Thread: Muslims against repair project of Holy Site.

For crying out loud. Israelis are trying to REPAIR a common holy site (damaged by an act of God) and the #&@$^Muslims are using it as an excuse to protest.

Below is from the Long Beach Press-Telegram, February 9, 2007:

Building near holy site stirs protests
Israel begins work near area sacred to Jews, Muslims.
By Ravi Nessman, Associated Press
Article Launched: 02/08/2007 07:51:09 PM PST


JERUSALEM - A fiery Islamic leader called on his fellow Israeli Arabs and Muslims around the world Thursday to rise up in protest of Israeli construction work near a holy site in Jerusalem.
Fearing thousands might heed his call, Israeli police intensified security measures ahead of Friday Muslim prayers at the site, adding travel restrictions and plans to send a helicopter hovering overhead.

The dispute centers on Israel's decision to begin repair work on an earthen ramp leading to the hilltop compound known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. The centuries-old ramp was damaged in a 2004 snowstorm, and Israeli authorities promised that its plan to replace it would not damage the holy site, about 60 yards away.

But Muslim leaders began protesting the work as soon as it started Tuesday, and they called for wide-scale demonstrations today.

"The aggression happening now is a tragedy, a crime," Raed Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, told The Associated Press. He accused Israel of declaring "a regional, religious war."

The site, home to the golden-capped Dome of the Rock shrine and Al Aqsa mosque, is especially important to Palestinians and

Israeli Arabs. Not only is it Islam's third-holiest site, from where they believe the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven, but it also is a focal point of their national pride.
The compound is also sacred to Jews as the site of their biblical temples.

Israel has controlled the contentious compound since the 1967 Mideast War, but has left its administration largely to the Jordanian-controlled trust known as the Waqf and to the Palestinians.

When fighting broke out between Israel and the Palestinians in 2000, Israeli restrictions prevented many Palestinians from the West Bank from praying at Al Aqsa. Salah began busing in Muslims from northern Israel to take their place, and his power at the site grew. He also has taken a lead in demonstrating against perceived Israeli violations at the site, and is known by many Palestinians as the "Sheik of Al Aqsa."

Salah called for a large demonstration in the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth on Friday, which he declared "Al Aqsa Day."