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Hardline threat to al-Aqsa Mosque<br>
by Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank<br>
Sunday 25 July 2004 12:36 PM GMT <br><br>
<b>Israel's Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi has said hardline
Jewish groups may be planning to carry out attacks on the two most sacred
Islamic shrines in occupied East Jerusalem.<br><br>
</b></font><font size=2>Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are
collectively known as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). Originally
built in CE711 (AD711), al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest place,
after the two Holy Mosques in Saudi Arabia.<br><br>
Hanegbi said in a TV interview at the weekend that the goal of the
potential attackers would be to thwart the Israeli plan for unilateral
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.<br><br>
But a former leader of an armed Jewish group that sought to bomb al-Aqsa
Mosque in the late 1970s, told Israeli state-run radio on Sunday the
purpose of any "new action" would not have anything to do with
the "disengagement plan". <br><br>
The Israeli daily Haaretz on Sunday quoted officials in the domestic
intelligence service, Shin Beth, as saying there was a possibility of
Jewish hardliners trying to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque by crashing a
radio-controlled plane into it.<br><br>
There are numerous Millenarian Jewish groups in Israel dedicated to the
destruction of the mosque to facilitate the "rebuilding" of the
"Third Temple" on the site. <br><br>
Messianic Jews believe the destruction of the mosque and construction of
the temple would expedite the appearance of a Jewish messiah, or
redeemer, who would rule the world from Jerusalem and bring about the
salvation of the Jewish people.<br><br>
<b>Ultimate red line<br><br>
</b>Muslim leaders in Palestine have warned of "unforeseeable
consequences" and "horrible repercussions" all over the
world in case "anything happened to al-Aqsa Mosque".<br><br>
"This is the ultimate red line. If Jewish terrorists embarked on
such an act of sheer madness, they would trigger huge fires all over the
world … . Only God knows how the fires would be extinguished," said
Kamal al-Khatib, deputy head of Israel's powerful Islamic
Movement.<br><br>
Speaking to Aljazeera.net he said an attack on al-Aqsa Mosque would be
viewed as an appalling provocation by the world's Muslim
population.<br><br>
</font><font face="verdana" size=2><b>"If Jewish terrorists embarked
on such an act of sheer madness, they would trigger huge fires all over
the world"<br><br>
</b></font>"If such a thing happened, God forbid, it would galvanise
the world's 1.2 billion Muslims, and there would be a backlash and anger
all over the world."<br><br>
Al-Khatib said the Islamic Movement in Israel remained vigilant against
the risk of an attack on the Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.<br><br>
"We send thousands of people to the Haram al-Sharif every day to
make up for the barring by Israel of our people from the West Bank and
Gaza Strip from accessing the mosque … and we see to it that there are no
loopholes in security arrangements," he said.<br><br>
<b>Security pretext?<br><br>
</b>The highest-ranking Muslim cleric in East Jerusalem, Shaikh Ikrama
Sabri, says Jewish extremists are capable of doing the
unthinkable.<br><br>
"We know quite well that they are conniving and coordinating their
plans with the Israeli security establishment," he
claimed.<br><br>
"We also know that the Israeli state uses the extremists as a
supplemental tool to achieve its thinly disguised goals, including the
destruction of Islam's holy places in Jerusalem."<br><br>
But in the present contest, Sabri cautioned, Israel may be trying to gain
a "foothold" inside al-Haram al-Sharif compound under the
pretext of "ensuring the security of the place".<br><br>
He said after the 1994 Hebron massacre in which 29 Arab worshippers were
killed by a messianic Jewish immigrant from Brooklyn, the Israeli army
took over the town's historic Ibrahimi Mosque and assigned the bulk of
the holy site to Jewish settlers.<br><br>
The "arrangement" then was justified by the Israelis on
security grounds – to prevent a repetition of the massacre, Sabri
said.<br><br>
He claimed the Israeli authorities knew the Jewish hardliners
individually, but did not take action against them for political
reasons.<br><br>
"Look, the police know them one by one, but the extremists have
strong allies and supporters within the government, the Knesset and the
security establishment, so much so that it seems as if they are the real
rulers of Israel," Sabri said.<br><br>
<b>Inspection tours?<br><br>
</b>The Israeli police currently permit religious Jews to enter al-Aqsa
Mosque compound despite strong objection from the Supreme Muslim Council,
which is in charge of the administration of the holy place.<br><br>
Israeli officials, including security chiefs, say Jews have a right to
visit the holy place they call Temple Mount just like anybody
else.<br><br>
However, Waqf officials, who are entrusted with the upkeep of the holy
sanctuary, say trips by Jews are not simple visits, but in fact
"inspection tours" aimed at drawing up destructive designs on
al-Haram al-Sharif.<br><br>
On Sunday, a Jewish rabbi allied with the messianic Gush Emunim movement
which advocates the expulsion and extermination of non-Jews in Israel -
told the Israeli army radio, Gali Tsahal, he fully supported the
destruction of al-Aqsa Mosque.<br><br>
"This is more than a positive thing - this is a desirable thing, and
I am looking forward to seeing these mosques reduced to ruins," said
Yehuda Tzion, who in 1980 headed the underground Jewish group that had
planned to bomb al-Aqsa.<br><br>
Tzion has urged the Israeli government to "send army bulldozers to
the site and destroy these buildings once and for all … and if the state
is not willing to do so, let other Jews do it".<br><br>
One of the messianic Jewish groups that openly calls for the destruction
of al-Aqsa is the Temple Mount Faithful, headed by Girshon
Solomon.<br><br>
A few years ago, he told Israeli television, with the golden Dome of the
Rock in the background - that: "it is time this pagan edifice ceased
to exist".<br><br>
<font size=3><b>Aljazeera<br>
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank<br><br>
</b>You can find this article at:<br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AD9419A2-1061-48EA-A341-77ADC09047CB.htm" eudora="autourl">http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AD9419A2-1061-48EA-A341-77ADC09047CB.htm</a>
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