{"id":12361,"date":"2023-10-18T10:01:14","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T14:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/?p=12361"},"modified":"2023-11-15T10:04:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:04:55","slug":"one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\/","title":{"rendered":"One Simple Way Israel Can Avoid Sparking a Holy War"},"content":{"rendered":"

KEEPING THE FAITH<\/span><\/h1>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
Andrew Lawler<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Published\u00a0Oct. 18, 2023\u00a04:42AM EDT<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

View the story as it appears in the October 2023 issue of Daily Beast.<\/a><\/p>\n

In the tumult surrounding the war in\u00a0Gaza\u00a0and\u00a0Israel, it is easy to forget that Hamas code named its surprise attack \u201cOperation Al-Aqsa Flood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet this phrase provides the key for Israel\u2019s Prime Minister\u00a0Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0and his new war cabinet to prevent the conflict from engulfing the entire Middle East. By making a single simple statement that would give up nothing, Netanyahu could calm Arab fears and even bolster Israel\u2019s delicate attempts to establish better relations with\u00a0Saudi Arabia\u00a0and other nations in the region. It would also undermine\u00a0Hamas\u2019 claims to speak for the wider Muslim world.<\/p>\n

Al-Aqsa is the Arab term for what Jews call the Temple Mount, the sacred acropolis on the east side of Jerusalem\u2019s Old City, fifty miles east of Gaza. A little history is vital to grasp what this hotly contested religious site means to Jews and Muslims alike, and why it is at the heart of today\u2019s terrible violence and bloodshed.<\/p>\n

For Muslims, this is where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on a spiritual journey, returning with instructions on how and how often to pray. The entire 37-acre compound, including the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa prayer hall, is considered one big open-air mosque, the most prominent after those in Mecca and Medina.<\/p>\n

For Jews, this is where their ancestors worshipped in a series of temples for a thousand years, until the Romans destroyed the complex in 70 A.D. They currently pray at the Western Wall, which holds up one side of the sacred compound with its massive stones from the time of Herod the Great.<\/p>\n

Except for a century when medieval Crusaders turned the iconic Dome of the Rock into a Christian church and placed a cross on its finial, al-Aqsa has been a center of Muslim devotion for 14 centuries. Jews and Christians have long been forbidden from worshiping at the site.<\/p>\n

That almost changed in 1967, when Israel troops captured Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. A group of Jewish soldiers climbed the Dome of the Rock and attached an Israeli flag to the finial that sports a Muslim crescent. \u201cThe Temple Mount is in our hands,\u201d they joyfully radioed their commander.<\/p>\n

Israeli\u2019s defense minister, Moshe Dayan, watched in horror through binoculars with his one eye. He understood what the young soldiers did not. \u201cDo you want to set the Middle East on fire?\u201d he radioed back, ordering the flag removed.<\/p>\n

Dayan quickly negotiated an agreement with the local Islamic authorities. Israel would be responsible for the site\u2019s security, but its custodian, Jordan\u2019s king, would continue to oversee maintenance and religious affairs. Muslim worship would continue unimpeded, and tourists could visit, but prayer by those of other faiths would remain prohibited.<\/p>\n

Dayan\u2019s ad hoc arrangement, approved by Israel\u2019s government, provided a fragile peace in this unruly city, a \u201cstatus quo\u201d recognizing that altering where people worship in Jerusalem is an invitation to violence and disaster. It is a lesson that the city\u2019s previous rulers, the Ottomans and the British, learned the hard way.<\/p>\n

In the half century since 1967, attempts to meddle with Dayan\u2019s arrangement have courted disaster or spawned violence. In the 1980s, members of a Jewish terrorist cell gathered dynamite to detonate the Dome of the Rock, with the goal of replacing it with a new Jewish temple but were arrested before they could carry out their plan. Efforts in 1990 by an extremist Jewish organization to lay a cornerstone for that new sanctuary led to clashes leaving 17 Palestinians dead and hundreds of Jews and Muslims injured.<\/p>\n

The Oslo accords, signed with such optimism 30 years ago last month, ultimately foundered in large part because neither side could agree on how to share the complex and the vast network of caves, cisterns, and columned halls below its surface.<\/p>\n

Al-Aqsa has become an important political symbol of autonomy for both Arab Christian and Muslim Palestinians\u2014and \u201cal-Aqsa is in danger\u201d has become a powerful recruiting slogan for Muslim fundamentalists and Palestinian nationalists alike. Rock-throwing youths often battle with Israeli police during religious holidays.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, as Israel has tilted right and grown more religious, an increasing number of Jews demand to pray at Judaism\u2019s holiest site, a stone\u2019s throw from the Western Wall. They argue that denying them this right is tantamount to religious persecution.<\/p>\n

