Day 6 Part 1

We rise early on this sixth day of our Israel tour.  We eat breakfast with what looks like 500 or so of our best friends.  The Nescafe is still the only "coffee" option available at the hotel which make the idea of giving up coffee altogether an attractive idea.  The sun is rising and we are anxious to board our buses and travel into Jerusalem and see what this all important city is all about.

There is a lot of excitement as our first destination of the day is the Temple Mount.  I have wanted to see this all of my life.  I am excited to walk in a place that has world attention.  We were instructed the night before that we are to wear long sleeves and pants, exposed elbows and knees are not permitted.  The buses are loaded and we pull out from the Jerusalem Ramada's tiny little parking lot with our immense buses.  How they shoehorn so many buses into such a small lot is amazing.  The feel is much more busy, traffic flying everywhere, off ramps, merges, curves, streets, up, down, I am thoroughly lost, there is no way I could find my way back to the hotel from wherever I am even after paying close attention.  Fortunately I will never have to, but I always like to have a plan.  

We see the walls of the Temple Mount, just like all the many pictures I have seen.  

There are people and cars everywhere and interestingly enough, no special place for buses to pull off to the side and unload their passengers.  We literally stop in traffic and we are told to quickly debus as the impatient drivers blare their horns from behind our bus.  We don't make eye contact or even register that they are there.  We have our listening devices on and strain to hear our instructions from our leaders over the din.  This is the last place I want to get detached from the group.  Indiana Jolie and I stick close together and close to our guides.  

We quickly join some very long lines in front of some "gates" that look like something you would go through at an amusement park.  

There are several lanes but we hug the one by a wall that is topped by a hedge of thick vegetation.  Between us and the Temple Mount is an area that is hard to interpret.  It looks like perhaps an area of archaeological significance but there is nothing to explain it to us. 

 We wait and wait in line for some time, passports close at hand as it looks like we will have to pass some security.  Our guides are in consultation with the guards (it's hard to tell if they are Israeli or Palestinian) and slowly we begin to move.  This area is on the western wall of the Temple Mount or in the same area as the "Wailing Wall".  We find that our Jewish guides prefer to refer to it as the western wall.  We get through the security checkpoint and are directed to enter a covered "catwalk" that transverses the area below us that looks like it is an archaeological area.  There is some kind of construction going on and this catwalk is to accommodate we tourist types who wish to access the Temple Mount.  

We gain some elevation inside the catwalk and can overlook the western wall where so many Jewish people pray.  

We continue to walk uphill and soon we are going through an ancient stone doorway and are suddenly on the Temple Mount. 

In this area, it is very park-like and strangely quiet.  

There is a large stone courtyard in front and to the right and on the left, there are sitting areas and many Muslim women and children walking about.  All of the women are dressed in headscarves and long wool coats that extend down to their ankles.  They remind me of a style that triggers a thought.  They look very much like what they wear on The Matrix movie.  Yes, that is it.  

The gold Dome of the Rock looms high over some trees and walls to our north and a very sinister looking black dome is in front of us to our east.  

Nobody smiles at us or makes friendly eye contact.  Our guides gather us and instruct us that we are explicitly told we are NOT to pray with our eyes closed or hands raised, we cannot have a Bible in sight, we cannot wear a cross on our person, we can not gather in a circle to pray or hold hands.  In other words, anything that would identify us as a Christian is NOT welcome on the Temple Mount.  In fact, we are told not to use the term "Temple Mount" as the Muslims deny this area ever had a Jewish temple on it and has no relationship to the Jews whatsoever.  

The Muslims are such friendly people, I feel at ease and at home.  Well, maybe not so much.  This is such a contrast to the Jewish controlled areas.  The Jewish people allow everyone and everything in terms of religion, what you are wearing or whatever it is you want to say.  These Muslim areas of control are very tense which is something we will experience more of in the days to come.  We don't need a lot of encouragement to stay with our group.  

