is that they leave it to the discretion of the police. The police then say that the Arabs threaten violence, and for the purpose of maintaining quiet and keeping everyone safe, they have to limit the Jewish access.

Now, even with the police limitations, the Arabs are expressing themselves violently anyway. So what's the point of the Supreme Court, and of the police restrictions, if the Arabs are not going to accept anything less than a total ban on jews, and act violently until they get it? The police are in a bind right now. If they give in to the Arabs even further, they will have relinquished whatever semblance of control they have left. If they don't the Arabs will test the police with violence, the police will be forced to quell it, and Israel will end up with more control of Har Habayis than it actually wants.

Yehuda Glick, of the Temple Institute and director of an organization called "Organization for Human Rights on Temple Mount", has sent a letter to the police in which he demands the police either give full equal access to everyone, Arabs and Jews, or to shut the gates and not allow anyone up there. It makes no sense that the victims of violence are the ones who are being discriminated against. Glick says that if the full equality is not implemented by Thursday (today), he will turn to the courts to enforce it as per its previous rulings.

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UPDATE: As promised, Glick petitioned the Supreme Court today about the lack of equal rights and the lack of freedom of worship on Temple Mount. Justice Yoram Danziger has asked the State to respond by 5pm today (time passed - I don't have update yet as to whether r not they responded) as to why Har Habayit is closed to Jews yet open to Muslims...