THE SOLOMON SOLUTION PROLOGUE ON 111 SOUTH GRAND AVENUE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, AMIDST THE VERTICAL RECTANGLES OF CAPITALISM AND THE CONCRETE CUBES OF THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT, LIES A SONIC TEMPLE, MY HOLY OF HOLIES. DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT FRANK GEHRY, CONSTRUCTED OF DOUGLAS FIR WALLS, OAK FLOORING, AND STAINLESS STEEL EXTERIOR PANELS, THE QOLQECANCHA SEATS 2,265 LISTENERS TO AN AUDITORY HEAVEN OF UNDEFINABLE INTIMACY WITH PIN - DROP PERFECTION ; IT IS SAID THAT WHEN RAVEL'S DAPHNIS AND CHLOE WAS REHEARSED IN THIS NEWLY TUNED CONCERT HALL ( IN AUGUST OF 2003 ), THE CONDUCTOR ESA-PEKKA SALONEN HEARD WRONG NOTES IN THE SCORES WHICH RESTED ON THE STANDS OF THE LA PHILHARMONIC, SCORES WHICH HAD BEEN IN USE FOR DECADES, WITH MISTRANSCRIPTIONS NOT DETECTED BY EARLIER CONDUCTORS WITHIN THE MORE CAVERNOUS ACOUSTICS OF THE PHILHARMONIC'S FORMER HOME. FROM THE QUECHUA WORDS MEANING SILVER ( QOLQE ) AND HOUSE ( CANCHA ), THE QOLQECANCHA BEARS A MOST STRIKING RESEMBLANCE TO THE IMPERIAL STONEWORK AND CURVING CONTOURS OF ANOTHER MORE ANCIENT TEMPLE ( AND HOLY OF HOLIES TO THE INCAS ), THE CORICANCHA OF SOUTHERN PERU. ALTHOUGH THE CORICANCHA WAS STRIPPED OF HER SHEET GOLD WALLS AND STATUES AS PART OF ATAHUALPA'S RANSOM IN THE 1500s, WITH A CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILT ATOP ITS FOUNDATIONS AND OVER HER RUINS WITHIN THE SAME CENTURY, THE CORICANCHA'S CURVING OUTER WALL OF DARK GRANITE STILL INSPIRES WITH ITS TIGHTLY INTERLOCKING PATTERNS AND ALMOST SHEET METAL QUALITY COMPARED TO THE MORE COBBLESTONE EFFORTS OF SPANISH COLONIAL MASONRY. THE TERM " HOLY OF HOLIES " REFERS PRIMARILY TO THE INNER CHAMBER OF THE HOLY PLACE IN THE TABERNACLE ( AND LATER FIRST TEMPLE ) OF THE ISRAELITES ; HERE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT WAS KEPT, WITH ITS SOLID GOLD LID OF TWO CHERUBIM ON EITHER SIDE OF A " MERCY SEAT " OR SEAT OF GRACE FOR THE DIVINE PRESENCE. IT WAS HERE THAT GOD SPOKE WITH MOSES, AND WAS THUS REGARDED AS THE MOST HOLY SITE IN ALL OF JUDAISM. AS AN ECHO TO THE ISOLATION OF MOSES ON MOUNT SINAI, COMMUNICATING WITH GOD UNSEEN WHILE THE ISRAELITES WAITED BELOW, THE HOLY OF HOLIES WAS HIDDEN FROM VIEW BY A VEIL HELD UP BY FOUR COLUMNS ; NO ONE WOULD ENTER THIS ROOM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, AS IT WAS RESERVED FOR THE DIVINE PRESENCE. ONLY ON ONE DAY OF THE ENTIRE YEAR ( YOM KIPPUR ) WOULD THE HIGH PRIEST OF THE ISRAELITES ENTER THIS CHAMBER OF PERFECT CUBE DIMENSIONS ( 20 CUBITS x 20 CUBITS x 20 CUBITS ) TO OFFER INCENSE, BULL'S BLOOD, AND GOAT'S BLOOD SPRINKLED EIGHT TIMES BEFORE THE MERCY SEAT, ON A DAY DEVOTED TO ATONEMENT AND REPENTANCE FOR THE ISRAELITES AND SUBSEQUENT