tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31461204.post6220440325706458411..comments2023-12-11T06:11:11.449-05:00Comments on Bruce's MidEast Soundbites: Members of Congress Harassed in JerusalemBrucehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09331211089963297411noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31461204.post-10526446667153637272015-08-17T17:45:15.493-04:002015-08-17T17:45:15.493-04:00Thank you for your poignant description. I have n...Thank you for your poignant description. I have not been up to the Temple Mount since 1987. It felt very different from what you describe. What a difference 28 years can make. <br />BruceBrucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09331211089963297411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31461204.post-77967903367202402672015-08-17T17:18:28.968-04:002015-08-17T17:18:28.968-04:00This made some noise in the Israeli Press. The com...This made some noise in the Israeli Press. The comments made by the congressmen afterwards were, I think, remarkably restrained, given the degree to which they were abused.<br />I've been there myself, quite recently, and the level of intimidation for me wasn't particularly high - I kept to myself, displayed no overtly religious symbols ( the Magen David was under my shirt) but I found myself feeling as if I was trespassing on someone else's property, rather as if my ball had been kicked over the fence and I was going to retrieve it.<br />This deliberate sense of appropriation is, of course, orchestrated and managed; everybody knows that women are paid to harass people they simply don't like the look of, children make free with the al-Aqsa grounds as if it is a personal play park, but, curiously, there's no apparent reverence for the 'holy' sites from those who allegedly are most invested in ensuring that it remains in their grasp.John Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11647833154827132967noreply@blogger.com