Israel Seals Off Shrine, Foils Jewish Protest March

Reuters ^ | 4/10/5 | Jonathan Saul

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Israel Seals Off Shrine, Foils Jewish Protest March

1 hour, 33 minutes ago

By Jonathan Saul

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Thousands of Israeli police sealed off a flashpoint Jerusalem shrine on Sunday to foil a march by ultranationalist Jews that could have inflamed violence and complicated Israel's plan to withdraw from Gaza.

Reuters Photo

(Reuters Video)

In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants pounded Jewish settlements with the worst barrage of mortar fire in months, a day after Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian youths.

The rounds caused no casualties but damaged an Israeli home.

As he headed for a meeting with George W. Bush at the U.S. president's Texas ranch on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon condemned the mortar rounds as a "flagrant violation" of a two-month-old truce with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Sharon, quoted by a senior aide on the plane to the U.S., said he would take up the issue with Bush in their talks, suggesting he did not plan any immediate retaliation.

The intended Israeli march in Jerusalem was part of a rightist campaign to spark a cycle of violence to foil Sharon's plan to evacuate Jewish settlers from Gaza in a pullout U.S.-led mediators hope will launch long-stalled "road map" peace talks.

Palestinian militants had threatened to abandon a truce they agreed last month and start another uprising if Jews had rallied at the site revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and Jews as Temple Mount.

The site is the most sacred for Jews, as the spot where biblical King Solomon built a temple and where a second temple was razed by the Romans in 70 A.D. It is Islam's third holiest site, as home to the al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock mosques.

Israeli police blockaded all approaches to the shrine and arrested 31 far-right protesters of the Revava ("Multitude") movement and eight Palestinian counter-protesters, including the West Bank leader of the militant Hamas movement, Hassan Youssef.

Palestinian men under 40 were barred from the shrine to minimize friction, but that restriction was later lifted.

A few dozen Jewish protesters tried to push their way in, shouting "Gestapo" at police and injuring an officer with a thrown rock.

"If Sharon thinks it will be as easy to expel Jews from Gaza as he has dealt with us today, he is mistaken. The struggle will continue," Jewish protester Eric Cohen, 21, a West Bank settler, said before being hustled away by police.

SHARON: MORTAR FIRE VIOLATES CEASEFIRE

Violence flared in the Gaza Strip where Palestinian militants fired more than 70 mortars at Jewish settlements in Gaza, a day after Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinian youths near a border fence.

"The firing was a flagrant violation of the understanding achieved at Sharm el-Sheikh and it will be a central issue to be raised in my talks with President Bush," a senior aide quoted Sharon as saying on his trip to the U.S.

Sharm el-Sheikh was the site of a peace summit in Egypt where Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a cease-fire in four years of violence on Feb. 8.

Israeli Defense Minister called Abbas to urge him to intervene to assign more security forces to the southern Gaza area to put an end to the shooting, ministry sources said.

"If you don't act quickly who knows where this escalation will lead," Mofaz said. "You aren't doing the job and Israel cannot accept that."

In Tel Aviv, right-wing Israelis blocked a main highway at the height of rush hour with burning tires. Police arrested 30 and said some would be brought before a judge on Monday.

Hassan Youssef, Hamas's West Bank political leader, had slipped past police into the Jerusalem shrine disguised as an elderly cleric, sources close to Youssef said. He was later arrested as he left the shrine, a police spokesman said.

"I did not wait for a permit from the (Israeli) occupation. All Palestinians should come here to protect al-Aqsa from desecration by Jewish extremists," Youssef told Reuters by telephone before he was detained.

In Gaza, Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman, demanded Youssef's release and said his arrest clouded a truce militants had agreed last month to cement Abbas's cease-fire with Israel.

"All parties concerned with calm should intervene to secure the release of Sheikh Hassan Youssef," al-Masri said.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza, Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah and Haitham Tamimi in Jerusalem)

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[vpintheak]

I wonder if they have plain old nationalists, or is it only "ultra-nationalists" as the unbiased reporter says.

[West Coast Conservative]

How dare Jews have a rally in their own capital at their Holiest place!

[Sender]

SO Palestinians continue to mortar Israeli homes, and Israelis continue to block Jews from the Temple Mount. Sounds like all is normal in Oslo ville.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[Alouette]

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[Salem]

If you'd like to be on or off this
Christian Supporters of Israel ping list,
please FR mail me. ~
    
MikeFromFR ~
There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had
spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:45)
Letter To The President In Support Of Israel ~
'Final Solution,' Phase 2 ~
Warnings ~

[pharmamom]

Can anyone briefly tell me the story of how these yayhoos got put in charge of Israel's and Christendom's most holy place? Really! Who died and made them Alexander Haig? It's unbelievable to me that Jews and Christians can't even pray there!

[Daisy4]

Can anyone briefly tell me the story of how these yayhoos got put in charge of Israel's and Christendom's most holy place? Really! Who died and made them Alexander Haig? It's unbelievable to me that Jews and Christians can't even pray there!

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It happened after the Six Day Israeli/Arab War in 1967. During May, 1967, the Egyptian, Jordian and Syrian armies mobilized along Israel's narrow borders preparing to attack and destroy Israel. The Israelis, knowing about this beforehand, planned and carried out perfectly a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. Within hours, the Egyptian airforce was wiped out. King Hussein of Jordan launched his attack into Israel, while Syrian troops came down the Golan Heights range into northern Israel. After only six days [thus the name Six Day War], Israel defeated all three arab militaries.

