Israel threatens Al-Aqsa: A view from the Muslim side

[Viking]

The feeling of helplessness is very frustrating. The Zionists seem to take any measure that humiliates Muslims and the beseiged Palestinians.

 

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Copyright © 2004 The Daily Star

 

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Israel threatens Al-Aqsa: A view from the Muslim side

 

 

By Ikrima Sabri

 

 

 

 

In June 2004, the then Israeli Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi announced that extremist Jewish groups were planning to destroy the Aqsa mosque either with an unmanned plane filled with explosives or a plane flown by a suicide bomber. The Higher Islamic Commission and other Islamic bodies immediately issued a condemnation and warned that they would hold the Israeli government responsible if any harm befell the mosque.

 

A week later, the same minister said the Israeli government could not guarantee the safety of the mosque against extremist Jewish groups. Again, Muslim organizations condemned the statement, saying that any attack against the mosque could not happen without the help of the Israeli government.

 

The Aqsa mosque is not like other mosques. According to one hadith, or tradition of the Prophet, prayer at Aqsa is worth more than in any other mosque except the mosques in Mecca and Medina. The Aqsa mosque is the focal point for the miracle of the night of ascension, when the Prophet Mohammad traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem and from there ascended to heaven.

 

Thus, the Aqsa mosque occupies a special place in the hearts and minds of Muslims everywhere. What would happen should any extremist succeed in destroying it is hard to predict, except to say that it would unite the Muslims of Palestine with Muslims all over the world in anger, and no one would stand with their hands behind their backs.

 

But these threats are not new. Since the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Islamic waqf, or religious endowment, has been constantly wary of attempts by extremists to harm Al-Aqsa. Most infamous was the fire set to the mosque on Aug. 21, 1969, at the hands of one Michael Dennis Rohan, said to be an Australian national. At the time, the Israeli authorities said he was insane so as to clear him from standing trial and the file was closed.

 

In May 1980, a group of extremist Jews was caught with large amounts of explosives in their possession, apparently planning to dynamite the mosque. In 1983, four armed Jews carrying bags full of explosives were caught trying to break into the ground level corridor leading to the Marwani Mosque in the compound. The guards were able to abort the conspiracy before it was carried out.

 

One year later, on Jan. 26, another group of extremist Jews tried to break into the courtyard carrying three hand grenades and six suitcases full of explosives. Just one day afterward 18 hand grenades and tens of kilograms of explosives were found near the eastern wall of the Mosque. The perpetrators were able to escape through the cemetery near the Rahmeh Gate.

 

But small extremist groups have not posed the only threat. In August 2000, the chief rabbis of Israel formed a religious committee to initiate a project to establish a synagogue inside the Aqsa courtyard. In February 2001, an Israeli professor - Rafael Yisraeli - called on the Israeli government to divide the Aqsa compound between Muslims and Jews as a first phase.

 

In between, of course, on Sept. 29, 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - then opposition leader - entered the Aqsa compound with some 1,500 security personnel. Six people were killed that day in the Aqsa courtyard, and the "visit" resulted in the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa intifada.

 

There have also been other similar incidents involving the Israeli Army. On April 11, 1982, Israeli Army reservist Harry Goldman opened fired on the courtyard and killed two people. Sixty others were wounded, by him and by other soldiers who came to protect him. He was released shortly after his arrest.

 

On Oct. 8, 1990, Israeli forces killed 23 people and injured over 200 in the courtyard. In 1996, during the demonstrations against the opening of the Israeli tunnel that had been dug underneath the compound, the Israeli Army killed another 14 people and dozens were wounded. The tunnel demonstrations occurred because Muslims were fearful of Israeli excavation in and around the compound.

 

Israeli excavations in the Aqsa area began in the 1970s and took the form of tunnels focused on the area adjacent to the outer western wall of the compound. The digging eventually led to several cracks appearing in a number of ancient buildings belonging to the Islamic waqf along the western wall in the area of the Chains, Iron and Qataneen Gates, which date back to the Ayyubid, Mamluk and Ottoman eras respectively.

 

In 1981, Israeli archaeological digs exposed a well in the western courtyard. At the time, the Israeli archeological department claimed the well was actually a tunnel that extended beneath the Dome of the Rock. Within hours, however, the claim was proven false; what the archaeologists had discovered was a well whose stones dated back to the Mamluk period. In 1984, the excavations led to the collapse of the stairs leading to the waqf offices at the Majlis Gate, and in 1988 to the collapse of the corridor leading to the Ghawanmeh Gate.

 

The waqf does not have detailed information on the excavations, because the Israeli occupation authorities have barred access to waqf engineers. We can, however, say for sure that exposing the foundations of the Aqsa Mosque by digging up the ground around it will place the mosque in grave danger. In other words, Al-Aqsa is constantly under threat in one way or another. However, the extremists' threats are of particular concern because they may provide a pretext for international forces to intervene for the sake of internationalizing Jerusalem and "protecting" its holy sites.

 

We reject any internationalization of Jerusalem, just as we reject its Judaization. Internationalization is even more dangerous because this means the world would have control over Jerusalem and would be able to "put their hands" on its holy sites. We already know that the West has control over international bodies and institutions; so therefore, it would take advantage of the new situation to once again return to the Middle East, under the guise of international legitimacy.

