What is the basis of debate over the western wall?

Question

Please post links to back up your claim as to whether it is the remains of the temple or not.

Answer 1

There are several aspects to the debate.

Religiously, Jews claim it as the only part of the ancient temple still standing. I think most Arabs and Muslims accepts this based on the most popular Arabic name for it "Ha'it al'mubkah" or Wailing Wall. Some Muslims refuse to call it that and instead refer to it as "Ha'it al'Buraq" or Buraq's Wall, referring to the horse-like creature that Muhammad is said to have ridden and tethered at the wall. Thus, they claim it as part of the "Haram al'sharif" complex, or Temple Mount, and deny Judaism's claim to it.

Politically, that whole area was the main stumbling block in the Camp David II negotiations. Eventually, Israel agreed to give the Muslim, Christian, and Armenian quarters of the Old City away and grant "custodianship" over the Temple Mount/Haram al'Sharif. Later that was upgraded to full sovereignty over all of it except the western Wall. Arafat wanted sovereignty over all of East Jerusalem, including the Western Wall so the talks failed.

Historically, some doubt that the Western Wall was ever part of a Jewish temple and instead claim that it was a retaining wall for a Roman fort. I know the least about that debate but from my understanding it has little credibility.

Unlike world opinion on all of Jerusalem which is much more split, most recognize Jews', and therefore Israel's right to the western Wall.      

Answer 2

The basis of most Palestinian complaints is the evictions of families from their homes and made homeless while their property is being sold to Jews in a state effort to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of non-Jewish elements. Israel is a system of organized crime based on mass murder, property theft, and embezzlement of tax money.

Answer 3

Well, there is no debate, all one has to do is go down the Wailing Wall tunnels. You see my friend the Muslims didn't know what's down there.

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1/696051...

Herodian wall from the 2nd Temple

The Second Temple was the Temple rebuilt by Jews returning from the Babylon Exile in 517 BCE. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. The site of the ancient Jewish Temple is now occupied, in part, by the golden-domed "Dome of the Rock" Mosque.

Entering a tunnel at the prayer plaza, you turn northward into a medieval complex of subterranean vaulted spaces and a long corridor with rooms on either side. Incorporated into this complex is a Roman and medieval structure of vaults, built of large dressed limestone. It includes an earlier Herodian room, constructed of well-dressed stones, with double openings and walls decorated with protruding pilasters. The vaulted complex ends at Wilson's Arch, named after the explorer who discovered it in the middle of the 19th century. The arch, supported by the Western Wall, was 12.8 m. wide and stood high above the present-day ground level. Josephus Flavius mentions a bridge which connected the Temple Mount with the Upper City to the west during the Second Temple period. This bridge once carried water via a conduit from Solomon's Pools; it was destroyed during the Jewish Revolt against Rome (66-70 CE) and rebuilt during the early Islamic period.

Beyond Wilson's Arch, a large hall, part of a Mamluk period construction, was cleared of debris and a large water cistern was removed, revealing the Herodian Western Wall.

From this point, along the outer face of the Herodian western wall of the Temple Mount, a long narrow tunnel was dug slowly and with much care. As work progressed under the buildings of the present Old City, the tunnel was reinforced.. A stretch of the western wall - 300 m. long - was revealed in pristine condition, exactly as constructed by Herod

At the end of this man-made tunnel, a 20 m. long section of a paved road and an earlier, rock-cut Hasmonean aqueduct leading to the Temple Mount were uncovered. Today one can proceed along it to a public reservoir and from there, a short new tunnel leads outside to the Via Dolorosa in the Muslim Quarter.

Look at the size of the Herodian stone found there, The Western Stone, estimated at a length of 13.6 m, a width of 3.5 to 4.5 m and a weight of 570 tons. It is the largest contiguous stone in the Western Wall.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_D0fhNTPv_yE/R-NBki...

Answer 4

it is the remainder of a sacred temple

Answer 5

The only debate is why the Muslims deny the facts.

Wall

Cities were surrounded by walls, as distinguished from "unwalled villages" (Ezek 38:11; Lev 25:29-34). They were made thick and strong (Num 13:28; Deut 3:5). Among the Jews walls were built of stone, some of those in the temple being of great size (1Ki 6:7; 1Ki 7:9-12; 1Ki 20:30; Mark 13:1, 2). The term is used metaphorically of security and safety (Isa 26:1; Isa 60:18; Rev 21:12-20). (See FENCE.)



—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

Wailing-place, Jews'

Illustration: Temple of Herod





A section of the western wall of the temple area, where the Jews assemble every Friday afternoon to bewail their desolate condition (Ps 79:1, 4, 5). The stones in this part of the wall are of great size, and were placed, as is generally believed, in the position in which they are now found in the time of Solomon. "The congregation at the wailing-place is one of the most solemn gatherings left to the Jewish Church, and as the writer gazed at the motley concourse he experienced a feeling of sorrow that the remnants of the chosen race should be heartlessly thrust outside the sacred enclosure of their fathers' holy temple by men of an alien race and an alien creed. Many of the elders, seated on the ground, with their backs against the wall, on the west side of the area, and with their faces turned toward the eternal house, read out of their well-thumbed Hebrew books passages from the prophetic writings, such as Isa 64:9-12" (King's Recent Discoveries). The wailing-place of the Jews, viewed in its past spiritual and historic relations, is indeed "the saddest nook in this vale of tears." (See LAMENTATIONS, BOOK OF.)



—Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

Answer 6

What debate?

Everyone knows it was part of the Temple, 2,000 years before Islam was invented!

Look here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_wal...

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israe...

http://mosaic.lk.net/g-wall.html

http://www.jerusalemwesternwall.com/

Answer 7

Ever since King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel more than 3,000 years ago, the city has played a central role in Jewish existence. The Western Wall in the Old City — the last remaining wall of the ancient Jewish Temple, the holiest site in Judaism — is the object of Jewish veneration and the focus of Jewish prayer. Three times a day, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed "To Jerusalem, thy city, shall we return with joy," and have repeated the Psalmist's oath: "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning