Three Fingers to the Left of the Tree and Down

Here is a picture that the late Miri Tzachi snapped while in a helicopter over Jerusalem's Old City:

You will notice at the bottom right-hand corner that I have added an arrow pointing to a tree just inside the Temple Mount wall and inbetween the wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Why?

As I have posted before, during the 11 month period of September 1966 and August 1967, I studied at the Machon L'Madrichei Chutz La'Aretz program as a member of Betar. Guided by my own educational instructors, especially the late Nissan Teman (Chaim Fischgrund is to my right),

I quickly made contact with Emmanuel Hanegbi, Tzachi's father, and Dr. Israel Eldad. I began attending the once-weekly lecture series conducted by the Chugim Leumim at the basement of Ezra Yachin's Art Gallery at the corner of King David and Hess Streets. Topics were Uri Tzvi Greenberg Poetry, History of the Undergrounds, Zionist Thought and such. Shabbat services were at the Students' Minyan on Balfour Street. And then on to the Saturday night Melaveh Malka gatherings on Mount Zion.

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Do not forget that at this time, all the stretch leading from the east edge of the Sultan Pool (where the traffic light is) up to the Jaffa Gate was No-Man's Land, blocked off with barbed-wire and tank barriers. 

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While then Mt. Zion complex was in Israeli control, it was virtually an outpost. But it was a replacement for the lost holy sites inside the walled Old City and it was where David's Tomb was presumed to be.

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After some food and drinks, a discussion and singing, we would ascend the minneret over the courtyard

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and look out into the Old City.

The Temple Mount was clear and it was large, all lit up and couldn't be missed - but we were seeking out the Western Wall.

I was told my first time up at the top, "see that tree? raise up three fingers to the left and the Kotel is just down, out of sight".

And then the few who were up at the top starting shouting out at the top of their lungs:

"We are returning. We will be back!"

It was a bit electrifying. Nearly midnight and Jerusalem then in 1966 was an empty city at that time of night and our voices carried over and reverberated and echoed.

And we returned.

Here I am at the Kotel, day after Shavuot, 1967.

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Why Is The Pope Flying to Ben-Gurion?

Did you know that before 1964, when the city of Jerusalem was divided with the eastern section of the pre-1948 municipal boundaries under an illegal Jordanian occupation, Mount Zion was under Israel sovereignty.  However, since it was on the border, the way to Mount Zion was a narrow dirt track. In that year, Pope Paul VI visited Jerusalem.  Due to the fact that he was to cross over from east to west but refused to go through the Mandlebaum Gate Crossing --- the story is that he did not want to recogtnize Israeli sovereignty --- that dirt road was widened and paved properly.  Some us veterans still call it the Pope's Road although the official name is Ma'ale HaShalom and it goes alongside the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery and Catholic cemeteries.

There is also this:

On January 5, 1964, Pope Paul VI made, for the first time in the history of the Papacy, a papal visit in Jerusalem. The Pope said in Megiddo, where he entered Israel, “We are coming as pilgrims, we come to venerate the Holy Places; we come to pray”.
The Pope thanked unspecified “authorities” for arranging his visit and refused to address Zalman Shazar as “Mr. President”, avoiding any mention of that damned word: “Israel”. On his return to the Vatican, Paul sent a thank you note to “Mr. Shazar” in Tel Aviv”, not Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Israel. To exorcise the Israeli devil, they refuse to name it expressis verbis.
Pope Paul VI spent only eleven hours in Israel. He avoided Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem, refusing to meet there with then Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim. 

The BBC added:

During his short trip to Israel - it lasted only 11 hours - Pope Paul VI never once called Israel by name, and went out of his way to avoid using the word Jews.
In those days, the Vatican saw Israel as a non-country, and its people as a non-nation.
Pope Paul VI even used the occasion to praise his mentor, Pope Pius XII, defending the latter's silence during the Holocaust.

And now, another Pope is coming.

After Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, here's his schedule:

Sunday, May 25, 2014 08:30 – Departure by helicopter from Queen Alia Internal Airport in Amman for Bethlehem09:30 – Arrival ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Bethlehem Courtesy visit to the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority10:00 – Meeting with the Palestinian Authority. Discourse of the Holy Father11:00 – Holy Mass in Manger Square in Bethlehem. Homily of the Holy FatherRegina Coeli prayer. Allocution of the Holy Father15:00 – Private visit to the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem15:45 – Farewell from the Palestinian Authority at the helipad of Bethlehem16:00 – Departure by helicopter from the helipad of Bethlehem for Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel16:30 – Arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport. Open coverage; details to be issued separately. Discourse of the Holy Father

Odd.

I am sure that the Bethlehem helipad is probably equivalent to any Jerusalem helipad.  So why go to Ben-Gurion?  To avoid Palestinian terrorists on the roads?

Sure enough, the schedule continues and what do we read?

17:45 – Arrival at the helipad of Jerusalem on Mount Scopus

Now, it could be that Israel presumes its official entrance space is the International Airport.  Or, perhaps, they need more room for the first presence moment of the Pope.  But he is immediately going to Jerusalem in any case. He seems to be at ease with Jews.

Odd.

What gives?

And by the way, what will be with the maneuvers to obtain control over Mount Zion property?

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Franciscans Provide Temple Mount Precedent

Some of their propaganda from the voice-over clip at the bottom of the page is nigh anti-Semitic but the information is encouraging:

Upper Room on Mt. Zion To Open for Catholic Worship

The Cenacle, the building on Mt. Zion which houses the “Upper Room” where Jesus and his disciples held the Last Supper will once again be open for Catholic worship, it has been announced by spokesmen for the Vatican, the Israeli government and the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.  The agreement, which is part of overall negotiations over the use of land owned by the church in Israel allows for Franciscan administrative control of the site, while ownership will remain with Israel...

...The Franciscan Friars owned the site during the 14th and 15th centuries, but were expelled by the Ottoman Empire in 1550...While expressing disappointment with Israeli ownership, he said, "opening the Upper Room to Catholic worship is “good news.” 

...Negotiations between the Vatican and Israel began 20 years ago with a “Fundamental Agreement” designed to open the way to Vatican recognition of Israel. Negotiations halted for several years until the United States intervened and talks were resumed in 2004, Vasko said. The current round of talks is the first to be held in two years. In addition to the Cenacle, other key elements of the negotiations include two churches the Vatican wants to build, and tax exempt status for Catholic Churches. The recent agreement approves tax-exempt status for the churches but specifies that attached buildings such as gift shops and restaurants will be subject to Israeli sales tax.  Negotiations will continue in December, according to the joint announcement.

If the Israel government can make these generous provisions for shared use of a holy site, when do they finalize an arrangement with the Waqf so that Jews can worship on the Temple Mount?

Freedom of worship is, I would presume, a right for Jews as much as it is for Christians.

No?

_____________

Being me, I sent this query:-

Is worship limited to Catholics or can other sects of Christianity pray, too?

and received this reply:-

Thank you for your response to our article “Upper Room on Mt. Zion To Open for Catholic Worship”.  We as Catholics are very excited that the ability to celebrate Holy Mass in the “Cenacle” or “Upper Room” is being restored  to the Franciscans even though the ownership of the Upper Room will stay in the hands of the Israelis.  The reason this is so important to us is that we believe that Jesus celebrated the first mass at the Last Supper and asked us to do so also in remembrance of Him.  It is also where the sacrament of Holy Orders (Priesthood) was established.

In response to your question, the Upper Room has been open to other forms of worship all along.  However, I am not sure if it requires any type of permission.  There are numerous YouTube videos of groups worshipping in the open spaces.

Are you an interested reader or are you affiliated with a news source? 

Many blessings.  Visit us at www.ffhl.org for much more on our work in the Holy Land.

Deborah Roberts

Media Coordinator

This was my answer:

I am an interested reader and I also blog.

I asked because I thought the arrangement being agreed upon could serve as a model for the friction between Muslims and Jews on the Temple Mount.

and I then added:

incidentally, I could not locate any other independent corroboration for the story even after searching Vatican news web sites.  has the story appeared other than where I found it?

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