Against the backdrop of riots by Palestinians demanding removal of newly-installed metal detectors on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, necessitated by the murder of two Israeli Police by Arab terrorists, Simon Wiesenthal Center officials released the following statement:

“Let’s be clear. The change in the status in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount was not broken by the installation of metal detectors but rather by deadly machine gun fire from religious Jihadist fanatics.”

Rabbis Marvin Hier and Abraham Cooper, Dean and Founder and Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director continued, “Today, no president or pope can go anywhere without security. Pilgrims to religious sites deserve no less. Indeed, every visitor to Jerusalem’s Western Wall, to Mecca, to the Vatican — all have to put up with the inconvenience of metal detectors and other security measures.

“It is tragic, but true, that the greatest threats to holy sites have always emanated from religious fanatics,”Hier and Cooper continued.

“Given that reality, failure to apply basic security measures on the Temple Mount would not only be a blatant violation of the Judaic fundamental principle of protecting innocent lives (Pikuach Nefesh) but would ensure more violence that could ignite a war — which is the ultimate goal of Hamas and other apostles of hate and terrorism,” the Rabbis concluded.

For more information, please contact 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

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