"Notre-Dame is not France's only problem"

Artist Michel Granger

French officials presumed that the charred Notre Dame cathedral would unite all segments of the French community and the Yellow vest movement forgotten. Actually it got worse. The French government recently pledged $1.2 billion to rebuild Notre Dame. Additionally, the French heritage foundation has received donations from the rich & famous in France and around the world worth € 150 million. If only the government spent a fraction of all that money on improving the lives of the miserable French middle class and the poor.

Yellow vest protesters set fires along a march route through Paris last Saturday to send a message to the government how out of touch it is with the lives of the poor.   Their slogan:  "Nothing for the needy: Notre-Dame is not France's only problem."

And now a very interesting excerpt from Ghada Karmi's  "What if Al-Aqsa Mosque caught fire?"

"What if a similar fate overtook al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem?   This building is older than Notre Dame, built by the Umayyad caliphs in the eighth century, and has a long, rich history.  The mosque was hit by earthquakes in 746 and 1033 and rebuilt each time; taken over by crusaders in 1099 and reclaimed by Saladin in 1187; then remained under Muslim rule until the war of 1967, when it came under Israel’s control.  Muslims everywhere revere this mosque. It is the third holiest place after the mosques of Mecca and Medina. Many associations bind al-Aqsa to Muslim religious sentiment. 

Interpreted as the place referenced in the Isra verse in the Quran, al-Aqsa has taken on a sacred character, and is traditionally associated with the Prophet Muhammad’s miraculous night journey to Jerusalem.  Its spiritual significance for Muslims is hard to overstate.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is no less a religious and nationalist symbol for Arabs and Muslims than Notre Dame is for the French. But if it burned down, it is doubtful in today’s US-dominated world - and given Arab and Islamic weakness - that anyone would rally to its cause. Only the Palestinians who live there would go on fighting to defend it.   Like them, this wonderful Islamic icon is an orphan in a world without allies."