A QUICK TIMELINE
10th CENTURY BCE: Israelites build sacred Temple
587 BCE: Babylonian Empire conquers the Kingdom of Judah and destroys the Temple
516 BCE: Jews rebuild the Temple
70 CE: during the First Jewish Revolt against the occupation of the Roman Empire, Romans destroy the Temple
135 CE: following the Third Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire — also known as the Bar Kokhba Revolt — the Romans punish the Jews by building a temple to Jupiter atop the ruins of the Jewish Temple
325 CE: a little over a decade after the Roman Empire adopts Christianity, Romans destroy the temple to Jupiter
400 CE: Jews unsuccessfully try to rebuild the Temple
614-617 CE: Jews temporarily regain sovereignty over Jerusalem, prepare to rebuild the Temple
688 CE: shortly after the Arab Empire conquers Jerusalem, the Arabs build the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque over the ruins of the Temple
688-1839: Arab Empire and later the Ottoman Empire forbid Jews from praying on Temple Mount
1920-1948: to appease the Arab Higher Committee, the British Empire completely forbids Jews from praying on Temple Mount and severely restricts Jewish prayer at the Western Wall
1949-1967: Jordan occupies and illegally annexes East Jerusalem. As per the armistice agreement with Israel, Jordan is supposed to permit Jewish worshippers from praying at the Western Wall. In reality, Jordan never allows a single Jew to pray at the Western Wall during this period. They ethnically cleanse the entire ancient Jewish population of the Old City of Jerusalem and turn Jewish holy sites into chicken coops and animal stables
1967-present: after Israel recaptures East Jerusalem from Jordan during the Six Day War, Israel agrees to hand over sovereignty over Temple Mount and the Al Aqsa compound over to the Jordanian Islamic Waqf. Jews are forbidden from praying on Temple Mount but can visit during limited hours
PHOTO EVIDENCE
Jordan ethnically cleanses 40,000 Jews — the entire remaining Jewish population of East Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) — in 1948. Jordan destroys the Jewish Quarter, including 58 synagogues, and desecrates thousands of Jewish tombstones at the Mount of Olives. Many Jewish holy sites are desecrated and even turned into chicken coops and horse stables. The Western Wall (Kotel), the holiest place Jews are currently allowed to access, becomes a slum area.
The Jordanians boast, “For the first time in 1000 years not a single Jew remains in the Jewish Quarter. Not a single building remains intact. This makes the Jews' return here impossible.”
One of the most stunning photos in history: Jewish paratroopers see the Western Wall for the first time in 1967 after recapturing the Old City from Jordan.
In June of 1967, Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan signs an agreement with Jordan that the Jordanian Islamic Waqf can continue to exercise sovereignty over Temple Mount.
A VISUAL GUIDE
For over a century now, Arabs have used Temple Mount/the Al Aqsa compound as a launching pad from which to hurl rocks, boulders, Molotov cocktails, and other explosives at the Jews praying below at the Western Wall. These weapons are usually stored in Al Aqsa overnight, which is why the Jordanian Islamic Waqf instituted a curfew this Ramadan, as they have done in years prior.
JORDAN SETS CURFEW
Official notice from the Jordanian Islamic Waqf establishing the curfew and closing the mosque and compound for the Iʿtikāf prayer on Thursdays and Fridays and during the last 10 nights of Ramadan.
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