FOLLOWERS OF JUDAISM. THE HOLY OF HOLIES WAS KNOWN TO THE ISRAELITES AS THE " KADOSH HAKODASHIM ", OR THE MOST HOLY PLACE. THIS ESSAY ATTEMPTS TO EXPLORE THOSE INTERSECTIONS OF THE EARTH WHERE TWO OR MORE RELIGIONS COLLIDE, INCLUDING THOSE CONFLICTS WHICH INVOLVE HOLY AND EVEN MOST HOLY SITES ; HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT THE DESIRE TO SUPPLANT AND ERASE EXTENDS EVEN TO THE REALM OF COMPETING THEOLOGIES AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP BUILT ON TOP OF ONE OTHER, AS EXEMPLIFIED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SANTO DOMINGO SPROUTING OUT OF THE GREY INCAN STONEWORK OF THE DESTROYED CORICANCHA. TO GUIDE US ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH THREE " HOLY OF HOLIES " IN DISPARATE AREAS OF THE GLOBE, WE INVOKE HERE THE THIRD KING OF THE UNITED MONARCHY, SOLOMON THE WISE ( FAMOUS FOR HIS JUDGEMENT TO DIVIDE A CHILD IN HALF FOR TWO WOMEN BOTH CLAIMING TO BE THE MOTHER ), AS OUR FINAL JUDGE AND ARBITER AS HE TRAVELS FROM HIS ERA ( 967 - 927 B.C. ) INTO THE FAR FUTURE OF 2017 TO PRONOUNCE THREE IMPARTIAL JUDGEMENTS UPON LOCATIONS WITHIN THE NEAR EAST, CENTRAL ASIA, AND NORTHERN MEXICO, EACH OF THESE TERRITORIES HOLDING A " MOST HOLY PLACE " WITHIN THE RELIGIOUS PANTHEON OF THEIR INDIGENOUS INHABITANTS. UNDER THE DUAL BANNERS OF PEACE AND JUSTICE, AND WITH SOLOMON FRESH FROM A NEARLY 3,000 YEAR TRANSMIGRATION THRU TIME, LET US NOW VISIT THE FAR EASTERN SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN, AND THE LANDS OF THE ANCIENT PHOENICIANS, PHILISTINES, AND ISRAELITES. ACTE I - THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC " AND THEY CAME TO THE PLACE WHICH GOD HAD TOLD HIM OF ; AND ABRAHAM BUILT AN ALTER THERE, AND LAID THE WOOD IN ORDER, AND BOUND ISAAC HIS SON, AND LAID HIM ON THE ALTAR UPON THE WOOD. AND ABRAHAM STRETCHED FORTH HIS HAND, AND TOOK THE KNIFE TO SLAY HIS SON. AND THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CALLED UNTO HIM OUT OF HEAVEN, AND SAID " ABRAHAM, ABRAHAM " : AND HE SAID, " HERE AM I ". AND HE SAID, LAY NOT THINE HAND UPON THE LAD, NEITHER DO THOU ANY THING UNTO HIM : FOR NOW I KNOW THAT THOU FEAREST GOD, SEEING THOU HAST NOT WITHHELD THY SON, THINE ONLY SON FROM ME. ( GENESIS 22 : 9 - 12 ) OR WAS IT ISHMAEL ? ABRAHAM WAS " FOURSCORE AND SIX YEARS OLD ", OR EIGHTY SIX, WHEN HAGAR ( THE EGYPTIAN HANDMAIDEN OF HIS WIFE SARAH ) GAVE BIRTH TO ABRAHAM'S FIRST SON, ISHMAEL ; IT WOULD BE ANOTHER THIRTEEN YEARS BEFORE THE MIRACULOUS OCCURRED WITH SARAH'S GIVING BIRTH TO ISAAC WHEN ABRAHAM WAS NINETY NINE. THE QUR'AN DOES NOT REFER TO THE ALMOST - SACRIFICED SON BY NAME ; IN VERSE 37:102, WE READ THE WORDS OF ABRAHAM TO HIS SON : " O MY SON ! I HAVE SEEN IN A VISION THAT I OFFER THEE IN SACRIFICE : NOW SEE WHAT IS THY VIEW ? ( THE SON ) SAID : " O MY FATHER ! DO AS THOU ART COMMANDED : THOU WILL FIND ME, IF ALLAH SO WILLS, ONE OF THE STEADFAST ! SO WHEN THEY HAD BOTH SUBMITTED ( TO ALLAH ), AND HE HAD LAID HIM PROSTRATE ON HIS FOREHEAD ( FOR SACRIFICE ), WE CALLED OUT TO HIM " O ABRAHAM ! . . . " THOU HAST ALREADY FULFILLED THE VISION ! " - THUS INDEED DO WE REWARD THOSE WHO DO RIGHT. " ( QUR'AN 37: 102 - 105 ) SO WAS THE " SON " TO BE SACRIFICED, AS MENTIONED IN THIS SECTION OF THE QUR'AN, ISHMAEL OR ISAAC ? A DIRECT ANCESTOR OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD, OR A DIRECT ANCESTOR OF MOSES AND JESUS, WHO LAY STRETCHED OUT PROSTRATE UNDER THE KNIFE OF HIS FATHER ? TO AN UNBIASED THIRD PARTY NOT CONNECTED WITH EITHER RELIGIOUS TRADITION, THE LANGUAGE OF THE GENESIS VERSE, PARTICULARLY " THINE ONLY SON " COULD LEAD ONE TO INFER THE POTENTIAL FOR THE SACRIFICE, WERE IT OF ISHMAEL, TO HAVE OCCURRED WHEN ISHMAEL WAS THIRTEEN OR YOUNGER, BEFORE ISAAC WAS BORN, AND WHEN ISHMAEL WAS THUS ABRAHAM'S " ONLY SON ". FOLLOWING THE ISHMAEL POSSIBILITY FURTHER, A QUESTION OF POSSIBLE MOTIVE, EVEN SUBCONSCIOUS MOTIVE, MIGHT BE RAISED : IF ABRAHAM WERE TO HAVE A PREMONITION OR FOREKNOWLEDGE OF ANY NATURE REGARDING SARAH'S PREGNANCY ( OF ISAAC ), COULD THIS NOT INFLUENCE HIS VISIONS AND / OR DREAMS, INCLUDING A SCENARIO WHERE HIS SON BORN OF AN EGYPTIAN HANDMAIDEN IS SACRIFICED SO THAT HIS FORTHCOMING SON ( ISAAC ) FROM HIS WIFE SARAH WOULD HAVE FULL AND UNCONTESTED BIRTHRIGHT ? WHILE FOLLOWERS OF MODERN JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY ASSERT THAT ISAAC WAS THE " ONLY SON " OF ABRAHAM'S BY SARAH, AND THAT ISHMAEL THUS DIDN'T COUNT AS A SON IN THIS BIBLE VERSE, THE ISAAC SACRIFICE POSSIBILITY WOULD STILL INCLUDE A TWENTY - SOMETHING ISHMAEL LIVING SOMEWHERE ON EARTH, AND STILL A SON OF ABRAHAM. IS THERE EVEN A REMOTE POSSIBILITY THAT SOMEWHERE IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXTS WHICH BECAME THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE, AN " ISHMAEL " WAS REPLACED WITH THE MORE SYMBOLICALLY RICH " ISAAC " IN GENESIS 22:9 ? ALTHOUGH AN ANSWER TO THESE QUESTIONS IS BEYOND THE SCOPE OF THIS ESSAY, THE FACT THAT THE CONFLICT AND DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN JEW AND ARAB EXTENDS AS FAR BACK AS THEIR DIVERGENCE FROM A SINGLE INDIVIDUAL IS BOTH SYMPTOMATIC AND EXPOSITORY. A VIEWING OF THE 1947 UNITED NATIONS PARTITION PLAN FOR PALESTINE BY THE SAME THIRD - PARTY OBSERVER ( WITH THE ABOVE IMAGE DISPLAYING AREAS SET APART FOR THE JEWISH STATE IN LIGHT BLUE, WITH THE ARAB STATE DESIGNATED IN GREEN ) COULD BE INSTRUMENTAL AS WELL IN HIGHLIGHTING THE CONVOLUTED DIVIDE BETWEEN THESE TWO PEOPLES AND RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS. WILL