ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609300044
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JERUSALEM
SOURCE: From The Associated Press and The Washington Post
NOTE: Below
THE ONLY END TO the fight for the Holy Land will come with the Messiah, many Israelis believe.
Seen through the eyes of religious militants, this week's violence marks only the latest chapter in a struggle over Jerusalem dating to the very origins of the Jewish and Islamic faiths.
Though ignited by the opening of a tunnel near the mosque, the latest wave of violence was really about who will rule the hallowed soil of Jerusalem.
``There will only be a solution to this problem when the Messiah comes,'' said a Hebrew seminary student who gave his name only as Avraham. ``In the meantime, it is forbidden to surrender what is already in our hands. That would be contempt of the holiness of the Land of Israel.''
That attitude has led some Muslims to an apocalyptic view of what lies ahead in this sacred city.
``Soon, I am sure, the jihad [holy war] will come,'' said Sheik Mohammed al-Rifai, a preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third-holiest shrine.
Jews and Muslims agree on precious little when it comes to the grounds that hold Al-Aqsa and its gleaming, golden sister shrine, the Dome of the Rock. The name, for instance.
Muslims call the ancient plateau Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Enclosure. According to Islamic teaching it was the place from which Mohammed in the seventh century ascended to heaven on a white steed.
Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount, because of the mammoth temple that King Solomon built around 1000 B.C., and which King Herod rebuilt in Roman times. The Western Wall, the most sacred site in Judaism, is believed to be the outer wall of the temple.
The official Israeli position since the mount was conquered along with the rest of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war has been to allow access to Muslim worshipers and tourists, but not to allow Jewish prayer.
That's in line with medieval rabbinical teaching: The grounds are so sacred that Jews may not set foot on them until the arrival of the Jewish Messiah.
But the passivity that bred such teachings was swept away by events that transformed Judaism in this century, notably the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel in 1948.
Most of Israel's overwhelmingly secular populace is in no rush to have Jews pray on the mount. However, Rabbi David Hartman, a religious expert at Hebrew University, said the extremist fringe ``really wanted to see the restoration of the temple as part of a new messianic reality.''
Eyal Luria, 24, a Jewish seminary student, said it's time for a change: ``Now that there are millions of Jews in Israel, we must take definite action to bring Jews to the Temple Mount.''
Back at the Western Wall plaza, Gedalia Haserof, 23, another Jewish student, expressed a similar sentiment: ``We can't be so soft anymore. This is our state. We've been too patient with them for too long.''
Some Jews have tried to enter the area to recite devotions but have been turned back by Israeli police. Most were associated with underground groups that have tried to blow up the mount in the past but were thwarted by Israeli security. It is such groups that Palestinians fear most.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Palestinian youths throw stones at Israeli policeby CNBduring clashes that erupted outside the Dome of the Rock during
Friday prayer. color.