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<div class="entry-date">March 13, 2014<br>
<b><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/13/al-aqsa-vs-israel/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/13/al-aqsa-vs-israel/</a></small></b><br>
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<div class="subheadlinestyle"><big><big><b>The Lurking Danger Beneath</b></big></big></div>
<h1 class="article-title">Al-Aqsa vs. Israel</h1>
<div class="mainauthorstyle"><big><big>by RAMZY BAROUD</big></big></div>
<div class="main-text"><big><big> </big></big>
<p><big><big>Something sinister is brewing around and below al-Aqsa
Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, and it has the hallmark of a
familiar Israeli campaign to strip the Mosque of its Muslim Arab
identity. This time around, however, the stakes are much higher.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>The status of al-Aqsa mosque is unparalleled within the
context of Muslim heritage in Palestine itself. It is also the third
holiest Muslim shrine anywhere. But equally as important, it is a
symbol of faith, resistance and defiance. Its story of struggle and
perseverance goes hand in hand with the very modern Palestinian
struggle for rights, freedom and identity. Praying at al-Aqsa at times
seems like an impossible feat. Many Palestinians lost life or limbs
simply trying to gain access to the mosque.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>In a statement released on March 7, the Palestinian
Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said Israeli forces carried out
30 attacks against Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites during the month
of February alone. Most of the attacks targeted Al-Aqsa itself. While
the recurring violations at Al-Aqsa were led by Jewish settlers,
according to the statement, they have done so under the watchful eye,
protection and support of the Israeli police and army.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Most alarming about these attacks is their political
context, which indicates that a great degree of coordination is
underway between politicians, security forces and Jewish settlers.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>In anticipation of a Palestinian backlash, on March 04, an
Israeli court sentenced Islamic leader Sheikh Rade Saleh to eight
months in prison for ‘incitement’. The Sheikh is the most outspoken
Palestinian leader regarding the danger facing Al-Aqsa. Why silence
Sheik Saleh now when the attacks against al-Aqsa are at an all times
high?</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>It was on February 25, 1994, that US-born Jewish extremist
Baruch Goldstein stormed into the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Palestinian
city of al-Khalil (Hebron) and opened fire. The aim was to kill as many
Arabs as he could.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>At that moment, nearly 800 Muslim worshipers were kneeling
down during the dawn prayer in the holiest month of the Muslim
Calendar; Ramadan. He killed up to 30 people and wounded over 120.
Exactly 20 years later, the Israeli army stormed al-Aqsa Mosque, the
third holiest Muslim site, and opened fire. The timing was no accident.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Like the rest of the West Bank, Al-Khalil is facing the
dual challenge of armed Jewish settlers and Israeli occupation
soldiers; the latter enforcing the military occupation, while providing
further protection to the settlers. The settlers, extremists from the
illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba, often attack Palestinian residents
of the town with complete impunity. Interestingly, many of Kiryat Arba
settlers are Americans, as was Baruch Goldstein.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>It was not enough that Israeli soldiers within the
vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque allowed Goldstein – armed with a Galil
rifle and other weapons – access to the mosque, but they opened fire on
worshipers as they tried to flee the scene. Israeli soldiers killed 24
more and injured others. Goldstein, now a hero in the eyes of many in
Israel, is often blamed solely for the massacre in al-Khalil. But in
fact, it was a mutual effort between Goldstein and the Israeli army.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>This symbiotic relationship between the army and settlers,
which dates back to the early days of the Israeli occupation of
Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in 1967, continues.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>While Israeli bulldozers dig into Palestinian land during
the day, leveling mounds of ground and destroying olive groves for
settlement expansion, heavy machinery burrows beneath the Old City of
al-Quds, Jerusalem, at night. The Israelis are looking for evidence of
what they believe to be ancient Jewish temples, presumably destroyed in
586BC and AD70. To fulfil “prophecy”, Jewish extremists believe that a
third temple must be built. But of course, there is the inconvenient
fact that on that particular spot exists one of Islam’s holiest sites:
The Noble Sanctuary, or al-Haram al-Sharif. It has been an exclusively
Muslim prayer site for the last 1,300 years.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>The Noble Sanctuary, located in Jerusalem’s Old City, is
the home of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. The site has been
under constant threat, attacks, acts of arson and military violence for
nearly five decades. The few Muslim clergy – belonging to the Islamic
Trust which manages the area, along with the custodianship of Jordan –
are mindful of the ever-lurking Israeli threat that oftentimes turns
deadly. It was no surprise that late Israeli leader Ariel Sharon chose
that exact place to carry out his proactive ‘tour’ of al-Aqsa compound
in 2000. Many unarmed Palestinians, mostly worshipers, died on that
day. Thousands more were lost in the following months and years as the
entirety of the occupied territories and Palestinian towns inside
Israel exploded with unprecedented fury. Sharon was later elected Prime
Minister of Israel.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>That same dangerous combination – rightwing politicians
allied with religious zealots – is at work once more. They are eyeing
Al-Aqsa for annexation, the same way the Israeli government is laboring
to permanently annex large swathes of the occupied West Bank, to
preclude any future settlement with the Palestinian Authority of
Mahmoud Abbas.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>The Israeli Knesset (Parliament) chose the 20th
anniversary of the Goldstein massacre of Palestinians in al-Khalil to
begin a debate concerning the status of Al-Aqsa compound. Right-wingers
– which constitute the bulk in the government of Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu – want the Israeli government to enforce its
‘sovereignty’ over the Muslim site, which is administered by Jordan per
the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty of 1994. Israeli MP Moshe Feiglin,
is the man behind the move, but he is not alone. Feiglin is a member of
Netanyahu’s Likud party, and has strong backing within the party, the
government and the Knesset.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>A major backer of Feiglin’s initiative is Miri Regev, also
a far-right Likud member. Regev is demanding that the government
establish separate prayer times for both Jews and Muslims in Al-Aqsa
Compound. The model she wishes to duplicate is no other than the
Ibrahimi Mosque. “We will reach a situation where the Temple Mount will
be like the Cave of the Patriarchs, days for Jews and days for
Muslims,” she said.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>Of course, Regev omitted the fact that 20 years ago to the
day, a Jewish extremist and Israeli troops killed and wounded hundreds
of Palestinians kneeling for prayer.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>On the next day following the Israeli government debate, a
thundering sound was heard around 3 AM in the Wadi Hilweh neighborhood
of Silwan, located south of the Old City of Jerusalem. Residents heard
the “sounds of heavy duty machines digging under their houses
throughout the night,” Ma’an reported. Then, a large wall suddenly
collapsed, while a few houses sustained damage. The Israeli underground
network of tunnels is growing, as some of these tunnels connect Wadi
Hilweh to the Western Wall to Al-Aqsa.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big>While the danger of Al-Aqsa Mosque collapsing is very
real, it is a representation of the mentality that rules Israel: one of
annexation and military occupation, with no regard whatsoever to
Palestine’s holiest site, also revered by over 1.6 billion Muslims
around the world.</big></big></p>
<big><big></big></big>
<p><big><big><i><strong>Ramzy Baroud</strong> is an
internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant and the editor
of <a href="http://www.PalestineChronicle.com"
onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.PalestineChronicle.com']);">PalestineChronicle.com</a>.
His latest book is “My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold
Story” (Pluto Press, London).</i></big></big></p>
<big></big></div>
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