Evidently the Palestinian Authority, ruled by Mahmoud Abbas (affectionately known by his terrorist nickname of Abu Mazen), is planning a new intifada very soon. His newspaper, Ma’an, ran a spurious story that Israel plans to open the Temple Mount up to Jewish prayer on a time sharing plan. Actually, this plan is used effectively in Hebron for Maarat Machpela, the Tomb of the Patriarchs. However, Maarat Machpela is under Israeli control, so democracy, sharing and tolerance have some chance. This is not true of areas controlled by Islam, such as the Temple Mount, and since the Islamic Waqf controls the Temple Mount with the consent of the Israeli government, discriminatory rules against Jews are enforced there, and will continue to be enforced for the forseeable future.
This claim by Ma’an is baseless, but is the standard type of alarm sounded to start intifadas. The recent rock attack on Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount was orchestrated and was a dry run for a more extensive set of riots and terrorism. It appears Abbas believes he has Arab Christian support, and is trying to incense the Christians by saying the Church of the Holy Sepulcher would certainly be the next target of the Jews.
Many Arab Christian priests and lay people support the the Pan-Arab and Islamic desire to destroy Israel as a Jewish state, and they have gained strong support among Western Christians, despite the Muslim persecution of Christians in Israel.
Ramallah –Ma’an – Israel plans to allow Jewish worshipers to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on a regular basis, dividing prayer time between Muslims and Jews, officials at the Islamic Christian Society in Support of Jerusalem said Monday.
Currently Israeli citizens are not permitted to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the Haram Ash-Sharif. On Sunday, however, clashes broke out inside the sanctuary when extremist Jews – reports dispute whether or not the culprits were Israeli citizens – entered the area along with Israeli soldiers. The compound was locked down during the clashes and 13 were injured. Israeli forces also raided Palestinian Jerusalem and detained dozens military sources say were involved in the clashes.
According to the society, there will be 50 Jewish holidays on which Jews will have exclusive access to the compound for worship. The religious calendars of the Muslim and Jewish faith often overlap, with the Jewish Rosh Hashana holiday coinciding with the final Friday of the Muslim Ramadan. The society calls the decision “unacceptable.”
Officials, including Sheikh Taisir At-Tamimi, Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Dr. Hasan Khater, Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsour and Father Manuel Musallam from the society spoke at a news conference Monday in Ramallah. They warned that such a policy was dangerous, and “went beyond the red line.”
The religious leaders then appealed to Palestinian leaders to seek a national agreement so they could prevent Israel from taking over the site, which Jews believe is the place where the Second Temple stood. Plans from extremist and even moderate right wing groups to raze Al-Aqsa and build a Third Temple have been repeatedly uncovered.
The leaders called the plan a war crime, noting there were attacks on Al-Aqsa from “above and below,” referring to the contentious excavation work Israel is carrying out on tunnels beneath the compound.
The officials called all the Muslims to fast on Thursday and all the Christians to pray on Sunday as an expression of solidarity with Jerusalem and all the holy places in the city.
Sheikh Taisir At-Tamimi urged Palestinians to attend worship ceremonies in the Olc City of Jerusalem and at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, in order to stave off encroaching Israeli presence in the area.
The Archbishop Atallah Hanna asked all Christians to join their fellow Muslims in prayer on Sunday to be in solidarity with Al-Aqsa mosque. He stressed that targeting Al-Aqsa is only the beginning of targeting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
