On March 4, the leaders of Israel's new "Blue and White" party, Gabi Ashkenazi, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, and Moshe Yaalon, announced that Israel will not withdraw from the occupied Golan Heights. Gantz, the head of the party, said they will increase settlements and double the population. Their reasoning is that they will not hand over the area to Bashar al-Assad, a brutal dictator who kills his own people.

The West Bank and the Golan Heights are, in theory, occupied territories, but on the ground, the situation has long since changed with the approval of the United States and the silence of the European Union, contrary to UN resolutions.

The Jerusalem Post reported that during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's first visit to Washington in 2017, he asked the US administration led by Donald Trump to recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The US administration said: "To appease the lobby campaign. "The U.S. Congress will acquiesce to Israel's desire to legalize the annexation of the Golan Heights." Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital has made Israelis' demands for more land and territories even louder.

However, many don't seem to fully realize that Jerusalem plays a pivotal role in people's consciousness. It is not only linked to religious beliefs, but it also influences the way people see the world and guides their priorities, reactions and feelings. Religious symbols, especially holy places, are at the center of this concept. The three holy places are Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem.

Although many Israeli rabbis emphasize that it is wrong for Jews to enter what they call the "Temple Mount" over and over again, Netanyahu, through the direct intervention of his government or by ignoring the aggression of Jewish settler groups, encourages them to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque to create a new reality, or at least to turn it into a "disputed place," which ends up giving Israelis part of the holy site.

Every day, thousands of settlers desecrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque amid protests from Muslim worshippers. This situation often escalates into religious prejudice and leads to bloody confrontations with casualties on both sides. According to international agreements, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is under Jordanian custody, but on the ground, Israel places troops in its courtyards and prevents Muslims from entering to pray or closes it completely.

In June 2017, Israeli authorities installed metal detectors at the Al-Aqsa Mosque's Lions Gate, which, as previously mentioned, is under Jordanian custodianship and is part of East Jerusalem, which is considered occupied. This led to widespread protests from Muslims in the occupied territories and around the world.

In 2003, Israeli authorities closed Bab al-Rahma under the pretext that it was being used by a terrorist organization and prevented Muslims from using it. More recently, after reports that Jewish settlers were turning the place into a synagogue, Muslims broke the locks and reclaimed the area, which is not under Israeli jurisdiction. Thousands of Muslims gathered to affirm the identity of the holy site and performed congregational prayers there.

Israeli authorities prevented several Muslim religious and community leaders from entering the area and brought the case to the Israeli occupation court. As expected, the court ordered the door closed. The Palestinian Authority and Jordan declared that Israel has no jurisdiction over the area and that its actions are invalid according to international law and the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty. Things are escalating and at any moment we may see another series of reactions from the Palestinians, which Netanyahu is likely to use in his election campaign.

Israel, under Netanyahu's leadership, has undergone a profound change from a secular state based on religious mythology to a full-blown theocracy. Religious right-wing members are present in all of Israel's institutions, including the judiciary, the military, and the police. Netanyahu has not limited himself to his mission inside Israel, but has run a campaign to demonize Islam and spread the idea of Islamophobia, a form of xenophobia. He presents himself as an expert on terrorism, which is strictly associated with Muslims in his rhetoric. He knows his wares will sell if right-wing governments are in power, so he supports the formation of right-wing governments around the world.

By awakening religious prejudices and dividing the world along new lines, Netanyahu is opening Pandora's box and will endanger all of humanity by igniting global religious wars. If he succeeds in this, it will disrupt all kinds of relations, including economic ties, bringing global politics back to the Middle Ages.

The alliance of evangelicals, religious Zionists, and authoritarian regimes that rule the Muslim world is an explosive formula that poses a real danger to world freedom and modern values, which were wrested from the hands of the religious authorities that ruled Europe and the world in the Middle Ages. Let us hope that the world will soon free itself from this tyranny.
Source: Middle East Monitor