WORLD POLITICS PRECIPITATE AN INEVITABLE SLIDE TOWARDS SELF - FULFILLMENT OF ANCIENT BIBLICAL PROPHECY, OR TOWARDS A FUTURE WORLD WAR, AN ARMAGEDDON OVER THE CONFLICTED AREA OF ISRAEL / PALESTINE ? IS THE NON - CONTIGUOUS NATURE OF THE 1947 UN RESOLUTION ONE OF THE FAULTS, AND THUS FRAILTIES, IN THE EFFORT TO BRING BOTH ISRAEL AND PALESTINE TOWARDS A LONG - TERM AND LASTING SOLUTION ? IS THERE A THIRD WAY, EVEN ONE WHICH BOTH PARTIES MIGHT DETEST AT FIRST, BUT ONE WHICH WOULD HARVEST STABILITY AND PROSPERITY TO BOTH NATIONS, THAT BOTH PALESTINE AND ISRAEL MIGHT EXIST AS FULL FLEDGED AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES, AND THAT ISHMAEL AND ISAAC MIGHT BECOME BROTHERS ONCE AGAIN ? THE ABOVE MAP IMAGE SHOWS THE FAR EASTERN SHORES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA DURING THE REIGN OF KING DAVID ; THE " UNITED MONARCHY " AS RULED OVER BY SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON INCLUDED BOTH THE TERRITORIES OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH AS A UNITED KINGDOM OF ISRAEL. THE LAND OF PHILISTIA, HOME OF THE PHILISTINES ( INCLUDING THE FAMED GOLIATH OF GATH WHOM DAVID SLEW ), EXTENDED OVER THE GAZA STRIP TERRITORY NORTHWARD PAST ASHDOD TO THE YARKON RIVER ; IT WAS KNOWN AS A COASTAL PENTAPOLIS, WITH THE FIVE CITY - STATES OF GAZA, ASHKELON, ASHDOD, EKRON, AND GATH AS THE FIVE CAPITALS OF THIS SEAFARING NATION. THE WORDS " PHILISTINE " AND " PALESTINE " ARE BOTH DERIVED FROM THE SAME LATIN ROOT ( PHILISTINUS ) AND OLD FRENCH ( PHILISTIN ). ALTHOUGH THE BOUNDARIES AND BORDERS OF PHILISTIA EBBED AND FLOWED THRU SEVERAL KINGDOMS AND EMPIRES, THE FIVE CITY - STATES OF GAZA, ASHKELON, ASHDOD, EKRON, AND GATH WERE A NEAR CONSTANT DEFENSIVE NETWORK DURING THIS ERA. THE MAP BELOW SHOWS ANCIENT PHILISTIA DURING THE TIMES OF THE UNITED MONARCHY OF ISRAEL, UNDER THE REIGNS OF KING SAUL, DAVID, AND SOLOMON ( CIRCA 1049 - 927 B.C. ) AS SHOWN, THE TERRITORY OF THE PHILISTINES EXTENDED AS FAR NORTH AS JOPPA ( MODERN DAY JAFFA, OR SOUTHERN TEL - AVIV ), ALTHOUGH THIS NATURAL HARBOR WAS SOON CONQUERED BY KING DAVID AND SOLOMON, AND USED AS A PORT TO RECEIVE CEDARS FROM LEBANON TOWARDS THE BUILDING OF THE FIRST TEMPLE, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. IT IS SAID THAT DURING THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE REIGN OF SOLOMON, CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON THE FIRST TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM. BUILT ENTIRELY OF CEDAR, OLIVE - WOOD, FIR - WOOD, AND GOLD, THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON STOOD THIRTY CUBITS IN HEIGHT, WITH A HOLY OF HOLIES OF GOLDEN FLOORS AND WALLS, HIDDEN BEHIND A FINEST LINEN VEIL OF TEKHELET - PURPLE AND