From: Charrl-AT-aol.com
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 2002 23:40:18 EST
Subject: Re: holy cities


There were interesting responses to my query about prohibiting non-believers 
from visiting Mecca and Medina.  It seems there is no theological reason, 
only a line in the Koran about pagans or idol-worshipers or polytheistic 
people not being allowed to approach the Ka'aba.  Several respondents cast 
the prohibitions in strictly power terms, and there were suggestions of 
earlier military threats from other religions and of "a group that is closed 
- not open to interaction with or...examination by outsiders".

One of the most interesting posts discussed a "symbolic statement about the 
power of the IN group" which included a reference to sharing of buildings for 
worship among Moslems, Jews, and Christians in an earlier era.  (Just today, 
I learned that a Jewish architect, Louis Kahn, worked in the Islamic Republic 
of Pakistan in the 1960s and 1970s to design what became the National 
Assembly building in Dacca, Bangladesh.)

The reason I asked about Mecca and Medina has to do with a recent "land for 
peace" proposition made by the Saudi crown prince, which has been the subject 
of widespread interest and of calls for more detail.  The proposition would 
have the Israelis pulling back to pre-war borders which existed in early 
1967, when Jews were not allowed even to visit many of their holy places, 
including the wailing wall of the second temple in Jersualem.

While getting to an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire is now a huge challenge, 
resolving the status of Jerusalem is a much thornier impediment to a 
comprehensive political agreement.  How can the Saudi leader, whose people 
have long prohibited anyone not Moslem from even setting foot in Mecca and 
Medina, reasonably expect the Jewish people to cede control of Jersualem?  
How would he feel if Mecca were to be walled off to Moslems?  How would he 
feel if Mecca were to be "despoiled" by the mere presence of non-believers?  
How can Saudis and other Moslems expect Israel to take the proposal 
seriously, as long as Mecca and Medina are off limits for seemingly no other 
reasons than historical ones which no longer apply, or because of ingrained 
intolerance or arrogance toward anyone whose beliefs are different from their 
own?

Charles Orlowek  


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