Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 8)

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Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 8)

المحتوى

The Zionist authorities were well
aware that no illegal construction was
going on in Al Aqsa’s premises. A
spokesman for the Jerusalem city gov-
ernment had refuted the reports to this
effect. The Zionists were moreover
aware ofthe inflammatory effects of their
transgressions. Still, MKs made further
‘visits’ to the Temple Mount. Groups
from the ultra-right Zionist party, Tehiya,
and others tried on several occasions to
hoist the Israeli flag on the Mount. The
head of the Knesset’s Interior Commit-
tee insisted that the ‘visits’ must con-
tinue, despite the turmoil caused, for «All
Arabs should know who the head of the
household is. »
Voices were raised in a Knesset
session demanding that Jews take con-
trol of Al Aqsa and begin construction of
the so-called third temple. One Zionist
group put up posters on the outer wall of
Jerusalem's old city, that read: «It's time
we threw out these foreigners.» On
January 19th, the terrorist Kach group
stormed Al Aqsa, raising placards say-
ing, «The Temple Mount is ours» and
«Kick the Arabs out»! Even more out-
rageous, MK Haim Druckman, leader of
Morasha religious party, demanded that
the prayer leader at Al Aqsa be arrested
and trie? by a military court, because
«he was inciting people to kill the par-
liamentarians»!
The real issue
Zionist and western media try to
project the issue of Al Aqsa as intermit-
tant incidents of violence where fanatic
Moslem Palestinians overreact to the
normal desire of the Jews to pray at this
holy shrine. Yet after the 1967 occupa-
tion, Shlomo Ghoren, the rabbi of the
Israeli occupying army, promptly
declared that the Israelis intended to
demolish Al Aqsa. From that day, the
Zionist military authorities began a cam-
paign against the mosque, as part of
their more. comprehensive plan for
Judaizing Jerusalem and all the
occupied Palestinian land.
Fanatic religious groups and Zionist
terror gangs were nurtured by the
authorities and unleashed against
Palestinian citizens. Among them is the
Temple Mount Faithful whose leader
submitted a proposal on how to speed
up the process of destroying Al Aqsa
and building the «third temple». One day
a week, he gives ‘religious’ lectures near
Al Aqsa under heavy police protection.
On June 12, 1967, the Zionist
authorities issued a number of military
decrees stipulating that the Israeli gov-
ernment has the right to implement
Israeli law on any area under the juris-
diction of its occupation army. As a
result, Israeli law is implemented in
Jerusalem and its suburbs. Included is
regulation number 10 which gives the
right to the followers of any religion to
pray inthe holy places in Jerusalem. The
main object is to impose a situation
which allows the Zionists freedom of
movement, especially on the premises
of Al Aqsa, so as to eventually destroy it
and construct the ‘third temple’.
The campaign of destruction and
provocation has been launched against
Christian and Moslem holy places alike,
in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and 1948
occupied Palestine. For example, the
Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron has been
attacked repeatedly by Zionist settlers.
Shamaa mosque in Gaza was stormed
by settlers, and the pulpit from which the
sheikh leads prayers was destroyed and
thrown outside. Zionists have also taken
to desecrating cemeteries, as in Gaza
where they entered Sheikh Shaaban ce-
metary and broke several tombstones.
Recently a church in Jerusalem was
converted into a night club.
Al Aqsa itself has been subjected to
fifteen separate attacks. The most crimi-
nal of these were: (1)The attempt to burn
it down on August 21, 1969. (2)On May
11, 1980, large quantities of explosives
were discovered hidden near the mos-
que, which the Kach terrorists were
intending to use to blow it up. (3)On April
11, 1982, a Zionist entered the mosque,
spraying those gathered for prayer with
machine gun fire.
In addition to the obvious attacks,
the Department of Archaelogy, which is
part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs,
has been carrying out an even more
destructive plan. Under the pretext of
searching for the first and second tem-
ples, excavations are being carried out
around the Temple Mount. At points
these diggings extend 14 meters below
Al Aqsa mosque. Such excavations
have been going on since 1967, and so
far the Zionists have found no evidence
that the temples ever existed. The exca-
vations do, however, endanger the an-
cient walls and foundations of the mos-
que. They could eventually crumble
because the excavations loosen the
earth on which the structures stand. This
only emphasizes that the main goal is
destruction.
Moreover, plans for constructing
the ‘third temple’ have already been
drawn up and building material pro-
vided. For years, a Zionist settler in
Jerusalem has been operating a factory
which specializes in weaving silk robes
and other items to be worn by Jewish
rabbis who will pray in the ‘third temple’.
Only Israelis are allowed to work in this
factory. Many fund-raising campaigns
have been launched in the US to help
the Zionists finance the building of the
‘third temple’.
All Arab, Islamic and friendly coun-
tries should take a more serious stand
and put a halt to Zionist transgressions
and plans for Judaizing the occupied ter-
ritories. It is no longer sufficient to make
indignant gestures at meetings of the
Jerusalem Committee, or appealing to
‘Israel’ to abide by UN resolutions. Our
Palestinian masses have taken the
initiative to protect Al Aqsa. The Arab
reactionary regimes should do some-
thing less humiliating than issuing sterile
communiques of professed concern. @

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Democratic Palestine : 14

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