Full of fanatics

Somewhat more detailed information about the Jewish fanatics at al-Aqsa Mosque.

More than 200 Jewish fanatics on Wednesday morning stormed the holy Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and offered Talmudic rituals on the anniversary of the so-called destruction of the temple.

The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage said in a statement that the Jews spread in various areas of the holy compound and roamed its plazas while performing those rituals under the full protection of Israeli occupation police.

Uh huh. I see.

These Jewish "fanatics" appear to have plenty of support.

RAMALLAH: A news survey conducted by the Israeli Ynet news service and the Gesher organization found that about two thirds of the Israeli public want the Second Temple rebuilt. Gesher claims a 4.6 margin of error on a survey of 516 Israelis.

The Temple Mount, which is the foundation of the First and Second temples is today home to Islam’s third-holiest mosque, Al-Aqsa. The Second Temple, built by Herod the Great, was destroyed in 70 A.D. when the Romans sacked Jerusalem.

Sixty-four percent responded favorably to the question of rebuilding the temple commissioned by Herod the Great, while 36 percent responded negatively.

Among the practicing and orthodox Jewish Israelis, virtually all respondents wanted to see the Second Temple rebuilt.

Just under half of secular Israelis — 47 percent — also said they would like to see Herod’s Temple rebuilt.

Eighty percent of respondents said it was “justified” to mark what many Jews consider the saddest day of their history (the destruction of the temple) by rebuilding the temple.

The deputy chief of the Islamic Movement inside Israel Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib asserted that the temple would never be rebuilt.

“If the Jews think that their mourning will end and they will rejoice by destroying Al-Aqsa Mosque and building their temple, we say to them that their dream will not be fulfilled and they will continue to mourn,” he told Arab News yesterday. “Al-Aqsa is for Muslims only.”

Control over Jerusalem, which Israel captured during the June 1967 War, has been seen as the most sensitive and thorniest issue of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Palestinians are seeking to set up a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, including Palestinian sovereignty over the city’s holy sites on the Temple Mount.

But the Jewish state says the city is its eternal capital.

The United States also supports this policy. US President Barack Obama stated publicly last year that he does not support a divided Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said recently: “The three major religions of the world exist in peace, have access to all their sites, only because Jerusalem is united and under Israeli rule.”

And there's all this secrecy about the tunnels.

The Silwan project has aroused similar suspicions, in part because people are not allowed to see the tunnel, but primarily because the work is being funded by the Ir David Foundation, an Israeli settler group.

..."If it is an archaeological site and not a settlement, if it is a tourist site, then why can't we go and see it? Why can't anyone see it?" Ahmed Qarain, 37, a local resident asks.

The IAA has refused to allow anyone from the neighborhood or the media to see the northern section of the tunnel, and declined several requests from AFP to comment on how much of it has been excavated.

Officials there gave no reason for the ban, other than to say the work was in progress. However, they promised that the media would be invited once the project is completed. [wink wink wink!]

..."This is the most important place in the world for the Jewish people. We have been waiting for 2,000 years to come back to this area," says Doron Spielman, a senior foundation executive.

..."You start wondering what is happening when they change the names of places," Qarain says. "This is Silwan, but they call it Ir David. We know this street as Wadi Helwa Siyam, but they put up signs calling it Maale David."

Fanatic settlers digging secret tunnels under the mosque and storming the premises to conduct Talmudic rituals under the protection of the IOF and with the support of two thirds of the Israeli public!??!! As part of a nefarious plot to control Jerusalem and all of Israel and actually, the world?!?!?

Inconceivable.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - Inigo Montoya