Posted on 02/09/2007 11:16:49 AM PST by XR7
JERUSALEM - Amid the old city of Jerusalem and rising above it is the ancient site of Solomon's Temple and the point from which the Prophet Mohammed journeyed to Heaven. Holy to Jews and Muslims, it is as dangerous these days as a ticking atom bomb. Any readjustment of its ancient stones can detonate outrage among millions of faithful around the world. On Friday, Muslims in Jerusalem protested against Israeli excavation work next to al-Aqsa, one of Islam's holiest shrines, which sits atop the site. Around the world, Muslims declared a universal "day of anger," Israeli police stormed into the Muslim compound and fired stun grenades and rubber bullets at youths trying to hurl stones at Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. Israeli police claim that 17 protesters and 15 police officers were injured in the clashes, but Palestinians say many more were hurt in skirmishes around the mosque grounds.
The latest crisis began when Israeli authorities started rebuilding and extending a pedestrian ramp which rises to the Mugrabi Gate, an entrance that allows tourists to view the gardens of the sacred Muslim precinct, the silver al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a shrine clad with turquoise mosaics and topped with a glowing, golden dome. The ramp is a simple piece of construction that will rest on seven concrete pillars. A 2004 earthquake and a snowstorm had damaged the old pedestrian bridge. But with tension running high between Israelis and Palestinians, the repair work has become a volatile religious issue, one that radical Muslim clerics are using to whip up more hatred against Israel. Says Dan Seidemann, a Jerusalem lawyer trying to broker a solution to the latest religious flare-up, "It's reaching critical mass and the situation could explode at any time."
Neither Muslims nor Jews are comfortable sharing this holy site, and religious extremists are trying through bombs, fire, stones and other provocations to drive the other out. Some Muslim clerics say that re-building the pedestrian walkway is tipping the balance of co-existence between the two faiths. As an editorialist wrote wearily in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz: "The excavation work and bridge construction...have turned into the Battle of Armageddon, as happens every time." In 1996, tunneling by Israeli archeologists underneath the compound led to riots between protesters and Israeli troops in which 69 Palestinians and 16 Israeli soldiers were killed.
The Mugrabi Gate has always been a thorn in the side of the al-Aqsa worshippers. It provides the only Israeli access to the Muslim mosque and shrine, and it was through this gate in 2000 that Ariel Sharon, then the Israeli opposition leader, strutted into the Muslim grounds and sparked a bloody Palestinian uprising. It is also via this pedestrian ramp that Israeli police swarm into the Muslim precinct whenever trouble erupts — as they did during Friday's riots — and Muslim leaders are worried that the new, reinforced ramp will allow more police and extremists to trespass on their holy shrine. Some Christians and Jews believe that the building of the Third Temple by the Jews will herald the Messiah's arrival, and that can only be accomplished by destroying the Muslim place of worship. But Israeli authorities insist they are making the ramp stronger only to make it safer for thousands of daily visitors.
Muslims also say that the excavations will also be destroying chunks of their religious heritage, but Israeli archeologists and Palestinian workers on the site are clearing away every stone and pottery fragment with the precision of surgeons. Not that it matters. Throughout the Muslim world, the Israeli excavations adjacent to al-Aqsa are being portrayed as sacrilege, as another blow by Israel and, indirectly, by its ally America, against Islam. For the last three days, the story has topped headlines and news broadcasts throughout the Muslim world.
In Mecca, Palestinian leaders from the rival Fatah and Hamas movements took a break from their efforts to avert a civil war and condemned Israel's supposed tampering with the holy place in Jerusalem. Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad said: "Israel has a clear scheme to demolish the al-Aqsa mosque through various games and tricks, and we hope to see a decisive Arab and Islamic position. The language of condemnation is not enough." Also in Mecca, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned that further excavation could endanger a November cease-fire in Gaza between Palestinian militants and Israelis. The crisis will also complicate Abbas' task of persuading Hamas to moderate its hostility towards Israel, which it refuses to recognize. Meanwhile, in Iran, spiritual leader Ali Khamenei warned: "We must make the Zionists regret their action."
All this hostility could have been avoided, say Israeli experts, if the authorities had first sought clearance from the Waqf, the Islamic board which governs the al-Aqsa mosque. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under pressure from his neighbor, Jordan's King Abdullah, and from his own defense minister Amir Peretz, to halt the controversial dig. So far, Olmert has refused their entreaties, saying that the changes would not " harm" anyone. Meir Ben-Dov, a leading Israeli archeologist who has worked on the site for 39 years, criticized the excavation work. He told the Israeli press that it was " short-sightedness by someone who wants riots, by people with no brain." Already, one Palestinian militant group says it intends to attack synagogues in revenge for the excavations. The standoff at Temple Mount/al-Aqsa, over a simple repair, threatens to blow into something far larger and more dangerous.
Wow, what a totally new and surprising tactic!
IOF Storms Al-Aqsa Mosque, Wounds 50 and Blocks its Gates
JERSALEM, February 9, 2007 (WAFA) - Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Friday al-Aqsa Mosque, fired gunshots and stun grenades, wounding over fifty worshippers, WAFA reporter said.
