Tuesday 29 September 2009

Israel Deliberately Escalating Tensions in Occupied J’lem”


Israel Deliberately Escalating Tensions in Occupied J’lem”
Readers Number : 129

28/09/2009 Palestinian leaders warned Israel on Sunday not to stoke tension in occupied Jerusalem in the hope of thwarting peace talks, after clashes at a sacred site in which Palestinians and Israeli police were injured.

"At a time when [U.S.] President [Barack] Obama is trying to bridge the divide between Palestinians and Israelis, and to get negotiations back on track, Israel is deliberately escalating tensions in (occupied) Jerusalem," chief Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erakat said Sunday evening.

"We've seen this before, and we know what the consequences are," the Palestinian minister added, in a statement that recalled the visit of then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the site in occupied Jerusalem's Old City in 2000.

Sharon's presence at al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, triggered the second Palestinian uprising (intifada) and dealt the biggest setback to peace efforts in years.

According to legislator Hathem Abdel Kader and other Palestinian sources, the clash erupted in the early morning when Palestinians inside the complex - sacred to both Islam and Judaism - saw a group of 15 Israeli extremists trying to enter.

The extremists never managed to get into the complex, because several hundred Palestinians, who were on alert for such a possibility, began a loud protest. Israeli police responded with tear gas then stun grenades.

Sixteen Palestinians have been injured and another seven detained after Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said two Israeli policemen were also injured in the confrontation. At dawn, extremist Israeli groups declared their intention to attack the Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of the 'Day of Atonement' Jewish Yom Kippur.

The police entered after Israeli settlers and Zionist groups attempted to force entry to a part of the complex they call Temple Mount. Other Israeli settler-activist extremist groups also gathered at the Hetta and Majlis gates.

Israeli police claimed the clashes began when religious Palestinians angered by immodestly dressed tourists grew violent. Palestinians dismissed that account, saying no tourists were involved. There was no further comment from Israeli authorities, who were observing the Yom Kippur silence.

"Providing a police escort for settlers who are against peace at all costs, and whose presence is deliberately designed to provoke a reaction, are not the actions of someone who is committed to peace, but of someone who will go to extraordinary lengths to scuttle all hopes of peace," Erakat said.

He said it was "deliberately timed to coincide with the eve of the anniversary of that visit" by a government "emboldened by its ability to fend off calls for a settlement freeze".

The complex is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary). Located above the Jewish prayer site at the Western Wall, it includes al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock mosque.

In Muslim tradition, the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from the rock at the centre of what is now the Dome of the Rock shrine. The gilded dome sits over the spot where Jews believe Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac to God before an angel stayed his hand.

OIC CHIEF CONDEMNS ISRAELI EXTREMISTS’ INCURSION
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, expressed his vigorous condemnation of the incursion by Israeli extremists under the protection of Israeli occupation forces into the courtyard of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Ihsanoglu indicated that the escalation of attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of a judaization campaign that targets the holy city of Al-Quds and is a provocation of Muslim feelings. He warned against the dangerous ramifications likely to emanate from such grave attacks on the sanctities of Muslims.

The Secretary General called upon the international community to exert pressure on Israel and coerce it to put an end to its violations and comply with the provisions of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

AL DENOUNCES ISRAELI AGGRESSION, SEEKS TO FORM AN INTERNATIONAL INVESTIGATION COMMITTEE
Moreover, Arab League denounced on Sunday the brutal aggression on Al-Aqsa Mosque by the Israeli settlers, calling on the International Security Council and UN Secretary-General to immediately intervene to stop the dangerous violation committed by the Israeli occupation forces.

A statement by Palestine and the Occupied Arab lands Section at the Arab League stressed that the Israeli security forces facilitated the arrival of many of the Zionist extremists to Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, particularly Bab of al-Maghariba. It added that the Israeli occupation suppressed the Jerusalemites who fought against this dangerous violation, injured a big number of them and arrested others.

For his part, Arab League Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and the Occupied Arab Lands Affairs Mohammad Sbeih said that the Arab League and the member countries will seek to form an international investigation committee to uncover the Israeli crimes of stealing the organs of the Palestinian martyrs. Sbeih stressed in a statement to the press the necessity of expanding the authority of this committee to investigate into the assassination of the martyrs whose bodies are detained by Israel in cemeteries.

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