Ramadan Violence

A hilltop at the heart of Jerusalem, Israel, is known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. It has been the site of Muslim rioting during the month-long religious holiday of Ramadan.

How did a holiday dedicated to fasting, prayer and charitable-giving become a time of violence – and not in Jerusalem alone? Recent years have seen Ramadan attacks in countries as different as France and Syria, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Somalia. Nevertheless, there is something distinctive about violence on the Temple Mount, a location that some have called ground zero.

Ambassador Dore Gold will provide insight into the dangerous dynamic of Ramadan violence: What incites it? Who benefits from it? And how can it best be countered?

Ambassador Dore Gold is the President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Among his many articles and books books areThe Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Iran Defies the WestandTower of Babel: How the United Nations has Fueled Global Chaos.

Renee Garfinkel, Ph.D. is a psychologist, writer, Middle East television commentator and host of The New Books Network’sVan Leer JerusalemSeries on Ideas. Write her at reneeg@vanleer.org.il