We pass in front of the building with the black dome.  It has very tall wooden doors and three entrances.  

We are told this is a mosque, actually three mosques, the reason for the three doors.  It is dark, not inviting and sinister looking as if it was intended to be intimidating.  Interesting enough, the Dome of the Rock is NOT a mosque which is what I have always assumed it was.  The Muslim authorities change their mind frequently about allowing the public in and it is presently not open to the public.  They are also doing some renovations on it as well.  

As we walk toward the Dome of the Rock I notice the large number of Muslim men who are in these little study groups all over the place.  

I want to look over their shoulders at the books they are holding, but don't want to push my luck.  A white, 6'6" American dude doesn't just blend in here so I try not to attract any more attention than I already do.  

There are more stairs (always more stairs) that take us up to the actual level that the Dome of the Rock is on. I am at once amazed at the immense size of the temple square, it is huge.  

Many, many football fields could fit in this area.  It is all stone tiles under foot and it stretches out in front of us for far longer than I ever noticed from pictures.  

Our groups walk toward the eastern face of the Dome (which is the view you have probably seen in the pictures of Jerusalem taken from the Mt. of Olives).  It is quiet here and fairly empty of people.  We are given some instruction on the history of the Temple Mount and how it came to be in its present form.  We are shown the Eastern Gate which some believe to figure in to biblical prophecy.

 
It is thought that when the Jewish Messiah comes, he will enter through this gate.  Since the Muslims have had control of the Temple Mount, they walled up the gate to prevent this and to further prevent a Jewish Messiah from even wanting to enter through this gate, they have made a Muslim graveyard in front of it to defile it for a Jewish Messiah.  

We are allowed to walk at will around the mount but I am not wanting to stray far.  

One of our couple friends decided they wanted to take a "selfie" up close to the Dome of the Rock and they walk away from the main cluster of our group about 100 yards.  On their way there, they were accosted by a Muslim man who was well versed in English curse words.  He was riding his bike across the Temple Mount and spotted these American tourists by themselves.  He dropped "f-bombs" liberally at the top of his lungs and expressed his hatred of Americans, Christians and Jews as he kept riding across the mount.  Our friends were quite rattled by this and decided being with the group was a better idea.  

As they rejoined the group I began to hear men shouting, "Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar!" over and over again.  More and more men joined in the shout until you could hear it all over the Temple Mount.  I wondered if the episode of the cursing riled all these Muslim men and they were on the war path.  All of those Muslim study groups scattered everywhere on the mount stood up and were shouting this most familiar phrase associated with Islam.  I was not feeling good about this as it kept going on and on, louder and louder.  I am nervously eyeing our guides who do not seem to be concerned about this.  I am wondering if we are going to be the subject of the evening news at home tonight.  We all gather for a group photo.  

Apparently, this is how they end their time of study of the Quran on the Temple Mount and everyone finally decided they had shouted it enough and all the groups dispersed.  From the get-go I decided the Temple Mount was not a warm and cozy place.  I don't care if I ever have the chance to go back to the Temple Mount which is what the people there hope I feel.  I was done with the Temple Mount and we exited on the east side of the square down some stairs into a more garden, park-like area.  

Just being off the Temple Mount felt better and people in this area looked more relaxed if not just as unfriendly.  

I have to admit, the views of the Temple Mount / Dome of the Rock are "epic" without over using that word.  The scale of the buildings and the length of the courtyard is grand, the gold dome (which is actual gold leaf) is quite a grand sight.  

It is just really unfortunate that the atmosphere is intended to be so unwelcoming.  It so contrasts to our way of life in the USA.  Where we are so open, they are so very closed.  It is a very double standard as they expect to be treated as equals and with respect, but do not give it whatsoever.  Contempt is in every stare and anger is in every communication.  At this point, we are easily encouraged to follow our guides through the "Lion's Gate" and further into the ancient city of Jerusalem.  

It has been an interesting morning already.