West Asia: Police storm Temple Mount

By Kesava Menon

MANAMA (BAHRAIN), JULY 29. A wholly unnecessary clash today between Israelis and Palestinians at the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif complex in Jerusalem threatens to further inflame passions all around just when there were signs that the situation could take a turn for the better.

Twenty Palestinians were said to have suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation and 10 Israeli security personnel suffered minor injuries in a stone throwing incident at the complex. The Palestinians were protesting the attempt by a extremist Jewish group to assert what they claim is their exclusive right to the area.

Sunday was the day on the Hebrew calendar when Jews observe the destruction of their Second Temple in 72 AD. A group which calls itself the Temple Mount Faithful have tried to install the foundation stone for a third temple which they hope will eventually come up the ridge of land on which the Muslim holy sites of Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are situated.

Last Wednesday, the Israel judiciary turned down a petition in which the group sought permissions to install the foundation stone inside the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif complex. The court, however, allowed the group to take their stone out for display from the building where it is normally stored. After consultations the Israeli security services allowed the group to display their stone outside but in the vicinity of the Old City walls.

Since yesterday, the Palestinians, indeed the Arab and Muslim world as a whole, have been warning that the action by the Temple Mount Faithful would have grave consequences. The Palestinians had called for a day of rage and both secular and religious wings of the intifada movement had called on their faithful to mass at the Dome/Al Aqsa complex to prevent the Jewish group from carrying out its plans.

Today, the Israeli security forces did stop the Temple Mount Faithful outside the Old City walls and are even reported to have brought forward the stone-displaying ceremony by an hour so as to confuse news camera crews. At the same time, Jewish worshippers were allowed to proceed to the Western Wall which lies at the foot of the Dome/Al Aqsa ridge. Stones were thrown at these worshippers by the Palestinians massed inside the Dome/Al Aqsa complex and the Israeli police fired tear gas shells and later stormed the complex. By mid-afternoon, the Israeli police were said to have gained control of the area.

If nothing else, this episode has shown that authorities on neither side are willing to take that proverbial extra step to calm down the situation. The Israeli Government could argue that the display of a stone by a fringe group on a Jewish holy day at a distance from the place where they want to install it was a harmless gesture. This Israeli coalition is more right-wing than left and it is ruling at a time when a majority of Israelis are completely alienated (to use a very mild term) from the Palestinians. It is also a period when the Jews, like the Arabs, need to show that they have a historic right to the sacred enclosure. But everyone else would have thought that the top-most priority was to do everything possible to calm down the situation and bring a stop to the daily cycle of death.

Ditto for the Palestinians. They too could have dismissed the development as a futile move by a fringe Jewish group. But the Palestinians have become extremely sensitive to any Israeli move in respect of the sacred enclosure especially since the current intifada was sparked off by the then Opposition leader and current Israel Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, by his triumphant swagger through the enclosure on Sept. 28 last year.

The Palestinian leadership, however, did not clarity what they would consider a provocation. Were they upset about the display of a stone, the fact that some Jewish groups actually believe that they might be able to erect a temple on the spot on which the mosques stand at present, or was it a display within the sacred enclosure or its vicinity that they would regard as real provocation.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Next     : Trimble calls for review of Good Friday accord