Muslim Rioting Expected on Temple Mount Sunday

reprinted from Arutz 7
21:25 Feb 03, '07 / 15 Shevat 5767

(IsraelNN.com) The High Muslim Council issued a call Saturday to Muslims, asking them to come Sunday morning to "protect" the Temple Mount from "incursions by the Jews, who seek to remove the holy mosques," a statement by the group said. They called on Muslims to gather at the Mugrabi entrance to the Temple Mount, adjacent to the Kotel.

In order to enable easier access to the Temple Mount, Israel has been mulling the construction of a bridge, instead of the steps going up from the Kotel Plaza. The Council said that the bridge was an Israeli ruse to expand the Plaza, and said that Muslims "would defend the Mugrabi entrance with their lives."

Temple Mount Closed to Non-Muslims Sunday

reprinted from The Jerusalem Post
Feb. 3, 2007 23:08

by Etgar Lefkovits

The Temple Mount will be closed to non-Muslim visitors on Sunday and police will restrict the entry of Arabs for the day, after Islamic leaders accused Israel of carrying out an excavation at the holy site, police said.

The unusual weekday restrictions come after Muslim leaders calls on Arabs to visit the site en masse in response to Israeli excavation work near the Mughrabi Gate.

All Arab men under the age of 45 will be barred from the site due to security concerns, police said, with only those above 45 with Israeli ID cards - as well as women of any age - allowed into the ancient compound.

Israeli archaeologists are currently carrying out a salvage excavation adjacent to the Temple Mount due to the planned construction of a new bridge to the Mughrabi Gate after the old bridge was removed due to safety concerns.

The Temple Institute website is an ongoing project of the International Department of the Temple Institute, Jerusalem, Israel.
Web site hosting and programming copyright ©2000-2012, graciously provided by Electric Scribe (SM).

Web site contents, including all text and images, copyright ©1991-2012, The Temple Institute.
Reproduction in any form whatsoever, for any purpose, is strictly forbidden without written permission of the copyright holder.