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Posted on 04/07/2005 10:34:41 AM PDT by Alouette
A scenario in which thousands of Jews plan to flood the Temple Mount is highly problematic and the police will not enable them to reach the site, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra said on Thursday.
Speaking with Army Radio, Ezra said that there are intelligence indications by which far right activists may carry out some sort of an attack on the mount. He did not specify whether the nature of the warnings was specific.
"The movements that are organizing this rally do not have any intentions to perpetrate such an attack, but rather express the central theme the site has to the Jewish people. The Muslims were the ones that took it to an extreme, mistakenly thinking that these groups would want to stage an attack," Ezra said.
"Nonetheless," the minister said, "all it takes is a handful of people who could create an immense problem."
According to Ezra, "I have spoken to [former chief rabbi] Mordechai Eliyahu and he explicitly told me to tell the public that he was adamantly against Sunday's planned rally to the mount."
In an interview with Israel Radio on Thursday, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar said the rally could be viewed as a provocation and may bring about the unnecessary shedding of blood. "That is why we [the chief rabbis] have issued a statement against it", he said.
According to Rabbi Amar, "Nearly all major Jewish sages ruled that Jews are forbidden to enter the holy site. That is the halacha (Jewish law)."
However, David Ha'Ivri, head of the "Revava" movement, which is organizing the rally, said there are places on the mount that Jews can enter.
"Rabbi Shlomo Goren himself measured the site with IDF engineers. It is a well known fact that all the top experts on the matter say that there are certain places which Jews can enter, if purified. Don't forget that the mount is three times larger than what it used to be," Ha'Ivri told Israel Radio on Thursday.
Ha'Ivri said he expects masses to attend. "We are swamped with requests from all over the country. We hope it would change the 38 years of injustice [since the unification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War]."
"I hope the police won't bow down to threats of the Islamic movement, which is acting like a criminal gang, and enable Jews to pray in a holy place," he said.
Ha'Ivri accused the Shin Bet of spreading fake threats. "If they have specific information on individuals, they should arrest them. Why are they tainting an entire sector?"
Meanwhile, the Islamic Movement called off plans for a mass pilgrimage to the Aksa mosque in Jerusalem on Sunday to counter a planned demonstration by Jewish ultra-nationalists following the decision to close the Temple Mount site to all non-Muslims.
Umm el-Fahm mayor Sheikh Hashem abed al-Rahman praised the decision that was made by Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra and police in the capital.
"This was a very wise move that has gone a long way to reduce tension," Rahman, who is also spokesman for the Islamic Movement, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.
"As far as we are concerned now, Friday and Sunday will be normal days, although there might be a few more people, including women and children, at the mosque on Sunday," he said.
Rahman said that on normal Sundays some 50-60 bus loads of people from around the country would go to the mosque in addition to other worshippers. "There might be an extra 20-30 buses this Sunday but that is all," he said.
"We will be going with our wives and children to clearly demonstrate that nobody from our point of view has any hostile or violent intentions."
Rahman maintained that the Islamic Movement had proved that it was a legitimate and law-abiding organization and that there was no intention to break the law.
"Non-Muslims have been touring this holy site for the past 18 months or so and there has been no trouble from our point of view and all the visits have gone ahead peacefully," he said.
"If the police and the security forces do what they are empowered and required to do then those who had been planning this act of provocation will not be able to go ahead with their plans and everything will pass peacefully, 'Inshallah' (God willing)," he added.
On Wednesday, Jerusalem police announced that the Temple Mount would be completely closed off to non-Muslim visitors on Sunday.
Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco announced last week that he was barring a massive Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple Mount by a group of ultra-nationalists opposed to the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip following multiple intelligence warnings that such an event could prompt Palestinian violence at the bitterly contested holy site.
Palestinians officials have denounced the campaign as a provocation, and have warned that such a visit could lead to a renewal of violence at the bitterly contested holy site.
The three major Palestinian terror organizations, Hamas Islamic Jihad and the Al Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, have announced separately that they will resume terror attacks if the event goes ahead as planned.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby has said that an amalgamation of intelligence information has indicated that if the group enters the Mount, there was a "real possibility" that violence would break out at the site.
Hundreds of Jewish and Christian visitors peacefully tour the holy site on a daily basis during morning visiting hours since the Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims visitors a year and half ago.
But over the last six months, police and security officials have repeatedly warned of the possibility that Jewish extremists would attack the super-sensitive Jerusalem holy site as a way of sabotaging the planned summer pullout from Gaza.
Police have said that they would further increase their forces outside the Jerusalem holy site on the day of the planned event in order to prevent any attempts of forced entry to the mount.
Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.
G-D is slow to anger and long-suffering but Alouette's patience is running thin.
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
It's a sad situation. So when do the top Rabbis predict that Jews or Christians will be able to freely pray on the mount? The end of days?
If I remember correctly, it is Jewish religious law that prevents Jews from entering the defiled Temple Mount (defiled by the Romans in 73AD?). They are only to be allowed to return when led by the Messiah. So yes, End of Days.
Um, that's not the way it worked out. You as a Jew can't go there, and I as a Christian can't either. Dayan wasn't missing only one eye...
Since when have we ever been able to trust a bunch of ragheads. Yisrael is for Yisraelis.
Moshe Dayan combined a kibbutznik's secular identity and pragmaticism (reportedly, having seen rabbis flocking on the Temple Mount shortly after Jerusalem was captured in 1967, he asked "what is this Vatican?" then handed the keys to the Waqf, (the Muslim trust)) with a deep sense of love and appreciation to Jewish legacy and the land of Israel, apparent in his writing.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:Mpho_f6NVloJ:encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Moshe_Dayan+%22Moshe+Dayan%22++waqf&hl=en
No wonder his kids are gay.
Jews and Christians do go to the Temple Mount in limited ways. In limited numbers. Jews are not allowed to be religious in any way when they go there and cannot pray. But they do go in limited numbers to make a "secular" visit
Since when have you have trusted ragheads, nappy heads, or any other heads? And what are the Yisraelis?
Dayan and the other prominent Jewish atheists and socialists are heroes of Israel. There would be no Israel without them
The Temple Mount was reopened to non-Muslims in August 2003. It is still open but only Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf, the Muslim custodians of the Temple Mount.
During "open" days, Jews and Christian are allowed to ascend the Mount, usually through organized tours and only if they conform first to a strict set of guidelines, which includes demands that they not pray or bring any "holy objects" to the site. Visitors are banned from entering any of the mosques without direct Waqf permission. Rules are enforced by Waqf agents, who watch tours closely and alert nearby Israeli police to any breaking of their guidelines.
Secular zionism is destroying itself and trying to drag the rest of Israel along with it.
"Secular zionism is destroying itself and trying to drag the rest of Israel along with it."
Secular Zionism represents most of the populace who built up the country and who gave their lives for it. I think that having mutual respect is a healthy way to live.
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