Note: the writer of the opinion piece quoted below has distorted the words of Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel. He did not "call for a Third Temple to be built" (on the site of the Mosque). According to the Middle East Monitor, "Ariel added that the construction of a third Jewish temple at the site is the primary demand of the Torah "as it is at the forefront of Jewish salvation." (International Business Times, 11/14/2014)
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| Model of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem |
Israel National News, Dec. 12, 2014
Pakistani Opinion: Israel is the
Next Superpower
Pakistani Opinion: Israel is the
Next Superpower
A surprising op-ed in a large
Pakistani paper sees Israel benefiting big-time from current chaos, rebuilding
Temple.
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| The Temple Mount (file photo - Israel National News) |
Pakistan's The
Nation newspaper, which describes itself as being the market leader in
the Punjab and Islamabad areas, has published an op-ed
that predicts Israel will become the world's next superpower.
Aisha
Noor, a “researcher and designer,” begins her piece by asserting straightforwardly
that Israel “has decided to demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque and build the Jewish
Temple in its place.”
As
evidence supporting this, she notes among other things that Israeli
Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel recently said that it was time to
begin building homes for Jews without restrictions, and that he said
in a radio interview that “building the Jewish Temple is the
paramount demand of the Torah, as it is at the forefront of Jewish salvation.”
“He
called for a third Temple to be built on the site, which is today
home to the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and is considered Judaism’s
holiest site and Islam’s third holiest” explained Noor. “The very words to
focus on are ‘the time to build…has come.’”
Koranic
prediction
Noor
cites Muslim scholars, such as Sheikh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi and Imam Dr
Muhammad Al-Hussaini, who believe that the return of the Jews to the Holy Land,
and the establishment of Israel, is in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
She
quotes Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, Islamic Law scholar of the San Diego State
University, as translating Surah 5, Verse 21 of the Koran, thus: “Moses said: O
my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you, and do not turn
tail, otherwise you will be losers.” Mohammed here understands “written” to
mean this is the final word from God on the subject, Noor adds.
Israel's
strategic position has been enhanced by the overthrow of Egypt’s Muslim
Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi, a political change that has further
isolated the Hamas-led Palestinian Arabs in Gaza, Noor expounded. Meanwhile, in
Lebanon, the Shi'ite movement of Hezbollah has come under increasing military
and political pressure after sending combatants to Syria to support the Assad regime
in Syria.
Israel is
benefiting from the Sunni-Shi'ite divisions ripping apart the Islamic world,
claims Noor, and cites an anlysis that states: “The twin crises in Syria and
Egypt have marked the emergence of a new superpower coalition in the Middle
East, the odd couple alliance of Israel and Saudi Arabia, with Jordan serving
as an intermediary and the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms playing a supporting
role.”
Noor goes
on to describe powerful “Jewish lobbies” that control different countries, and
quotes author Arthur Herman, who wrote in a Fox News piece on
January 31, 2013, that the Arab Spring has made Israel stronger than before.
“The Arab
Spring has spawned a chaos and instability in every country it has touched
that’s going to grind on for years to come,” Herman had opined. “A new report
warns that Egypt is on the verge of collapse; Israel’s old adversary Syria,
already is. Both are also very likely headed towards economic ruin – as has
already happened to Israel’s other foe, Hamas in Gaza, and could hit Iran
next."
“All
these factors,” Noor sums up, “contribute to the belief that Israel would be
the next superpower.”
Fantasy
or fact?
While
Noor's op-ed may be tinged with shades of fantasy and anti-Semitic myth, recent
research in India also shows that Israel is among the top ten most
powerful nations in the world.
According to the 2012 National Power Index (NPI),
released by the Foundation for National Security Research (FNSR), a
New Delhi-based think tank, Israel achieved a 32.19 NPI ranking, placing it
tenth on the list of the world's most powerful countries.
The NPI
is a quantification of a nation's power, meaning its ability to influence
global events. The ranking is based on a composite of indexes of
statistical analysis in terms of economy, military, diplomacy, technology and
population. Each factor has a certain weight, and the composite index includes
a detailed analysis of individual components.
The
research appraises Israel as a country of 8 million, with a GDP of $272.7
billion and 176,500 active military personnel.
Israel
stands out in military capability where it is ranked 6th in the world, and
technological capability where it ranks 4th. Its capabilities ranked 25 in
economy, 17 in population and 19 in foreign affairs.
The index
study notes that Israel has the strongest military in the Middle East, and is
among the world's leaders in technology and science. It also notes that Israel
ranks 15 on the UN development index, illustrating the high quality of life in
the Jewish state.
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