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Muslim fury as Israelis dig near Islamic shrine |
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Wednesday, 07 February 2007 |
The Arab world reacted with fury yesterday when Israeli archaeologists began exploratory work near one of the most important shrines in Islam, the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
The digging was ordered by Israel to improve access to the Mughrabi Gate, the only entrance into the al-Aqsa compound, used by non-Muslim visitors and tourists.
While the mosque compound is regarded as the third most important site in Islam, for Jews it is the most important shrine. This has made it a friction point between the two faiths for decades.
Palestinian political leaders and Muslim religious figures accused Israel of trying to damage the ancient mosque and called on Muslims to rise up in protest.
Mohammed Hussein, the senior Muslim cleric in Jerusalem, said. "We call on the Palestinian people to unite and unify the efforts to protect Jerusalem." Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister, called on all Muslims to march on Jerusalem. Israel deployed hundreds of security personnel to protect the archaeologists.
Tunnelling near the mosque compound in 1996 started riots that left 80 people dead.
A few arrests were made when young men threw stones at a checkpoint a long way from proceedings. In the West Bank town of Bethlehem, about 200 Palestinians pelted an Israeli checkpoint with bottles and stones. In the Gaza Strip, radio stations played songs about Jerusalem, and Hamas held a rally attended by thousands of people.
Jordan's King Abdullah II called the Israeli dig "a threat to the foundations of the al-Aqsa mosque".
Israel has controlled the compound since 1967, when it captured east Jerusalem from Jordan, but has left its administration largely in the hands of Jordan and the Palestinians.
The excavations are 50 yards from the walls of the hilltop compound. There has been a makeshift access to the complex via the Mughrabi Gate for decades.
Since an earth ramp was destroyed by an earthquake in 2004 visitors descend from the gate down a temporary wooden ramp. The Israeli authorities decided a new access was needed. It will be supported by three pylons that will join the old ramp where it is still strong enough to carry the weight close to the Mughrabi Gate.
But the ramp must be surveyed by archaeologists and three holes dug for the pylons in soil that must be excavated carefully to ensure nothing of historical importance is disturbed.
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