Israel, The Arabs and Al-Aqsa Mosque

The events at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem in regard to Israel's removal of a small hill by one of the gates leading to the Mosque and the Arabs Muslims reaction to it culminate and show what has been going on between the sons of Abraham for the past hundred or so years; which is gross mistrust, misunderstanding and a psychological barrier, as the late president Sadat of Egypt once said. Both parties are at fault here, in this particular incident. Israel should have conducted a press conference, before it started the construction, to explain that what it is doing is just improvements to the road leading to the gate, as it finally did today through the foreign ministry and the Arabs should have asked for logical explanations to what it is going on. Neither party has been conducting itself in a way that help to build confidence among themselves or at least ease the misunderstanding. This has been going on for decades. Israel as the administrator of the east part of the city has a responsibility to first its Arab residents, and the Muslim world, to explain and maybe conduct town meetings as we do here in the US on the town and city levels. The holy places in Jerusalem are extremely sensitive to the three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam and a good PR is necessary before doing any business that could hurt the feelings of any of the three religions. The Arabs, again, should not just wait and hunt for an opportunity just to attack Israel but need to engage Israel in the regard of the holly places. These small steps are vital until a more overall comprehensive peace is achieved in the Middle East.