From time to time (since the 1920’s) Palestinians have been moved to violence over Jewish activities near the Temple mount.
Palestinian organizations threatened on Tuesday to respond with attacks inside Israel if its Antiquities Authority continues works to reinforce the Mugrabi Gate, which leads to the Temple Mount and is in danger of collapsing.
Several Arab youths hurled rocks at security forces Tuesday afternoon in protest at the works.
Ramadan Adasi, a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades told Ynet earlier on Tuesday that his organization would respond with full force and will carry out attacks should the works continue. The Islamic Jihad organization said two Qassam rockets it fired earlier this morning were in response to the works. — Zionism/Israel News
“The danger in Jerusalem has increased. It is high time for the intifada of the Islamic people,” the fiery leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel Raed Salah told reporters near the holy site on Tuesday.
“The continued Israeli aggression on Al-Aksa Mosque and Jerusalem require all Palestinians to unite and remember that our battle is with the occupation,” said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas. — Jerusalem Post
The PLO news agency, WAFA, reported that “Israeli bulldozers destroyed part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque”. This is entirely false and, of course, highly inflammatory.
Here is a picture of the area that is being worked on (from Yoni the Blogger).
Look carefully at the bridge in the lower right-hand corner of the picture. This is the site of the work. The area around the bridge is being excavated in order to insure that there are no artifacts of archaeological importance that could be destroyed or damaged in the reconstruction of the bridge and walkway to the gate. Does this look like it could damage the mosque in the background, or the wall of the Temple mount?
“The construction of the bridge, located in its entirety outside the Temple Mount, has no impact on the Mount itself and certainly poses no danger to it,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said.
“There is nothing on earth that can cause damage to the walls of the Temple Mount, and certainly not to any structures inside,” said Dr. Gideon Avni, the director of excavations and surveys at the Israeli Antiquities Authority. — Jerusalem Post
Nevertheless, the Palestinians seem to be intent on incitement. As usual, we ask the question: who is interested in peace?
Technorati Tags: Jerusalem, Temple Mount, Al-Aqsa, Israel, Palestinians