Sejarah Jerusalem yang panjang, sedih....

Anda dah penat baca cerita-cerita saya semasa di Jerusalem, atau Baitul Maqdis, sebelum ini - di sini, sini dan sini (dalam bahasa Inggeris).
Jadi saya gunakan gambar-gambar saja, nak ringkas cerita - saya harap inilah cerita saya di Israel yang terakhir. Dah penat tulis, tapi ada orang tanya ' apa lagi yang you nampak?'

Bagi yang pertama kali membacanya, saya ke Egypt dan Israel sebagai rakyat Singapura dan sebagai sukarelawan Mercy Relief, kumpulan bantuan bencana Singapura (tak ada kaitan dengan Mercy Malaysia).
Saya ke sana kerana nak tolong rakyat Palestin, bukan kerana 'holiday dan sokong negeri Yahudi' (seperti kata seorang rakan).

Mercy Relief diberi sumbangan hampir S$200,000 (RM460,000) dari rakyat Singapura - baik yang Muslim, Kristian, Hindu, Buddhist, Bahai dan sebagainya.
Kumpulan kami, lapan orang kesemuanya ke Cairo, El Arish dan Rafah - di sempadan Gaza, tapi tak masuk ke Gaza. Dan kemudian ke Israel - naik kapal terbang Air Egypt, turun di Tel Aviv dan kemudian ke Baitul Maqdis/Jerusalem.
Tujuannya ialah untuk memastikan saluran bantuan yang dihulur - tepung, gula, susu bayi, daging dalam tin, selimut, kasut - cepat dihantar ke dalam Gaza dengan berjumpa rakankerja Mercy Relief di kedua negara tersebut.
Mereka ialah United Nations Works & Relief Agency (UNWRA), Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), Palestine Red Crescent Society dan Fondation Hommes de Parole - sebuah pertubuhan Switzerland yang dianggotai imam dan rabbi (paderi Yahudi).
Kami mengadakan mesyuarat dengan kesemua pertubuhan ini dan melawat gudang simpanan UNWRA dan ERC untuk memastikan apa yang di 'order' dah sampai dan akan dihantar secepat mungkin.
Egypt, ramai orang dah pergi jadi tak ada yang 'hairan'.
Israel tak ramai yang masuk, saya rasa.
Saya sempat melawat dan bersolat di Masjid Al Aqsa dan Masjid Kubah - lihat gambar-gambar di sini.
Saya juga sempat melawat ke Western Wall atau Wailing Wall, tempat sembahyang paling suci dalam agama Yahudi.

PICTURE 1: At the Wailing Wall.
I shall not say more as I could be making mistakes in describing the place - see wikipedia entry here (I hope no mistakes lah).
All male visitors have to cover their heads with something.
They had these paper 'songkok' for visitors. I took one and wore it, though it kept falling off to my embarassment.
This extra garb is similar to non-Muslim, and even Muslim, women entering masjid Putrajaya or Masjid Negara having to wear covering clothes to show respect to the place.
And men told to put on long pants if they wore shorts.

A board director of Mercy Relief, Satwant Singh, had a turban on. He does not need to wear anything else to cover his head as he walked to the Wailing Wall.
I guess if I had brought my kopiah....

I just stopped someone there (the Yahud pakcik) and asked some history of the place. He said if I got time, I could go BELOW the wall via an entry (behind him) to see how old the site was - the Israel government did some digging below some years ago that led to big political troubles with Muslims, who were afraid the two mosques above would collapse.

PICTURE 2: When I saw this view, my heart sank. Yes, we all know how close the Wailing Wall is to Masjid Al Aqsa and Masjid Kubah (the golden domed mosque).
But as you can see here, one is quite literally atop the other.
The Haram Al-Sharif or Temple Mount, where Al Aqsa and Masjid Kubah are located, is where Judaism says its former Solomon's temple was situated. The Jewish temple was razed in 586 BCE (2,500 years ago!) by the Babylonians.
A rebuilt temple was destroyed in 70 AD by Roman conquerors (nearly 2,000 years ago!).
Jews want Haram Al Sharif/Temple Mount back to rebuild their holiest temple.
But to do that they have to tear down the two holy mosques at the top.
So how?

PICTURE 3: You have seen me in a daytime picture at Masjid Kubah. Here is the night picture.
As I said previously, I visited this place twice during my two-night stay in Jerusalem.
There was a full moon and the air was cool in winter.
A minute or two after someone snapped this pic for me, I said goodbye in my heart to Masjid Kubah, a place I don't think I will visit again.

I'd rather everyone negotiate their way to a settlement between Israel and the Palestinian territories and the status of Jerusalem.
Israelies have voted to have a rightist government who may not be too keen to make deals with Arab and Muslims.
But anyway, in case you think the issue can be resolved during your lifetime, think again.
The history of Jerusalem - which is more than 5,000 years old! - moves in HUNDREDS of years.
The sad thing if you were to read its history here - lots of blood is spilled every time a new power rises to take over the city.
The last time was when the British took over the place from the Ottomon Turks in 1917 (91 years ago). And then the passed it to the Jews in 1948, that's 60 years ago.
It sometimes makes me think that Baitul Maqdis is too holy for its own good.

You have Hyksos, Persians, Hellenists, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantinians, Khalifah Umar, Crusaders, Salahuddin Ayyubi, Mameluks, Ottomans Turks, British, and now Jews-Americans controlling the city and areas around it.
The Jews took over the place just 60 years ago. If they're clever, they would negotiate now when they are super-strong to ensure they retain some control over it forever.
Since they won't do that - like all the previous conquerors, thinking they will always be powerful - history will show a new more power will rise and take over the place.
A few hundred years from now, I guess....

Part of that history was made into a movie - Kingdom of Heaven, from top movie maker Ridley Scott and starring Orlando Bloom, Eva Green and Jeremy Irons.