Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: UNESCO draft resolution: Western Wall is part of al-Aksa mosque [View all]sabbat hunter
(6,891 posts)1) Jews were allowed to pray on the temple mount after the temples destruction in 70CE, and Emperor Hadrian in fact gave permission to build a third temple, and there is historical records backing this up. He later reneged on this permission, but the temple mount had been cleared of rubble and debris
2) even after the permission had been pulled, Roman emperors thru the time of Constantine allowed jewish prayers on the temple mount (which was typical of Roman rule, to allow local populace to pray to their gods. Constantine stopped most of the prayers, but still allowed access a few times a year, particularly on Tisha b'Av.
3) after the death of Emperor Julian, due to protests from local Christians, Jews were banned from the Temple Mount ~360CE, but in 438 Empress Eudocia gave permission for Jews to once again ascend the Temple Mount for prayers. Almost 100k Jews came to Jerusalem to pray at the temple mount that year. But thanks again to local Christians and a threatened revolt by them over this matter, the permission was once again revoked
4) In 618 when the Persians conquered Jerusalem, they allowed Jews to ascend the Mount and pray (as part of a deal of the Babylonian Jews giving 30,000 soldiers to teh Persian army). There is evidence of not only prayers, but sacrifices starting again on the Temple Mount.
5) when the Byzantines reconquered Jerusalem the prayers ended again, but when the Arabs conquered the area a short time later, the Caliph Umar gave permission for Jews to live in Jerusalem and pray on the mount without restriction
6) After the Dome of the Rock was built, the Muslim Caliphs allowed Jews to build a synagogue on another area of the Temple Mount. between this time and the coming of the crusaders in 1099, Jews were allowed to pray on the Temple mount (with interruptions for brief periods due to one ruler or another)
7) between 1099 and 1187 no non christians were officially allowed in Jerusalem (and the two mosques were turned into churches). However Maimonides wrote in 1165 that he went up to the temple mount and prayed with others, so this ban was not a complete one.
8) Saladin the Great upon his conquest of Jerusalem allowed Jews to settle in the city again, and pray on the Temple Mount in a synagogue.
There is more if you want.