Melting ‘resistance’ on Temple Mount

Eschewing the traditional snowman, sculptors utilized Jerusalem’s snowfall to fashion a replica M-75 rocket on the Temple Mount, causing a flurry of activity on the social media network Facebook on Thursday.

The large replica of the missile, of the sort fired by Hamas at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem during the November 2012 mini-war Operation Pillar of Defense, was photographed standing prominently on the contested site, holy to Jews and Muslims.

The melting M-75 is only the latest homage to the rocket, which has become something of a cultural fad among Palestinians after terrorists in Gaza indiscriminately fired several of the missiles as far as Tel Aviv at the end of last year, among the 1,500 rockets they launched in total. Israel carried out a similar number of air attacks on terrorist targets in Gaza during the eight days of conflict.

Any cheery Gazan event can apparently be made brighter now by including a reference to the locally produced missiles, which are reportedly produced using Iranian technology.

When Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal visited the coastal enclave for the first time in December, for instance, he arrived on stage by popping out of a model of the rocket. At the time Hamas was celebrating 25 years since its founding and did so with a cake covered with frosting depicting, yes, an M-75 rocket.

There is even an M-75 perfume available in Gaza that was described by one vendor as having a fragrance that “is pleasant and attractive, like the missiles of the Palestinian resistance.”