 

If this should happen, it would be very difficult for us to resist. Currently we are only up against one party, so the Muslim world needs only to work to end the Israeli occupation.

 

 

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Ikrima Sabri is the mufti of Jerusalem. This commentary was originally published in bitterlemons-international, an online newsletter

[Viking]

The maligning of Islamic civilization in the US

 

 

Caise D. Hassan

 

A disturbing aspect of the Temple Mount Faithful's plans to destroy the Aqsa Mosque is the general tolerance for such actions in the US, a product of the debate about Islamic civilization's "stagnation and backwardness."

 

American debate about the protection of religious sites and groups has spawned efforts to hold accountable those who persecute religious minorities or destroy sacred monuments. Two instances in the 1990s stand out: One was criticism of the Taliban government for destroying an ancient Buddhist statue. American

condemnation here, in part, isolated the Taliban internationally. The US referenced this violation as part of the justification for invading Afghanistan. Another example is the pressure the US exerted on China to end repression of the Tibetan Buddhists. Congressional debate over sanctions on China is tempered only by America's extensive trade with it.

 

The US has the power to pressure the Sharon government to arrest those plotting Aqsa's destruction. The latter have expressed such intents; their philosophical forefathers actually set fire to it. So, what is stopping the US from protecting the mosque?

 

Notwithstanding messianic Christian support for George Bush, an important reason for silence over the threat to al Aqsa is that even mainstream commentators in America see the Islamic world as a monolith of violence, devoid of space that is sacred or significant. I am not referring to polemicists like Ann Coultier, who

argue for the bombing of Muslim holy cities. Opinions that maintain American indifference or hostility toward Islamic settings also come from the likes of Ted Koppel and Dan Rather.

 

Events in the Muslim world reported often in America are the violent ones. In respected outlets, such as CNN and the New York Times, descriptions of Muslims ooze with epithets like "extremist," "fanatic," and "terrorist." Here, Muslims allegedly act only when their blood boils; media, particularly television,

explain this alleged psychosis by photographing Muslims in habitats of extreme deprivation. Americans see images of Muslims in deserts, crowded markets, and tents. These teach the audience that Islamic societies barely have escaped pre-historic times. Why should one care about their shrines?

 

The Islamic high civilization that built the Aqsa mosque and advanced science and art is missing from American consciousness. If Americans assume that Muslim societies are now backwards, they might conclude that the Islamic past is a hindrance to Muslims and not worth preserving.

 

This premise guided the American military in the Iraq wars. American bombs smashed several mosques that were centuries old. Despite pleas from archeological experts to the Pentagon to protect Iraq's cultural treasures, American officers allowed looters to rob Iraq's Islamic and pre-Islamic antiquities. Politicians, academics, and media have raised few resonant

questions about the military's indifference to and destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage.

 

The vulnerability of Aqsa receives even less consideration in American coverage. While journalists worldwide addressed the threat messianic Jews pose to the Haram al Sharif, America's leading daily reported that a vague "threat of violence" made Israel prevent observant Jews from performing their religious

obligations on the Temple Mount. Giving extensive background about the significance of the Holy Site to Judaism, Joseph Berger of the NY Times News Service (7/28/04) does not suggest that the Temple Mount Faithful are a threat.

They "simply wanted to pray" close to the "Temple Site." Ignoring Aqsa's history,

Berger seems to belittle Muslim claims to it; he writes, "While this is among the holiest Islamic sites, it is where Jews believe the temple stood." The presence of mosques is not so valid as a Jewish belief in their claim.

 

Given these perceptions about Islamic civilization, how should an American observer react to the threat posed to the Haram Al Sharif?

 

This indifference to Muslim interests in Jerusalem will endanger both Israel and the United States.

 

As Israeli officials have noted, an attack upon Aqsa could bring Israel into conflict with a billion Muslims worldwide. Certainly, Israeli civilians will bear the brunt of Palestinian Muslim indignation at Aqsa's ruin.

 

The US might experience retaliation for its support of Israel. America's destruction of Iraq in 1991 was one of al Qaeda's reasons for attacking America. Many Muslims did not consider "Desert Storm" a valid reason for such enmity. However, if messianic Jews harm Muslim holy sites with American consent, the US will sink in political quicksand. One possibility is another attack in the US. Another is that Washington's allies in the Muslim world could be deposed. The governments that come to power promising retribution for the loss of Muslim holy sites will make Khomeini's Iran seem like a close ally.

 

Americans of all persuasions, Muslims, and Jews need to add historical depth to the debate about Islam. If the trend continues, an inter-communal conflict in Jerusalem could escalate into a regional war where Jews, Muslims, Christians,

and others at the epicenter of the conflict but who do not hold messianic sentiments will suffer under the weight of others' prejudices and indifference.

 

- Published 2/9/2004 © bitterlemons-international.org

 

 

Caise D. Hassan is a Muslim American writer of Palestinian descent. Hassan is a human rights activists and is currently working on a book on the 1987 intifada.