Dispute Over Jerusalem Holy Places Disrupts Arab Camp

By Greg Noakes

The July 25 Washington Declaration between Israel and Jordan, apparently a symbolic confirmation of the existing state of non-belligerency between Tel Aviv and Amman, contains one clause that has caused a furor among Arab parties. Israel's acknowledgment of "the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim holy shrines in Jerusalem" and its pledge that "[w]hen negotiations on the permanent status will take place, Israel will give high priority to the Jordanian historic role" has touched off a bitter debate between Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian National Authority on administration of the holy places. The dispute has a history that stretches back more than a half-century.

At stake is administration of the Muslim sites in the Old City, principally the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosque, both located in the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), known to Israelis as Temple Mount. Muslim attachment to the sites rests on three principal bases. First, because Islam recognizes biblical prophets as Muslim messengers, the location of Solomon's temple is considered an important Islamic site. Jerusalem is intimately linked to important events in the lives of other Islamic prophets, including Abraham, Lot, David, Moses and Jesus.

Jerusalem was also the first qibla, or direction of prayer, for the Muslim community of Prophet Muhammad. Some 16 months after his hijra, or flight to Medina, the Prophet received a revelation instructing him to turn toward the Ka'ba at Mecca instead, but Jerusalem, or Beit al-Maqdis ("The Holy House," from Solomon's temple) as it was called, is still revered as "the first qibla."

Finally, Masjid Al Aqsa ("the Furthest Mosque") was where the Prophet was taken by a winged steed, Buraq, before ascending to and returning from Paradise during the Night Journey, or Isra' wal-Mi'raj. The incident is related in the Qur'an, which refers to "the Furthest Mosque, whose precincts We have blessed."

Jerusalem fell to the Muslims in 637, five years after the death of the Prophet, when the Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab came to the city to arrange a pact with the city's Christian inhabitants. Umar constructed a mosque near the site of the Rock, which had been covered with debris. The great Dome of the Rock was built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik in 691-92, with the mosque known as Al Aqsa completed shortly afterward at the southern edge of the Haram. A voluminous body of medieval Islamic literature was produced on the fada'il ("blessings") of Jerusalem, discussing the Muslim history of the holy city, the benefits of prayer at Al Aqsa and the events associated with the Day of Judgment that are to take place at the Rock.

The holy sites have remained in Muslim hands since the time of Umar with the exception of the years 1099-1187, when all of Jerusalem was captured by the Crusaders and the Dome of the Rock was converted into a church. Al-Quds, as the city came to be called, passed from one Muslim dynasty to another until 1917, when Britsh troops conquered Jerusalem from the Ottoman Turks during World War I.

The Supreme Muslim Council

With the end of Muslim state authority over the city, administration of the Haram Al-Sharif fell to the Supreme Muslim Council, the body which still manages the daily affairs of the sites. Under the British Mandate the council was led by Palestinian religious notables, chief among them the mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. The council's relative autonomy came to an end with the 1948 war, when East Jerusalem was occupied by Jordan's Arab Legion and the western half of the city was occupied by the Jewish Haganah forces.

Jordan's "special" and "historic role" in Jerusalem began in 1948, when Amman took over control of the city's holy places. Administrators and religious functionaries at the Haram Al-Sharif became Jordanian civil servants, with Amman paying their salaries and assuming responsibility for maintenance of the sites. A major renovation of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa was carried out in 1958, albeit with financial assistance from other Muslim governments and organizations. This special Jordanian role continued even after the 1967 war, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.

In response to the widening Palestinian intifada in the occupied territories, King Hussein severed Jordan's administrative ties to the West Bank in 1988, though not to the holy places in Jerusalem. Hussein still regards himself as the patron of the Haram Al-Sharif, and the Washington Declaration's controversial clause is a move to solidify that claim. In response to invitations from both Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian National Authority President Yasser Arafat to come pray at Al Aqsa, Hussein responded, "I feel it is my right as a Muslim...and as an Arab to visit Jerusalem and Hebron, and when I do so, I will do so without anybody's permission."

Saudi Arabia does not advance a claim over administration of the holy sites, having neither historical nor territorial ties to Jerusalem, but has attempted to exercise its influence in matters pertaining to the upkeep of the holy places. Saudi Arabia takes great pride in being home to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, and King Fahd has made "Custodian of the Two Holy Places" (Khadim al-Haramain) his official title. Like King Hussein, the Saudis attach considerable prestige to the Haram Al-Sharif.

There is a long history of Saudi-Hashemite rivalry over the Muslim holy sites, both in Jerusalem and Arabia. The Hashemites ruled the Hijaz, where Mecca and Medina are located, until 1925, when Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud captured the region from Sharif Hussein, the present Jordanian king's great-grandfather and namesake. It was the sharif's son, King Abdullah of Jordan, who established Jordanian control over Jerusalem in 1948, only to be assassinated inside Al Aqsa itself three years later.

During the Gulf war, some conspiracy theorists explained King Hussein's support for Iraq as part of a deal which would restore control of Mecca and Medina to the Hashemites after Saddam defeated Saudi Arabia. Hussein's sudden reference to himself just prior to the war as sharif, meaning a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad but also evoking his great-grandfather's title, was given as evidence of this scenario.

The rivalry between the ruling Hashemites of Jordan and the Al Saud of Saudi Arabia escalated after the Gulf war, when King Fahd announced he would fund a badly needed restoration of the cupola of the Dome of the Rock, which had fallen into disrepair. Taking the Saudi monarch's announcement as a challenge to his own position vis-a-vis Jerusalem, King Hussein stepped in to carry out the work, selling personal property in London to foot the bill. Given the Saudi-Hashemite skirmishing in the past, Riyadh can be none too happy with the language of the Washington Declaration.

Yasser Arafat and the PLO see the issue in territorial terms; since East Jerusalem is a Palestinian city, the holy places there should be under Palestinian control.

Until last September's Declaration of Principles and the establishment of the Palestinian Autonomous Authority, the PLO was in no position to press its claim to the holy sites, and was more or less content to allow Jordan to fund the activities at the Haram Al-Sharif. Now that Palestinians can step in and administer the sites, they find themselves shut out by Israel's refusal to negotiate with the PLO on Jerusalem.

The PLO would like to reserve to itself the prestige associated with administration of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa—which feature prominently in Palestinian iconography—but also is alarmed at the precedent the Washington Declaration sets. PLO official Nabil Shaath accused Israel of dismembering Palestinian territory by all but ceding the holy sites to Jordan, while Hanan Ashrawi believes "Israel is trying to decide the permanent status [of Jerusalem] unilaterally." Supreme Muslim Council President Hassan Tahboub declared, "The Israelis have no authority to distribute responsibility among Arabs—Muslims or Christians—to look after the holy places," and added that "the question of Jerusalem is more than a question of mosques and churches and holy places."

Fears among Palestinians that the Israel-Jordan rapprochement jeopardizes their claim to Jerusalem may be justified. Israeli Police Minister Moshe Shahal told the Knesset, "Hussein said there is no doubt the Muslims will be interested...and want to receive control over—and here is the surprise—the holy sites." Shahal said this was "opposed to the sweeping claim that all of eastern Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinians." By negotiating separately on the religious sites, Israel hopes to maintain control of the rest of the city, sweeping aside Palestinian claims over Jerusalem itself. Even if such a ploy fails, Tel Aviv at least has the satisfaction of having driven a wedge between the Arabs. As Faisal Husseini notes, "If anyone wants to kill this peace process, he can do it on the issue of Jerusalem."