"Teach your children hatred for the enemies of Islam"

Jerusalem, our city of light, of gold, of peace has been the beating heart of Jewish life for thousands of years. The organizers of the failed Global march to Jerusalem- a proposed attempt to surround and invade the city earlier this year -objected to the "Judiazation" of Jerusalem. They needn't have worried. Its a done deal. Jerusalem is mentioned in the Tanakh 669 times.

What historic significance does Jerusalem have to the Muslim people?

From Mordechai Kedar

Islamization was practiced on places as well as persons: Mecca and the holy stone - al-Ka'bah - were holy sites of the pre-Islamic pagan Arabs. The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus and the Great Mosque of Istanbul were erected on the sites of Christian-Byzantine churches - two of the better known examples of how Islam treats sanctuaries of other faiths.

Jerusalem, too, underwent the process of Islamization: at first Muhammad attempted to convince the Jews near Medina to join his young community, and, by way of persuasion, established the direction of prayer (kiblah) to be to the north, towards Jerusalem, in keeping with Jewish practice; but after he failed in this attempt he turned against the Jews, killed many of them, and directed the kiblah southward, towards Mecca.

Muhammad's abandonment of Jerusalem explains the fact that this city is not mentioned even once in the Koran. After Palestine was occupied by the Muslims, its capital was Ramlah, 30 miles to the west of Jerusalem, signifying that Jerusalem meant nothing to them.

Its not the Judiazation of Jerusalem we should worry about- its quite the opposite. Kedar continues:

Another aim of the Islamization of Jerusalem was to undermine the legitimacy of the older religions, Judaism and Christianity, which consider Jerusalem to be a holy city. Islam is presented as the only legitimate religion, destined to replace the other two, because they had changed and distorted the Word of God, each in its turn.

Though Judaism and Christianity can exist side by side in Jerusalem, Islam regards both of them as betrayals of Allah and his teachings, and has always done, and will continue to do, all in its power to expel both of them from this city.

We've seen evidence of this attempted undermining of the heritage of Jerusalem in the weeks prior to the Global march, with the Arab press falling all over itself reporting on "Extremist settlers" "storming" Al Aqsa. The propaganda war is continuing.

The Palestine Foundation Pakistan (sorry- I don't link to hate sites) includes amongst their '100 ways" to liberate the Aqsa Mosque these choice bits of advice:

*Women should teach their children the lesson of jihad and martyrdom in the way of Allah because Palestine can be liberated by this way.

*To make slogans about Aqsa mosque for e.g.: As long as I am alive, I shall not allow Aqsa mosque’s desolation, Aqsa Mosque is in danger, Aqsa is not alone, Quds belongs to us, This is our mosque and not the place of idols, O Aqsa Mosque, our lives and properties are sacrificed on you.

*To educate your children about the conspiracies of Zionism and ensure your children participate in anti-Zionist activities.

*To teach your children hatred for enemies of Islam.

Teaching martyrdom, jihad and hatred as community values. This makes me tremble with fear for the future generations. Pray for the children fed on hatred and for the Israeli children who will someday face them.