Police ban Jews from Temple Mount for Tisha B'Av
By Jonathan Lis and Yair Ettinger
Jerusalem police chief Major-General Ilan Franco banned Jewish visitors from the Temple Mount compound on Tisha B'Av yesterday, over fear of sparking violent clashes on the premises. Police turned back some 30 Jewish zealots who tried to enter.
The decision was made yesterday morning in the wake of recent warnings by Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, that the security establishment had identified rising intent among right-wing extremists to carry out a Temple Mount attack.
The Temple Mount Faithful movement, which wanted to hold a mourning ceremony on the site, had to settle for a symbolic gathering near the Mugrabi Gate at the entrance to the compound.
"This is a total retreat from our sovereignty over the Temple Mount," said the group's leader, Gershon Solomon. "It's another dishonor to the Jewish nation by a weak leadership that doesn't understand the significance of the hour."
About 15 right-wing activists demonstrated at noon in front of Hanegbi's house to protest the decision.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Jews came to the Western Wall throughout the day to mark Tisha B'Av, the fast day commemorating the destruction of the two temples. At the same time, hundreds of Muslims - mostly Arab residents from the Triangle region and Galilee - came to pray at mosques on the Temple Mount. Their appearance was in response to an appeal by Sheikh Kamal Hatib, deputy leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/456926.html
Laying a stone for the third temple! Exciting.
Police Bar Jews From Entering Beit ul Moqaddas's Temple Mount
BEIT UL MOQADDAS (AFP) -- Israeli police barred Jews from entering the Temple Mount in Beit ul Moqaddas's Old City on Tuesday for fear of unrest during commemorations for the historic destruction of the first and second Jewish Temples.
The Temple Mount Faithful, an extreme right-wing group, had asked permission to enter the site, known as the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) by Muslims, to lay a symbolic foundation stone for a Third Temple.
The Temple Mount is the presumed site of both temples but is also sacred to Muslims.
Jews around the world were marking Tuesday the festival of Tisha B'Av which recalls the destruction of the Temple of Solomon (the first temple) and the Temple of Herod (the second temple) by the Babylonians and the Romans in 537 BC and 70 AD respectively.
Large numbers of police reinforcements were deployed around the Western Wall, also called Wailing Wall, which lies at the foot of the Temple Mount and is regarded as the last remains of the second temple.
The Temple Mount Faithful want to build a new temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is the third holiest site in Islam.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/28/2004&Cat=4&Num=005