For the record: Did Iran attack the Temple Mount?

How fake news is made

Pictures of anti-missile-missiles exploding over the Temple Mount
Ex-ambassador to Israel Friedman says Iran targeted the Al Aqsa
Reuters reports Jordanian Planes downed Iranian missiles

What are the facts?

“The Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei posted a[n Israeli] video on social media showing Iranian missiles being intercepted over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and wrote in Hebrew: ‘Al-Quds will be in the hands of the Muslims, and the Muslim world will celebrate the liberation of Palestine,'” one report says. In the carefully edited clip, no sign of any of the buildings on the Temple Mount (or anywhere else) can be seen. Of course, there is no reason not to doubt anything the Iranian regime says.

A reliable source confirmed that some aircraft were downed in Jordan. Reuters reported that they were downed for crossing Jordanian airspace, but that could not be verified independently. The Jordan King never gets tired of reiterating his custodianship of the Temple Mount and the Golden Dome there, so it’s logical he feels entitled to intercept any attack in that direction. The present King (different from his predecessor) has no respect for Jews and cannot be suspected of any altruism vis-à-vis Israel.

So, it comes as no surprise that a general manager of an ‘independent think tank’ based in Amman now claims about Jordan downing drones that it doesn’t reflect “a love for Israel but strategy and self-interest. [T]he average Jordanian does not view the recent downing of Iranian drones as a gesture of support to Israel but instead as an act to protect Jordanian lands and people against any party targeting Jordanian interests. The Jordanian Armed Forces acted by their military doctrine, which primarily aims to safeguard the Jordanian airspace and lands against intruders.” LOL

No love exists between Reuters and the Jewish State so, without independent confirmation, I consider its report that the Jordanian Air Force downed “dozens” of Iranian flying bombs on the level of rumors. Confirmation by the Jordan cabinet doesn’t add any certainty for me. For years, the Jordanian regime has been dependent on NATO money, and the King does everything to play the nicest boy in the class to the US and UK.

As usual, its censured media doesn’t acknowledge internal opposition to the move and accuses the protesters of stoking unrest and division (labels the King uses for those desiring democracy) and being “a small, infiltrated group that seeks to sabotage and undermine national unity in Jordan.”

Some unreliable Israel reporting showed a picture of the Jordanian planes that ‘took part’ in the battle, but a reliable source identifies this picture as actually a US Air Force handout photo from two days prior, May 12, 2014.

Former Trump ambassador David Friedman, whom I never before caught in a lie, reportedly said: “Iran literally attacked the Al Aqsa Mosque. Had Israel not intercepted the missile, 3rd holiest site in Islam destroyed.” Excuses for the English—a direct quote. The doctored video is below.

Iran is angry with Jordan for being part of the Allies that stood by the Jewish State, while Jordan is angry with Iran for stoking unrest inside the Kingdom. This diplomatic spat is all smoke and mirrors. Jordan’s aim is to look good in the West. And in the future, Iran will accept Jordan back to join an attack on Israel without one minute of notice or hard feelings.

The pictures showing Iron Dome fire downing drones ‘over the Temple Mount’ are carefully crafted to give that false impression. The buildings on the Temple Mount are in the front and the exhaustion lights in the back. The UAVs fly to Chevron and are downed miles away from the Mount.

I wanted to google to see what other English sources say about this.

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan can be found to have written: “Watch Israel defending the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque from Iranian missile [sic] and drones! For the murderous Ayatollah regime, murdering Israelis is more important than safeguarding Islamic holy sites.”

Most hilarious is the attempt not to deny the ambassador’s accusation but to proclaim joyously: “Documentation of the Iranian missiles flying over the Temple Mount on the night of the attack became a source of great pride for the Iranian regime.” Of course, no documentation was provided.

A popular Israeli news outlet headlined: “Watch Iranian drones, missiles intercepted over Jerusalem, al Aqsa Mosque.” Miles away, that is.

The Guardian, reliably anti-Zionistic, has an informative (and misleading) article with illustrations of ‘missiles intercepted over al-Aksa Mosque.’ Even if—say—they had been intercepted there, their targets would have been far from there as they fly mostly horizontally and not vertically.

An Israeli journalist twittered on X: “Iranian missile and drone attack at the skies above Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The ancient holly [sic] site was rescued by air defence [sic] system [sic].” Sine loco.

The Hindustan Times fell for the fake news hook, line, and sinker. France 24 English did no better with: “what an extraordinary scene we are seeing, an attack on the al-Aqsa Mosque intercepted by Israeli, by Israeli forces.”

I’d like to see some reliable reporting that Jordan did stop any projectiles traveling from Iran to Israel (the first direct flights between the countries since 1979) or that any of them had been trained on the Temple Mount.

Breaking: Just now, the plot thickened. An Israeli air force official told NBC News that “Jordan allowed Israeli fighter jets into its airspace to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones.” Now, that has the ring of truth.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. 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