CRIMSON. THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, WITH THE ORIGINAL TABLETS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS HELD WITHIN, WAS PLACED WITHIN THE HOLY OF HOLIES ON THE TEMPLE'S DEDICATION, TO RESIDE THEREIN UNTIL THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FIRST TEMPLE BY KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR II OF BABYLON IN 587 B.C. JOSEPHUS RECORDS THAT THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON STOOD FOR 470 YEARS, SIX MONTHS, AND TEN DAYS, AND WAS THE CENTER FOR ALL OF JUDAISM. CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON A " SECOND TEMPLE " IN 537 B.C., ON THE SAME LOCATION OF THE TEMPLE MOUNT WHERE THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON HAD RESIDED ; WITHIN THE HOLY OF HOLIES OF THIS SECOND TEMPLE, THE FOUNDATION STONE RESTED WHERE THE ARK OF THE COVENANT ONCE STOOD. THE FOUNDATION STONE, OR " PIERCED STONE ", WAS BELIEVED BY THE ISRAELITES TO BE THE LOCATION OF ABRAHAM'S ATTEMPTED SACRIFICE OF ISAAC ; UNDERNEATH THIS STONE WAS A CAVE OR CHAMBER REGARDED BY THE TALMUD AS " THE CENTER OF THE WORLD ". THE SECOND TEMPLE, AFTER A MAJOR RENOVATION BY KING HEROD, WAS DESTROYED BY THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN 70 A.D. FIRST TEMPLE ( TEMPLE OF SOLOMON ) 957 - 587 B.C. SECOND TEMPLE 517 B.C. - 70 A.D. FOLLOWING THE MUSLIM CONQUEST OF JERUSALEM IN 638 A.D., CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON THE AL - AQSA MOSQUE AND THE " DOME OF THE ROCK ", AN AWE - INSPIRING EDIFICE COMPLETED IN 691 A.D. OVER THE LOCATION OF THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLES. TODAY, THE DOME OF THE ROCK STANDS COMPLETE WITH A GOLD - PLATED ROOF ( ADDED IN 1961 ), PRESIDING OVER THE FOUNDATION STONE AS THE THIRD HOLIEST SHRINE IN ALL OF ISLAM. IT IS BELIEVED THAT MUHAMMAD ASCENDED TO HEAVEN FROM THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN A " NIGHT JOURNEY " ( ISRA AND MI'RAJ ) AROUND 621 A.D., WHERE HE SAW THE HOLY LOTE TREE ( SIDRAT AL - MUNTAHA ) AT THE END OF THE SEVENTH HEAVEN, AND RECEIVED INSTRUCTION FROM ALLAH FOR ALL MUSLIMS TO PRAY FIVE TIMES EACH DAY. AL - AQSA MOSQUE ( ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM ) DOME OF THE ROCK ( ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT IN JERUSALEM ) AND IT IS FROM THE VERY FOUNDATION STONE ITSELF, WITHIN THE VERY HEART OF THE DOME OF THE ROCK WHERE THE HOLY OF HOLIES FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLES OF ISRAEL HAD STOOD, THAT SOLOMON APPEARS, EMERGING FROM THE SUBTERRANEAN CAVE KNOWN TO MUSLIMS AS THE " WELL OF SOULS " AND TO JEWS AS " THE EARTH'S NAVEL ". HERE RECORDED IS KING SOLOMON'S SOLUTION FOR THE LANDS OF ANCIENT PHILISTIA AND ISRAEL, TRANSCRIBED ON FEBRUARY 26, 2017 : " TO BOTH