WAFA reporter affirmed that most of the wounded received medical treatment at the Mosque's clinics.
He added that worshippers were besieged by Israeli soldiers inside the Mosque, affirming that the soldiers prevent ambulances from entering the Mosque to evacuate the wounded.
The attack began as Friday prayers were ending in the Mosque. Clashes spread to the neighbouring alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, and to the Kalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem.
Israel has started to demplosh parts of the Al-Aqsa Mosque's old gates a few days ago, which infuriated Palestinians who affirm that the location is an Islamic Waqf (endowment).
Israel had restricted access to the Friday prayers in the Mosque to Muslims over the age of 45, who held Israeli identity cards.
President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Friday "the aggressive steps of Israel" in al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, considering today as a Day of Anger to Protect the al-Aqsa Mosque.
A.D (22:00 P) (20:00 GMT)
It's going to come to this sooner or later - might as well start taking out the trash!
I was reading a book by David Haggith and in his book he said if anything would to happen to the Temple Mount it would lead to the Third World War easy.Plus ynet made mention Israel going to start building the Third Temple prophecy is being fulfilled.
Bump for later reading
"Muslims declared a universal 'day of anger,'",
I just declared a day of "I don't give a damn"!
Yeah right, "worshipers" at The Mosque of the holy rock-throwing mob.
So did I until I was reading an archeological magazine. "The Glowing Cupola of the Dome of the Rock, rising to a height of 95 feet, is made of wood painted with a gold alloy (it is not plated)." I guess "gilt" would be the right word...it just isn't solid gold.
Also note that according to tenth-century Arab geographer Al-Muqaddasi, who lived in Jerusalem, many Arabs believed the Dome of the Rock was originally built to compete in beauty with the splendor of other churches, especially the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This, he added, would prevent Muslims from being enchanted by the Christian holy places.
And while we are at it, for those who think they worship the same God as Christians: Two inscriptions on copper plates over the eastern and southern gates of the structure carry clear messages: "The Unity of God and the Prophecy of Muhammed are true," and "The Sonship of Jesus and the Trinity are false."
Its a holy site to Christians, too.
Al Aqsa mosque is built square atop Mt Moriah and the huge rock said to be the site where Abraham was asked by God to offer his son Issac in sacrifice.
Christians ought to be vocal in their offense at being forbidden open access to this site.
Solomons temple was completed in 825 BCE. Al Aqsa mosque was built about 1400 years later.
Israelis must know the famous American proverb: When you're up to your ass in alligators it's hard to drain the swamp.
Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour...Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. -- I John 2:18, 22-23
Let's get it right.
The secular materialists have tried to change everything from BC and AD (Anno Domini) to BCE and CE, so as not to offend the Muzzies and atheists.
Be aware. Don't succumb.
Flatten the damn thing.
Inside the Dome is an outcropping of the bedrock of Mount Moriah, the "Sacred Rock." On the rock's pock-marked surface is one indentation which is believed to be the footprint left by Mohammed as he leapt into heaven. (Pilgrims over the centuries have whittled off pieces of the rock---the Crusaders especially were known to chip "holy souvenirs" from it.) Mount Moriah is a long, extended hill in Jerusalem, extending north from the City of David and extending beyond the present North wall of the Old City. That same hill is the traditional site of Abraham's sacrificial altar for Isaac, the threshing floor or Araunah, and the site of the First and the Second Temple.
The Foundation Stone is not solid, beneath it lies a cave and a well known as "the well of souls."
East of the exposed bedrock in the Dome of the Rock is a tall cupboard where it is believed hairs from the beard of Mohammed are contained. Within the hollowed out chamber of under the rock are the "places of prayer" of Elijah, Abraham, David, and Solomon. The Muslims call this cave the "well of souls" where they believe the dead meet twice a week to pray.
In medieval times this spot was considered to be the "center of the world" and was marked such on maps. Since the rock under the Dome of the Rock, where the cave is shows the effects of quarrying above the level of the cave, it is logical to hold that the rock stood higher originally and that the threshing floor surrounded the rock and the cave.
The exterior of the Dome is covered with tiles from Persia as well as marble. The "Golden Dome" is not made out of gold but rather anodized aluminum. The original dome was wooden, later covered with brass, and then lead sheathing in 1448. The excess weight of the lead-clad dome caused grave concern for the entire building because of periodic severe earthquakes in Jerusalem and finally the anodized aluminum dome. Most recently, in 1993, a million dollars in gold foil was provided by the government of Saudi Arabia as a gift. As of this writing the installation of the gold leaf has now been completed and the dome is today resplendent in brilliant pure gold.
http://www.templemount.org/allah.html
How ecumenical. One questions Mr. Gold's faithfulness to scripture.
1 These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess [1] served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3 And ye shall overthrow [2] their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God.
BTW: Can you point us to the source for this information?
Preferably a .url link/web address.
Thanks.
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