Muslims clash with police at holy site

Telegraph (UK) ^ | 8/26/03 | Inigo Gilmore

[saquin]

Israeli police clashed with Muslims on the Temple Mount, or Haram al-Sharif, in Jerusalem yesterday after the compound was reopened to Christians and Jews.

Muslim worshippers knelt in prayer at the entrance in an attempt to prevent Jewish and Christian visitors from entering the complex, which is holy to both Jews and Muslims.

The Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, ordered the site closed to non-Muslim visitors when riots erupted between police and Muslim worshippers a day after Ariel Sharon, now the Israeli prime minister, visited in September 2000, triggering the current intifada.

Last week the Israeli government announced that it would reopen the complex to Jewish and Christian visitors for two hours every morning. The Waqf, or Muslim council, which oversees day-to-day affairs at the compound objected, complaining that it was not consulted.

The compound is known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount, having been the site of two Biblical Jewish temples. To Muslims it is the Haram al-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. Within the complex is the Dome of the Rock, or Al Aqsa mosque, the third-holiest shrine in Islam and a potent symbol of Palestinian nationhood.

Abdallah Abed al Rahman, a guard at the mosque, said: "They are abusing this sacred place. Only Muslims should be allowed here. Israel cannot just decide to reopen this site without consulting us."

The clashes occurred as Hamas's military wing vowed revenge for in a missile strike in the Gaza Strip. At the men's funeral yesterday the terrorist group threatened to retaliate with rocket attacks and suicide bombings.

[saquin]

So, basically Muslims believe that only Muslims should be allowed to visit a site which is sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. Apparently, the presence of non-Muslims in one of "their" holy sites is deeply offensive, even if the site is also holy to other faiths.

This is why the rest of the civilized world can never coexist peacefully alongside radical (and even "un-radical") Islam.

[boycott]

I used to have some respect for their faith. I can see now just how ignorant I was.

[babygene]

"I used to have some respect for their faith."

Wow, were you ever misguided! They are all worshipers of evil...

[Ramius]

The really sick thing about this is that the "temple mount" isn't even ranking in the top several muslim holy sites. The only reason they care at all is because Jews and Christians also care about the site. Denying it to others is more important to muslims than getting access for themselves. That's pretty much all you need to know.

[JamminJAY]

Abdallah Abed al Rahman, a guard at the mosque, said: "They are abusing this sacred place. Only Muslims should be allowed here

Shoot this scum now before he blows himself up. These creatures are kooks.

Jammer

[thoughtomator]

Yeah, likewise. Rude awakening isn't it?

[Nachum]

America had better wake up to what is happening in the mosques here on our shores.

[TheBlueMax]

Abdallah Abed al Rahman, a guard at the mosque, said: "They are abusing this sacred place. Only Muslims should be allowed here. Israel cannot just decide to reopen this site without consulting us."

Ah, the religion of tolerance at work again!

[blam]

"This is why the rest of the civilized world can never coexist peacefully alongside radical (and even "un-radical") Islam."

That is why I say...shoot the igorant POS SOB's!

[First Amendment]

And it seems as though the Muslims are going crazy in India too. Their leaders whip them into frenzies, and they feel justified in torturing and killing infidels. I also used to have no animosity at all towards Muslims, I even have 2 copies of the Koran which I have (very) sporadically read for educational purposes - and now I just shake my head.

[boycott]

"Yeah, likewise. Rude awakening isn't it?"

911 exposed a lot of things about them.

[thoughtomator]

Try reading the Koran, it's even more disturbing.