Israel's General Moshe Dayan allowed the remaining arabs in the West Bank to stay. Israel has caused much of her own problems, sadly, because since then Israel has been labeled the "occupier" of the West Bank. Enter Arafat......

check out this site for Israeli/arab war history
go to Historical Perspective/Maps
http://www.unitedjerusalem.com

[Salem]

Good work! Thanks!  

[xJones]

Jackson, I don't like the withdrawal of the Israeli Gaza settlements because that looks like a weakening of Israeli resolve to Arabs. Anything that weakens Israel should be, in the Christian term, anathema. I can guess your opinion of the withdrawals, but would you state it here?

[BlackVeil]

Can anyone briefly tell me the story of how these yayhoos got put in charge of Israel's and Christendom's most holy place? Really!

It is a great story. It goes back centuries. The Temple was destroyed by the Romans, when they brutally crushed the Jewish revolt. There were some pagan temples established there, but it was mainly a ruin, then some centuries later Christian chapels were built there, after Rome stopped persecuting the Christians.

However, the ceasing of persecution was only a lull. During the reign of Julian the Apostate, a Roman Emperor who disgarded Christianity and tried to make paganism official again, Christians again became targets. Julian made an alliance with the Jews of Jerusalem, to restore the Temple. The Christians got thrown off Temple Mount, and rebuilding of the Jewish temple began. But some Rabbis were against the idea, because the Jews should not rebuild the Temple until the Messiah comes. The Rabbis' warnings seemed borne out when a disastrous explosion (natural gas?), or earth tremour, wrecked the building works and killed quite a number of people. Julian the Apostate was killed in battle, and the whole thing faded.

The Temple site was then a ruin, with a rather ambiguous reputation. Jews believed that they were forbidden to set foot there, lest they tread on the holy of holys. Christians had relocated their relics from the site, and did not go back either. The Holy Speculcre became the focus for Christianity in Jerusalem.

In the 7th century, the Muslims invaded and took over Jerusalem. The Caliph asked about the site, and was surprised it was a rubbish dump. He began clearing the area and built the basis of the present mosque (which has been renovated and redecorated many times since.)

When the Crusaders invaded Jerusalem, in the 11th century, the Dome of the Rock was the last place to fall. It was crowded with people seeking shelter. Yet, even when it was the last place to go, the Jews of Jerusalem did not flee there, as their rules forbid them. They stayed in their quarter, and died as the Crusaders cut their way through the city.

When the Crusaders reached the Dome of the Rock, the guardian surrendered to them, and asked that the lives of the people be spared. The first Crusader commander said yes, the second no. The scene was set for a massacre, and the Crusaders cut down thousands, riding into the mosque on their horses, amid flowing blood. The mosque then became a church, for 100 years. This Church was in the special care of the Knights Templar, who took their name from the site. While there, the Templars are said to have learnt secrets of the real origins of the scriptures, which separated them from ordinary Christianity.

When Saladin reconquered Jerusalem, many expected a new massacre on the site. But he merely asked the Christians to leave, and allowed them to take all their valuables with them. He then removed all statues and altars from the mosque, and washed it in rosewater. It has been a mosque, ever since.

[lainde]

bttt

[pharmamom]

Thanks, Daisy! I understand a little better now. Sadly, it seems like Israel is with the Palestinians the way we Repubs are with the Dimocrats. We keep trying to be nice and getting knifed in the back in exchange. I think Israel keeps compromising, hoping that the Palestinians will be equally accommodating; instead, they get p*ssed on.

[SJackson]

Jackson, I don't like the withdrawal of the Israeli Gaza settlements because that looks like a weakening of Israeli resolve to Arabs. Anything that weakens Israel should be, in the Christian term, anathema. I can guess your opinion of the withdrawals, but would you state it here?

I don’t think we’ll know for a couple years.

From an Israeli-US-Euro perspective, creating a(nother) racist state is morally questionable and likely to fail.

From Israel’s perspective, a “negotiating partner” is unlikely to emerge so imo the only solution is unilateral. Gaza is expensive to defend in terms of both money and manpower. If the second stage of Sharon’s plan involves drawing defensible borders in the West Bank which include most of the large settlements and a defensive line along the border, then shutting the door, then I think it makes sense. Whether that happens we’ll see after the Gaza withdrawal is complete, I’m sure the US will be opposed. If it turns out the Gaza withdrawal stands on it’s own, then it’s a futile act of capitulation which does little more than set the stage for the next conflict.

BTW, Sharon is reported to have told Condi Rice yesterday that if Abbas doesn't stop the attacks on Israel, he'll do it for him, so the IDF may be back in force sooner than we think.

[SJackson]

Israel left the Wakf in charge after the 67 war as peacemaking gesture to Jordan. Didn't work.

[xJones]

Excellent reply. Thanks.

[Marguerite]

"In the 7th century, the Muslims invaded and took over Jerusalem. The Caliph asked about the site, and was surprised it was a rubbish dump. He began clearing the area and built the basis of the present mosque (which has been renovated and redecorated many times since.)"

Haven't you forgotten something in this idyllic description?
The Arabs built their mosque over the remains of Solomon Temple and a Christian church, as a symbol of Islam domination over other religions.
It's their system to destroy worship places and grow their mushrooms on them, like in Istanbul with St.Sophia Cathedral and 3,000 Hindu temples destroyed in India.

You look at history through rosy glasses. I don't buy it.

[KurtAZ]

Of course it is inevitible that the Israelis re-build the Temple of Solomon.

[Sabramerican]

Israel.....as peacemaking gesture to ________. Didn't work.

Insanity = If it didn't work: Do it again, and again and again...

Israel, consistently insane. To the end.