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Jerusalem Police Accuses Islamic Movement of "Inflaming" Temple Mount Issue
Jerusalem police on Saturday accused the Islamic movement and Palestinians of attempting to inflame the issue of the demand of some Jewish radicals to lay a cornerstone on the disputed holy site of Temple Mount inside the Old City of Jerusalem.
The police said that the Islamic movement's claim that the Jewish group called the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement was going to lay the cornerstone on the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the al-Haram al-Sherif, or Noble Sanctuary, was "inaccurate."
The police said that the Jewish group had been authorized to go as far as the Givati parking lot, a few hundred meters from the Temple Mount, the most sacred in Judaism and also home to Islamic mosques.
The Jewish group is a Jewish messianic movement committed to the rebuilding of a new Jewish temple in the place of the mosques, which comprise Islam's the third holiest shrine, the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The group wants to lay a symbolic cornerstone for the temple near the entrance to the Temple Mount on the Ninth of the Jewish month of Av, a day of mourning to commemorate the destruction of the second Jewish Temple in 70 A.D., which falls on Sunday.
The police added that they were considering taking actions against the Islamic movement after it called on all Muslims to go to the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount to protest against the laying of the cornerstone.
The Mufti of Jerusalem called on all Palestinians to visit the al-Haram al-Sherif on Saturday and Sunday to protest against the stone-laying and to protect the holy places of Islam.
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) issued a warning to Israel earlier Saturday against allowing the Jewish group to lay the stone, saying that the Israeli government would be responsible for the dangerous consequences of an action of this kind.
Palestinian Minister of International Cooperation Nabil Sha'ath said that if "the cornerstone of the imaginary Temple Mount of the Jews" was laid, it would cause a Palestinian reaction.
"This is very, very serious. It's like pouring fuel on the fire," said senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, adding that the PNA had requested that the U.S. and Europe intercede to prevent the ceremony.
Erekat's warnings were echoed in Egypt, where Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said he had summoned Cairo-based ambassadors of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council for talks.
Maher told reporters the planned move was one of many Israeli " provocations" which he said contravened international legitimacy. He said provocations on such a sensitive issue could lead to an explosive situation.
The Palestinian mainstream faction of Fatah urged Palestinians to rally after midday prayers on Sunday and declared it a "day of rage...to protect the holy city and the holy sites and al-Haram al- Sharif from desecration".
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) called on people to gather at the al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday morning to defend it "with soul and blood," reports here said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Supreme Court, citing the sensitive security situation, rejected an appeal by the radical Jewish group to be allowed to visit the Temple Mount.
The current Israeli-Palestinian bloody conflicts, also called by the Palestinians al-Asqa intifada or uprising, were sparked by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, then the opposition Likud leader who made a provocative visit to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on last September 28.
The mosques and the nearby Western Wall, the only remaining part of the Second Temple and the holiest site in Judaism, are at the heart of a dispute between Israel and Palestinians over East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast War.
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