Israeli excavation in Jerusalem stirs Muslim anger
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israeli excavation in Jerusalem stirs Muslim anger*
06 Feb 2007 20:54:51 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Jonathan Saul
JERUSALEM, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Palestinians warned Israel on Tuesday that
a ceasefire deal in Gaza would unravel if Israeli excavation work near a
compound housing al-Aqsa mosque damaged Islam's third holiest shrine.
Israel said the excavation work, which began on Tuesday when bulldozers
started breaking paving stones outside the compound, would not cause
harm to the site in Jerusalem's walled Old City, the heart of
Arab-Israeli conflict.
But President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction said any damage to al-Aqsa
would release Palestinian militant groups from a ceasefire with Israel
in the Gaza Strip.
The governing Hamas movement said "any assault" on the mosque "will lead
to a termination of the limited ceasefire" declared in November and
would spark "a volcano of anger".
Israel's Antiquities Authority said it was searching for artefacts at
the base of the compound known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews
as Temple Mount, before construction of a pedestrian bridge to replace a
ramp leading up to the complex.
Israel's opening of an entrance to an archaeological tunnel near Haram
al-Sharif in 1996 triggered Palestinian protests and led to clashes in
which 61 Arabs and 15 Israeli soldiers were killed.
Two bulldozers began breaking up parts of the pavement at the foot of
the ramp, damaged by a snowstorm and an earthquake in 2004, to clear the
way for what the authority called a "salvage excavation".
After an all-clear that no artefacts remain, plans can be finalised for
the 100-metre (yard) bridge to the Mughrabi Gate entrance to Haram
al-Sharif, which overlooks Judaism's Western Wall.
"DIRECT HARM"
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said before leaving
for unity talks with Fatah in Mecca that Israel was out to cause "direct
harm" to al-Aqsa.
"I appeal to all our Palestinian people to be united and to rise up
together to protect al-Aqsa," he said.
Jordan's King Abdullah said the Israeli action was "a blatant violation
that is not acceptable under any pretext," the state news agency Petra
reported.
Morocco's King Mohammed urged Israel to halt immediately the work which
"is aimed at distorting the hallmarks and the symbols of Islam and
civilisation," the state news agency MAP said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Israeli authorities
should have consulted Palestinian parties.
Israel said the excavation work, some 50 metres (yards) from the
existing ramp, would do no damage to al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock
mosque which is also located on the hilltop compound where the two
biblical Jewish temples once stood.
"The activities being carried out do not harm ... and will not harm any
of the holy places," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, accusing
Israel's enemies of exploiting "every opportunity to stir the most
radical emotions".
Israeli police, stationed in alleyways of the Old City to head off any
violence, arrested 11 people during protests in Jerusalem but said there
were no major confrontations.
In Bethlehem, crowds of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers
outside Rachel's Tomb, a holy site at the entrance to the West Bank
city. The soldiers responded with tear gas.
Israel annexed East Jerusalem after the 1967 conflict in a step that has
not been recognised internationally. Palestinians want the eastern part
of the city as the capital of a future state.