NATIONS, PALESTINE AND ISRAEL, KNOW THAT THIS JUDGMENT OF GOD WILL REQUIRE THE DEEPEST OF SACRIFICES FROM BOTH NATIONS AND PEOPLES ; AND AS THE HIGHEST OF TESTS IN FAITH TO GOD AND OBEDIENCE TO ALLAH, THAT THOU WOULDST BE WILLING, AS OUR FATHER ABRAHAM WAS, TO SACRIFICE THAT WHICH IS MOST CHERISHED AND LOVED DEAREST, AS WAS HIS SON OF THE SACRIFICE . . . FOR TRULY ON THIS DAY, THE SACRIFICE OF ISHMAEL, AND THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC, ARE PERFORMED IN SIMULTANEITY ; THEREFORE, LET THE FOLLOWING OCCUR, NOT A ONE - STATE NOR A TWO - STATE SOLUTION, BUT A THREE STATE SOLUTION : STATE I ) PALESTINĖ LET THE LANDS OF ANCIENT PHILISTIA BE RETURNED IN FULL, THAT PALESTINE BE COMPRISED OF THE FIVE CITY - STATES OF THE ANCIENT PENTAPOLIS, AND THAT GAZA, ASHKELON, ASHDOD, EKRON, AND GATH BE RETURNED TO THEIR FORMER GLORY, WITH MATCHING FUNDS PROVIDED BY THE UNITED NATIONS TOWARDS THE REBUILDING AND EXPANSION OF THESE FIVE ANCIENT CAPITALS, AND IN PARTICULAR GATH ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET THE BORDERS OF PALESTINE EXTEND NORTHWARDS UP THE COAST EVEN UNTO THE RIVER YARKON AND ANCIENT JOPPA ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET THE BORDERS OF PALESTINE EXTEND AND ENCOMPASS THE ENTIRETY OF TEL - AVIV AND HER CONTIGUOUS SUBURBS ; WITH THIS LET PALESTINE BE RECOGNIZED AS A FULLY AUTONOMOUS NATION, INDEPENDENT AND SITUATED ON THE COASTAL LANDS OF THEIR ANCESTORS ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET A BORDER ZONE OF NINE KILOMETERS BE SET, ALONG THE ENTIRETY OF THE BOUNDARY LINE BETWEEN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL, A BORDER LAND OWNED AND CONTROLLED BY THE UNITED NATIONS, EMPLOYED FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES AND TO KEEP THE PEACE ; MAY THUS THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF PALESTINE BE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE ! STATE II ) ISRÅEL LET THE LANDS OF ANCIENT ISRAEL BE RETURNED IN PART ; BUT THAT ISRAEL'S CORE, INDEED ISRAEL'S HEART, BE RETURNED IN FULL ; THUS LET THE TERRITORIES EAST OF PALESTINE AND WEST OF JORDAN, FROM THE GULF OF AQABA NORTHWARDS THROUGH CENTRAL ISRAEL, INCLUDING THE ENTIRETY OF THE WEST BANK, AND THE ENTIRETY OF JERUSALEM, BE RESTORED IN FULL TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF ISRAEL ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET A THIRD TEMPLE, EVEN THE TEMPLE OF EZEKIEL, BE BUILT ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT, AT THIS THE SITE OF THE FIRST AND SECOND TEMPLES OF JERUSALEM ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET THE DOME OF THE ROCK EDIFICE BE MOVED TO GATH, AND WITH THE FOUNDATION STONE LEFT UNDISTURBED, AND LET THE AL - AQSA MOSQUE BE MOVED TO EKRON, THAT