This summer, Amit Halevi, a member of Israel\u2019s ruling coalition, declared: \u201cGod\u2019s house is everyone\u2019s house.\u201d He called for Israel to partition the compound, forcing Muslims to relinquish the northern area that includes the Dome of the Rock, which he contends is \u201cthe place on which the temple stood,\u201d though no one knows the precise locations of the ancient sanctuaries. His justification is simple. \u201cThe Temple Mount is ours.\u201d The Palestinian ministry of Jerusalem affairs predictably warned \u201cthe implementation of this plan will lead to religious war.\u201d<\/p>\n

That war may now have begun.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s neighbors have long paid lip service to the Palestinian cause, yet in recent years have shown more interest in a d\u00e9tente with Israel. Al-Aqsa, however, is known and loved by many of the world\u2019s nearly 2 billion Muslims, and their political leaders understand its explosive power. Hamas is eager to use both real and imagined threats against this place of pilgrimage to galvanize support for its bloody campaign throughout the Muslim world.<\/p>\n

With the stroke of the keyboard or a few comments at a press conference, Netanyahu could upset this cynical strategy. He only needs to affirm Dayan\u2019s 1967 agreement banning non-Muslim prayer on al-Aqsa, while maintaining Israeli control over security. Extremists like Halevi would strongly oppose any such affirmation, but now, amid an expanding war, they are no longer in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n

The opposition leaders who joined a war coalition last week\u2014along with U.S. President\u00a0Joe Bidenand Arab leaders\u2014can demand that the prime minister take a stand to keep the Middle East from descending into years of fruitless conflict.<\/p>\n

In the long term, this good-faith act could help provide political and religious cover for Israel\u2019s neighbors to continue to normalize relations with the Jewish state.<\/p>\n

It is sobering to recall that the last time Muslims were expelled from al-Aqsa, it sparked a century of war that ended up uniting a fractious Islamic world. By taking any change to today\u2019s status quo off the table, religious extremists on both sides will be served notice. They cannot be allowed to use quarrels over God\u2019s house to bring more ruin and destruction to an area that billions around the world honor as a holy land.<\/p>\n

Andrew Lawler is a journalist and author of\u00a0<\/em>Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World\u2019s Most Contested City<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel can show the world its war is with Hamas, not the Muslim world, by pledging to protect the sanctity of Jerusalem\u2019s al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-beast"],"yoast_head":"\nCrowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Andrew Lawler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"411\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AndrewLawler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AndrewLawler\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AndrewLawler\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"headline\":\"One Simple Way Israel Can Avoid Sparking a Holy War\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1379,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Daily Beast\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures\",\"name\":\"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00\",\"description\":\"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":411},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nationalgeographic.com\\\/history\\\/article\\\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One Simple Way Israel Can Avoid Sparking a Holy War\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Andrew Lawler\",\"description\":\"Andrew Lawler is author of four books\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022\",\"name\":\"AndrewLawler\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1920,\"caption\":\"AndrewLawler\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\\\/content\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/02\\\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg\"},\"description\":\"Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World\u2019s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew\u2019s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.andrewlawler.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AndrewLawlerAuthor\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/in\\\/andrew-lawler-9b5a064a\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/LawlerAndrew\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCsliIwdDC_wPYE01Se2zzAw\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","description":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","og_description":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures","og_site_name":"Andrew Lawler","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","article_published_time":"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":411,"url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"AndrewLawler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AndrewLawler","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\/"},"author":{"name":"AndrewLawler","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"headline":"One Simple Way Israel Can Avoid Sparking a Holy War","datePublished":"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\/"},"wordCount":1379,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg","articleSection":["Daily Beast"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/one-simple-way-israel-can-avoid-sparking-a-holy-war\/","url":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures","name":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019s sacred mount, theDome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-18T14:01:14+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T15:04:55+00:00","description":"Crowning Jerusalem\u2019ssacred mount, the Dome of the Rock is a place of both prayer and protest. Extensive restoration and archaeological research are uncovering fresh clues to the shrine\u2019s origins.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/dailybeast_ispark.jpg","width":620,"height":411},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.nationalgeographic.com\/history\/article\/as-taliban-rises-uncertainty-looms-afghanistan-historic-treasures#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One Simple Way Israel Can Avoid Sparking a Holy War"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/","name":"Andrew Lawler","description":"Andrew Lawler is author of four books","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/cbc9a5140b6f2e4922d45f0726e70022","name":"AndrewLawler","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg","width":1920,"height":1920,"caption":"AndrewLawler"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/ST-LawlerJacketPic-1x1.jpg"},"description":"Andrew Lawler is author of three books, Under Jerusalem: The Buried History of the World\u2019s Most Contested City, The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, a national bestseller, and Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. As a journalist, he has written more than a thousand newspaper and magazine articles from more than two dozen countries. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and many others. He is contributing writer for Science and contributing editor for Archaeology. Andrew\u2019s work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AndrewLawlerAuthor","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/andrew-lawler-9b5a064a\/","https:\/\/x.com\/LawlerAndrew","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCsliIwdDC_wPYE01Se2zzAw"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12361"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12373,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12361\/revisions\/12373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}