Closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque

[+OverSword]

From the article:

Israel's closure of the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound to all visitors following the shooting of a Jewish hardliner is tantamount to a "declaration of war," Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Thursday.

"This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina quoted him as saying.

"We hold the Israeli government responsible for this dangerous escalation in Jerusalem that has reached its peak through the closure of the Al-Aqsa mosque this morning," he told AFP.

The compound houses Islam's third holiest site, but is also the most sacred spot for Jews who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it once housed two Jewish temples.

Although non-Muslims can visit the site, Jews are not allowed to pray there for fear it could disturb the fragile status quo.

"This decision is a dangerous act and a blatant challenge that will lead to more tension and instability and will create a negative and dangerous atmosphere," he said.

"The state of Palestine will take all legal measures to hold Israel accountable and to stop these ongoing attacks."

Israel ordered the compound closed to all visitors, both Jewish and Muslim, early on Thursday after an overnight shooting incident in which a man on a motorbike tried to gun down an ultranationalist Jewish activist who has long worked to secure Jewish prayer rights at the Al-Aqsa plaza.

Several hours later, police stormed the house of the suspected Palestinian gunman, sparking a gunfight in which he was killed.

Link

[ellapenella]

So it is the Temple Mount ?

[ellapenella]

I wasn't totally aware of the name the Muslims call it after they took it from ???I don't know. Some of the Holy places there are not Islamic , but have been built over the true foundation which was Christian and Jewish foundation...

[+OverSword]

So it is the Temple Mount ?

And supposedly the rock within is the rock that Abraham was supposed to kill his son on but God told him he would father a great nation and said he shouldn't sacrifice his son.

I think the Muslims hold it as holy because the rock is where Gabriel took Mohamed in ethereal form on his only visit to Jerusalem.

Edited October 30, 2014 by OverSword

[ellapenella]

The Middle East is having some trying times right now. I don't know what's gonna happen , globally.

[ellapenella]

And supposedly the rock within is the rock that Abraham was supposed to kill his son on but God told him he would father a great nation and said he shouldn't sacrifice his son.

I think the Muslims hold it as holy because the rock is where Gabriel took Mohamed in ethereal form on his only visit to Jerusalem.

Yeah. They have a black stone in the basement of it, or the original foundation ??? I wonder if it's a meteorite ? Isn't that something , if you're familiar with the story of Abraham you'll know that it was like the ultimate test of his faith in God before the angel stopped him .And so the God of Abraham is Christian and Jewish foundation...I know the Jews want the Temple Mount back , don't know if they'll get it back though ....

[keithisco]

I believe that this is the place where Mohammed ascended into heaven. I am not sure, but fairly confident of this. Personally , I think it is a lot of supernatural nonsense that has kept the world at war for millennia... just my opinion

[libstaK]

Here's an article including some factoids on the Temple Mount

http://edition.cnn.c....html?hpt=hp_t1

Rabbinic sages say that God gathered dust from the spot to create Adam, the first man, before setting him loose in the Garden of Eden.

Jewish tradition holds that the Temple Mount also contains Mount Moriah, where Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, is said to have nearly sacrificed his son -- under God's orders -- before an angel intervened.

Later, Israeli King Solomon constructed the first Jewish temple on the mount, including the Holy of Holies, a room that kept the Ark of the Covenant, which was said to contain the tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments.

Muslims believe that the Prophet Mohammed was carried on a flying steed from Mecca to the Jerusalem site during his miraculous Night Journey, said Muqtedar Khan, an expert on Islam and politics at the University of Delaware.

Muslims are planning are March in protest to the site - this is not going to go well.

Edited October 30, 2014 by libstaK

[Ogbin]

Muslims are planning are March in protest to the site - this is not going to go well.

Never does.

[+and-then]

Yeah. They have a black stone in the basement of it, or the original foundation ??? I wonder if it's a meteorite ? Isn't that something , if you're familiar with the story of Abraham you'll know that it was like the ultimate test of his faith in God before the angel stopped him .And so the God of Abraham is Christian and Jewish foundation...I know the Jews want the Temple Mount back , don't know if they'll get it back though ....

The black stone (Kabaa) is a piece of a meteorite and it is in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They built a huge black cube structure around it so they can worship. Funny, considering they don't believe in worshiping idols. Anyway, the Jews absolutely regain the place of their original temple(s) - they even build a third. No idea when it happens but in the world today changes come very fast indeed sometimes.

[Thorvir]

Anything Israel does is tantamount to a "declaration of war" to these terrorist fanatics. Geez.

[SHaYap]

Did Jews Abandon the Temple Mount?

by F.M. Loewenberg

Middle East Quarterly

• Middle East Quarterly link
  

Al-Aqsa Mosque

• wiki link
  

[Ogbin]

Hamas claimed responsibility for a car ramming terror attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday in which a Palestinian man drove his car into pedestrians, killing a border policeman and injuring more than a dozen other people.

The Islamist terror organization, which rules the Gaza Strip, also called for a third intifada in Jerusalem.

Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri tweeted a message of support for the attack.

“We join hands with those who avenge the blood of those injured in al-Aqsa,” he wrote, referring to the Temple Mount enclosure.

The Islamic Jihad terror group described the attack as “heroic” and said it was the response of the Palestinian people to continued attacks on the al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel Radio reported.

Palestinian Ma’an news agency identified the terrorist as 48-year-old Ibrahim al-Akary, from Shuafat in East Jerusalem.

Police said the driver plowed into several pedestrians at a light rail station on the corner of Bar Lev and Shimon Hatzadik streets, close to the Border Police headquarters on Route 1, and then continued driving along the tracks, hitting several cars along the way until finally crashing to a halt.

Akary got out of his commercial van and began attacking a group of policemen with a metal bar before Border Police at the scene shot and killed him.

Hamas’s Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades tweeted out pictures it said showed the man, who it called Akazi, one of which showed him lying on the ground after being shot.

The attacker’s brother, Musa Muhammad al-Akary, served 19 years in an Israeli prison for the 1992 kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Nissim Toledano. He was released in the 2011 deal that freed IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity, and was expelled to Turkey.

The incident came amid increasing violence in East Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount as security forces clash with Palestinian rioters.

On Wednesday the site was briefly closed after Palestinians attacked police with rocks and fireworks. Police dispersed the masked rioters near the Mughrabi Gate to the compound with methods including stun grenades, a police spokesman told The Times of Israel.

Israel Radio reported that police chased the rioters into the al-Aqsa Mosque. Police took the rare measure of entering several meters into the mosque, where they saw a stash of stones, bottles, and Molotov cocktails that the demonstrators had prepared.

By Stuart Winer

The Times of Israel