Work Begins at Temple Site

[Christina]

BBC News reports: “Work has begun to repair an ancient mound near Jerusalem's holiest site, raising tensions between Palestinians and Israelis. The Israeli authorities say the work is needed to restore a walkway leading to the al-Aqsa Mosque or Temple Mount compound in East Jerusalem.Palestinian leaders say it threatens Islamic archaeological remains.In 1996, work to open a tunnel alongside the compound sparked clashes in which 80 people died.And in 2000, the Palestinian uprising began at the mosque following a controversial tour of the site by Israel's then opposition leader Ariel Sharon.Israeli police are deployed throughout East Jerusalem's mainly-Arab Old City area and are blocking access to the compound to non-Muslims and Palestinians under 45.A senior Muslim cleric urged Palestinians to rush to the compound to protest against the work at the so-called Dung Gate walkway. Echoing that call, Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of the Hamas-led government called for Palestinian unity amid factional fighting between Hamas and its rival Fatah.Large protests have not materialized yet and there are no reports of unrest…The al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam, believed to be where the Prophet Muhammad made an ascent to heaven into the presence of God.For Jews, the Temple Mount is revered as the site of the first Jewish Temple built by King Solomon.Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 war. Since then, the compound has remained under Muslim jurisdiction in conjunction with neighboring Jordan…”

 

[Christina]

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) says that if the State of Israel is not able to carry out safety maintenance work at the Western Wall plaza, "it means that we are on a dangerous path towards disappearing from the political map of the Middle East."Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Eldad said, "The struggle is over the preservation of the only Temple Mount gate left out of Wakf [Muslim Authority] hands and in Jewish hands.""The Arabs actually want the Mughrabi Gate passway to collapse," Eldad said, "so that they will be able to close the only gate that is under Jewish control. That will end the era of Jewish visitation rights to the Temple Mount. They have been waiting for this for a long time, and that's why they don't want us to refurbish it."The bridge in question leads from the plaza leading to the Western Wall up to the Temple Mount, and is considered a safety hazard in its current condition. Israel's Antiquities Authority is carrying out archaeological works there in anticipation of its refurbishing. Arabs around the country have taken advantage of the situation to accuse of Israel of trying to destroy the Temple Mount complex, and have called for a response sharper than the previous intifadas."It's true," Eldad said, "that the original sin was when the Jewish People, immediately after the Six Day War in 1967, ceded its hold on the Temple Mount in an unholy alliance between the Chief Rabbinate and Moshe Dayan - each side for its own reasons - but now the danger is that the Arab sovereignty on the Temple Mount will spill over to the Western Wall plaza, and from there to other places."Then-Defense Minister Dayan, just days after Israel's liberation of the Old City, informed the Muslims running the Temple Mount that they could continue to run the mosques there - and later went further by preventing Jewish prayer all over the Mount. "It was evident that if we did not prevent Jews from praying in what was now a mosque compound," Dayan later wrote, "matters would get out of hand and lead to a religious clash... As an added precaution, I told the chief of staff to order the chief army chaplain to remove the branch office he had established in the building which adjoins the mosque compound."Eldad said that the Arabs' objective is to acquire a "veto right" over what the State of Israel can do on its property, wherever the Arabs feel the area is a "sensitive and explosive holy Moslem site." He noted that the Arabs openly demand the rights of a national minority in a joint state. "Israel cannot allow itself to live under threats and blackmail every time it wants to do something necessary or in keeping with our national and historic rights."

 

[Christina]

VIOLENCE AT JERUSALEM HOLY SITEFebruary 9, 2007BBC News reports: “Violence has broken out at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque after Israeli police moved in to break up crowds of stone-throwing Palestinian protesters. Hundreds of police poured into the disputed holy site in the Old City, firing rubber bullets and tear gas.There are reports that a number of Palestinians protesters have barricaded themselves inside the mosque.They have been angered by controversial renovation work on Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif.The building work is a prelude to the construction of a new walkway leading to the compound containing the mosque - Islam's third holiest site.Palestinians say it could damage the foundations of the compound and Muslim leaders had called for a ‘day of anger’ on Friday to voice their opposition to the move.The Israeli authorities say renovations are needed to safeguard the ancient site and have guaranteed that there will be no structural damage to the area.The compound is also revered by Jews as the site of their biblical temples.Israeli police say 17 protesters and 15 police officers have been injured in the clashes…”

 

[Christina]

Ha’aretz reports: “The Arab League chief on Saturday accused Israel of attempting to alter the features of Jerusalem with its ongoing excavation near the Mugrabi Gate to the Temple Mount, and urged the international community to intercede to stop the work.‘There are plans to change the features of the city, Amr Moussa said in a statement distributed to the Arab representatives at an emergency League meeting in Cairo.Moussa said, without elaborating, that the dig reflects Israeli attempts to tighten control over Jerusalem.Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, said he also sent letters to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNESCO, warning of repercussions the Israeli work could have on peace in the region.‘The Israeli violations are provoking anger and condemnation in Palestine, Arab and Islamic world, which is threatening the security and stability in the region,’ Moussa's statement read.The Arab League meeting was also attended by Palestinian presidential aid, Nabil Shaath, who openly accused Israel of threatening to destroy Islam's third-holiest shine, the Al-Aqsa.In Jordan, Islamists called for holy war, or jihad, to save the mosque and vowed revolt against their Arab rulers if they do not protect the Jerusalem flashpoint site from Israeli actions…”......................................................................................Israeli cabinet today voted to continue the work at the Temple site