PM calls urgent
meeting on Temple Mount construction
By Nadav Shragai
Ha'aretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ehud Barak has ordered a meeting in his office to discuss
security arrangements on the Temple Mount in the wake of protests against
construction work being carried out there by the Muslim Waqf (religious trust).
The meeting will address recommendations made by the Shin Bet and by
Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein to close the Temple Mount gates to any
further construction materials and heavy equipment such as tractors and trucks.
They also pushed to halt the development and improvements under way between
Solomon's Stables and the Mercy (ZZ:Golden ) Gate until the Waqf agrees to
coordinate its activities with the Antiquities Authority.
The meeting was originally called for yesterday, but was postponed, and will
take place today or tomorrow. The attorney-general's office refused to comment.
The Shin Bet also warned the prime minister of dangerous right-wing activity in
light of the work on the mount. The warning stated that the absence of
limitations on the building and development the Waqf is performing is stirring
up anger among groups dedicated to wresting the Temple Mount from Muslim hands.
They fear these groups might try to break into the Temple Mount area to protest
the construction on what many rabbis believe is the site of the ancient
Temple's courtyard.
The Shin Bet also warned of long-term Islamic movement plans to seize some of
the Eastern parts of the mount as additional prayer areas.
The pace of work has increased over the past two days along the eastern wall of
the Temple Mount, and trucks bringing building materials in and dug-up earth
out have been circulating, up and down the Kidron Valley. The Antiquities
Authority has not been allowed to supervise, despite Haim Ramon's announcement
last week of partial archaeological supervision of the Temple Mount work.
Poet Haim Gouri, a member of the committee for the protection of Temple Mount
antiquities, called on UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization, to get involved in the goings-on on the mount.
"The treasures buried in this land," Gouri said, "especially on
the Temple Mount, are both our history and theirs. We cannot be irresponsible
with this land. The minimum required here is to treat the place with respect.
This is not a political issue. Left and right have joined forces, people from
all colors of the rainbow. I cannot recall, since this state was founded, so
widespread an opinion as that sparked by the committee for protection of
antiquities on the mount."
"The Temple Mount is unique in the world," Gouri pleaded. "It
stands at the center of incredible tensions, but is also the center of
unbelievable treasures and national and religious traditions. It must be
treated with respect and civility, and not disrespect and barbarism. The situation
at this moment is intolerable."
The Mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Supreme Islamic Council, Sheikh Arama
Tsabari, emphasized in his last Friday sermon in the Al Aqsa mosque that the
Waqf has never asked permission from anyone to renovate the Temple Mount, and
does not intend to start now.