Jordan Times
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Jordan strongly condemns Jerusalem dig, gov’t protests
KING ABDULLAH ON Tuesday strongly condemned
Israel’s excavation work near an entrance to the Aqsa Mosque compound and said
he was deeply concerned about the Jewish state’s practices against Islamic
shrines in occupied Jerusalem.
“Israel dangerously escalated its practices in the past hours following the
announcement of the digging, which threatens the foundations of the Aqsa,” the
King said in a statement, carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
An Agence France-Presse reporter saw a small bulldozer digging up a path next to
the Magharebah Gate that leads to one of the mosque entrances, near the Western
Wall. And Israeli police stationed reinforcements in the alleyways of the walled
Old City to head off feared violence at the third holiest site in Islam — at the
heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“Jordan will exert all efforts with Arab and international parties to safeguard
Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, in line with the Kingdom’s duty as well as the
peace treaty with Israel,” the Monarch added.
He warned that Israel’s “unacceptable violations” will not contribute to efforts
seeking the revival of the peace process.
The waqf trust said two underground rooms connected to the mosques lie under a
mound, the focus of the works, and that levelling it would threaten the
foundation of the compound.
King Abdullah said he directed the government to urgently contact Israeli
authorities to stop its measures.
Jordanian Ambassador to Israel Ali Ayed said he informed Tel Aviv of Amman’s
strong condemnation of the work.
Ayed said Jordan demanded Israel halt the digging, warning of the “consequences
of such unilateral and irresponsible action which represent a provocation for
the feelings of Muslims around the world”.
Tayseer Tamimi, head of religious courts in the Palestinian territories, said on
Al Jazeera television that “the occupation bulldozers are headed [to the
mosques] to destroy the historic route from Magharebah Gate.”
He urged Palestinians to go immediately to the compound to protect the site from
the Israeli works.
Jerusalem’s mufti, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, also denounced the “aggression”.
Speaking to reporters before leaving the Gaza Strip for talks in Saudi Arabia,
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called on “all the sons of Palestine
to unite and rise up en masse to protect the Aqsa Mosque”.
The compound, which houses both the Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, is where the
second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 following a controversial visit by
then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said there was absolutely no basis for
accusations that holy sites would be harmed.
“The works are not intended to harm any of the holy sites. On the contrary, the
purpose is to maintain the sites because of some erosion that happened in the
past,” she said after talks with her British counterpart Margaret Beckett.
Eleven protesters were arrested in occupied East Jerusalem, but none in the Old
City, the Israeli police said.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians marched to denounce the “Israeli
aggression”, and a similar protest was held in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Islamic Jihad said a rocket attack on southern Israel — which caused no
casualties or damage — was “in response to the criminal Zionist aggression
against the Aqsa Mosque”.
Only a few dozen Palestinians gathered at Magharebah Gate, among them the head
of the Islamic movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah.
“What’s happening here is criminal and it could reach into the depths of the
Aqsa Mosque,” he told reporters.
Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qureia accused the Israeli government of
“playing with fire”, saying in a statement its behaviour could “start a new
Intifada”.
In Cairo, the Arab League voiced its “extreme concern and ire” over the
excavations, and the supreme leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood called on “all
Arabs, Muslims... to express their anger and reject this Zionist crime”.