THESE TWO ANCIENT CITY - STATES OF PHILISTIA MAY POSSESS AND PROTECT THESE TWO MAGNIFICENT MOSQUES AND SHRINES, AS A REMEMBRANCE OF MUHAMMAD'S NIGHT JOURNEY FROM THE KAABA IN MECCA TO THE SECOND TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM'S PAST ; THUS LET THE TEMPLE MOUNT MAY BE REDEDICATED AS THE MOST SACRED SITE IN ALL OF JUDAISM, WITH THEIR HOLY OF HOLIES AND TEMPLE GROUNDS AS A CLEAR AND UNDIVIDED EXPRESSION OF THEIR FAITH, ON THIS THEIR MOST HOLY SITE, AKIN TO THE KAABA IN MECCA FOR ISLAM ; LET THERE BE NO SYNAGOGUE NOR CHURCH WITHIN AL - MASJID AL - HARAM, WHERE THE SACRED KAABA RESTS IN MECCA, THUS EQUALLY LET THE TEMPLE MOUNT BE AS A UNIFIED DECLARATION OF JUDAIC TRADITION, WITH A TEMPLE BUILT ACCORDING TO THE WORDS OF EZEKIEL ; AND THIS IS NOT ALL, BUT LET THE BORDERS OF ISRAEL EXTEND NORTHWARDS TO LEBANON, EXCEPTING THOSE LANDS WHICH SHALL BE RESERVED FOR THE THIRD STATE . . . MAY THUS THE REUNIFIED NATION OF ISRAEL BE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE ! STATE III ) GOLĀN LET THE LANDS OF THE ISRAELI OCCUPIED GOLAN HEIGHTS BE RETURNED IN FULL, BUT NOT TO ANY OTHER NATION ; BUT LET THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZE AND GOVERN OVER THESE LANDS, WHICH BORDER THE EASTERN SHORES OF THE SEA OF GALILEE, AND RISE NORTHWARD TOWARDS LEBANON, WITH SYRIA TO THE EAST, JORDAN TO THE SOUTH, AND ISRAEL ON ITS WESTERN BORDERS ; MAY THIS UNITED NATIONS SANCTUARY, TO BE KNOWN AS GOLÄN, FOLLOW IN PERPETUITY THE THREE - PART MISSION OF ITS COLLECTIVE CREATION : I ) TO SERVE AS A TERRITORY SET ASIDE FOR DEFENSE, AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, PROTECTING THE NEIGHBORING NATIONS OF PALESTINE, ISRAEL, SYRIA, LEBANON, AND JORDAN, AND TO GOVERN THE PEACE OVER THE MIDDLE EASTERN NATIONS, II ) TO SERVE AS A SANCTUARY FOR REFUGEES, PARTICULARLY FROM BORDER NATIONS SUCH AS SYRIA, AND WITH PREFERENCE GIVEN TO THOSE REFUGEES OF HIGHEST MERIT ; A SANCTUARY WHERE THE REFUGEES ARE GIVEN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK, WITH AN INFRASTRUCTURE AS ORGANIZED AND GOVERNED BY THE UNITED NATIONS, IN A TERRITORY POLITICALLY NEUTRAL AND RELIGIOUSLY TOLERANT OF ALL, III ) TO SERVE AS AN ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS NATION, PROTECTING THE HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT SITES AND LANDSCAPES WITHIN GOLAN, INCLUDING THE SEA OF GALILEE, GAMALA, AND MOUNT HERMON, THAT THESE SACRED AREAS MAY BE KEPT IN THEIR MOST NATURAL STATE ; THAT THOSE WHO WISH TO JOURNEY ON RELIGIOUS PILGRIMAGE TO THESE LANDS MAY DO SO IN SAFETY AND WITH THE PROTECTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS ; MAY THUS THE SANCTUARY OF GOLÄN BE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE ! ACTE II - THE FIFTEENTH DALAI LAMA |