Hurva Synagogue - Rededication and Response

Rededication and Response

The reconstructed Hurva was officially opened on March 15, 2010 in the presence of Israeli politicians and chief rabbis. A day earlier, hundreds of people had accompanied a new Torah scroll into the synagogue. Several Palestinian leaders claimed that the rededication signaled Israel’s intent to destroy the Muslim holy places on the Temple Mount and replace it with the Third Temple. Fatah official Khatem Abd el-Khader called the renovation of the Hurva a "provocation", warned Israel that it was "playing with fire" and called on Palestinians to "converge on Al-Aksa to save it." Khaled Meshaal of Hamas described the synagogue's opening as "a declaration of war" and called it a "falsification of history and Jerusalem's religious and historic monuments." Fearing riots by Arab protestors, over 3,000 policemen were deployed ahead of the dedication ceremony. The Organisation of the Islamic Conference said that the reopening risked "dragging the region into a religious war" and claimed the building was historically on a waqf (Islamic trust) land. The Jordanian government also condemned the move stating that it "categorically rejects the rededication of Hurva synagogue and all other unilateral Israeli measures in occupied East Jerusalem because they run counter to international legitimacy." Iran urged the international community to respond to the reopening and a Foreign Ministry spokesman called the move a "catastrophe that has distressed the Islamic world." Israeli officials countered that Arab fears of a takeover of the Temple Mount were based on rumors and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended a message of coexistence. The U.S. State Department criticised Palestinians for stoking tensions at the rededication of the historic synagogue. The day after, Arabs clashed with Israeli police in East Jerusalem after Palestinian groups called for a "day of rage" over the reopening.

In September 2010, Hamas released a propaganda video showing various Israeli landmarks, including the Hurva synagogue, ablaze after coming under missile attack. The images were the result of special effects, as no such attacks had taken place.