This is what the fight is all about: In the center of Jerusalem is the sacred structure which the Jews label as the Temple Mount, and the Arabs refer to as the Haram al-Sharif (the noble sanctuary) and Al-Aqsa (the farthest Mosque). A mere 35 acres; yet touch it, and the Ummah [the Islamic homeland] will go to war.

So who has the better claim?

Ignoring the issue of political sovereignty, let us focus solely on which religion has the greater claim to that sacred space.

According to the Quran, at one time all of mankind was Muslim; and all men had apostasized into error.

Surah 42:13 ... He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus

However, mankind corrupted the message of Islam; and so Allah raised up one last messenger. Allah sent Jibreel (Gabriel) to a man named Mohammed to restore the original truth to the Arabs, which they were to bring to the world through jihad.

Quran 66:9 Prophet! Make war on the unbelievers ...

According to Islam, since mankind was originally Muslim, all places of true worship must have originally been a mosque.

This is the reason that Muslim Arabs claim justification in taking the sacred areas of whatever lands they seize, and restoring the buildings to what they perceive as their original service to Allah. The "Temple Area" in Jerusalem became the Al-Aqsa (farthest) Mosque, in the city, now renamed Al Quds. Constantinople's Christian Hagia Sofia was defaced and dedicated to Islam. The Hindu Temple of Rama in Ayohya, India destroyed and rebuilt as the Babri Mosque. [The Hindus finally seized it back in 1992] One can only begin to imagine what may soon happen to Notre Dame in Paris.

Against the myths of Islam, Jewish claims are based on history, first person accounts, archeology, and the Bible. The Jews have an embarrassment of riches from which to make their claim to the Mount.

One could note the Bible, which mentions the temple over a hundred times, and Jerusalem over 800 times; yet never once mentions Allah or Al-Quds. But the Bible was corrupted by the Jews -- according to the Quran -- and ignored as unreliable by Muslims.

Josephus mentions the Temple Mount in his first-century Wars of the Jews, six centuries before Mohammed. Apparently Jospehus was not aware that Moses, Solomon, and Jesus were Muslim, even though he was a contemporary of the Apostles.

Then there is the Arch of Titus in Rome with its frieze of a menorah stolen by the Romans from the Temple in Jerusalem. Don't be fooled by corrupt labeling!

That cannot be a menorah; it must actually be three Islamic crescents.

The 2000-year-old Dead Sea scrolls -- which predate Mohammed by at least seven centuries -- are ignored. How the Muslim scholars deny that is beyond belief; but they do.

Roman coins bearing the words IVDEA CAPTA (Judea captive) commemorating the destruction of Israel from the First Jewish War were struck for 25 years in many denominations.

[A]t least 48 different types are known.

Somehow, Muslims ignore this, and claim the Jews are not native to the area; but are instead Europeans.

Most amazing is how Muslims ignore that Mohammed died four years before the forces of Islam even arrived at the gates of Jerusalem in 636 AD. The city would not capitulate until 637 AD. There were no mosques in Jerusalem during Mohammed's lifetime. So what mosque could Mohammed have even visited during his night journey?

The Muslims ignore all this and rename Jerusalem Al Quds as if it were always Muslim.

They even ignore their own history by the biographer of Mohammed, al-Waqidi, which states that the farthest mosque was in al-Gi'irranah, a village outside Mecca.

"Islamic tradition tells us that al-Aqsa mosque is near Mecca on the Arabian Peninsula. This was unequivocally stated in "Kitab al-Maghazi," a book by the Muslim historian and geographer al-Waqidi," Dr. Kedar writes. "According to al-Waqidi, there were two "masjeds" (places of prayer) in al-Gi'irranah, a village between Mecca and Ta'if - one was "the closer mosque" (al-masjid al-adna) and the other was "the further mosque" (al-masjid al-aqsa,) and Muhammad would pray there when he went out of town." -- The Times of Israel

NOTE: The original paper by Dr. Kedar can be found: (Click Here)

In fact, the Arabic name al Quds, is a corruption of the Hebrew Qadosh. Qadosh is Hebrew for holy. Al Quds simply means, "the Holy Place," but in no way does that holiness derive from Islam. It derives from a corruption of Hebrew.

Finally, there is the insult -- not merely to Jews, but to the heritage of the world -- that was allowed when the Muslims were permitted to use bulldozers to dig out space for the new Al-Marwani mosque, constructed underneath the Al Aqsa (Southern) Mosque in the Temple area known as Solomon's Stables. Solomon's Stables is an archeological treasure which should have been excavated by nothing bigger than a dental pick. The Muslims trucked the debris to a Kidron Valley dump.

The Waqf authorities claim that the Temple Mount was an ancient mosque dating from the time of Adam and Eve ... Jewish Virtual Library

Already volunteers, affiliated with Bar Ilan University, sifting through what the Muslims have dumped as trash have discovered artifacts which prove a Jewish priority to the area. This is sacrilege of the first rank, not merely to the Jewish religion, but to secular history -- and few in the media have ever mentioned this criminal archeological atrocity which shows the utter contempt Muslims hold for the history of others.

Ironically, incompetent engineering of the excavation has weakened the Southern Wall, and endangers the structural integrity of the southern end of the Temple area, which may result in the destruction of the Muslim structures should a major earthquake strike.

Already, the Muslims have blamed the Jews for this.

Muslim claims are not merely false, but outrageous lies. They are easily refuted by anyone who has common sense.

Whatever the political claims on the city, Islam has absolutely no valid religious claim to the Temple Mount at all. Islamic claims are bald-faced lies, and Muslim academics must surely know this.

Why Muslim academics do not speak up could be a subject for another article.

Mike Konrad is the pen name of an American who is neither Jewish, Latin, nor Arab. He runs a website, http://latinarabia.com/, where he discusses the subculture of Arabs in Latin America. He wishes his Spanish were better.