Will Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque be Destroyed Soon?
Occupied Jerusalem: After having come back from his visit to the United States on 26 February 1997, the Israeli Premier Benyamin Netanyahu took a serious decision to build a new settlement on Abu Ghneim hill in Jerusalem, which action was described by the late King Hussein of Jordan as the last of its kind as told to him by the Israeli premier. This settlement is one in a continuing series of colonies built since the Israeli aggression began on 5 June 1967 and meant to encircle the city in an effort on their part to Judaize Jerusalem. Through this plan, Israel seeks to reinforce its capture of the city and isolate it from the other cities in order to impose new geographical and demographic facts to change the cultural and demographic features of the holy city.
The reinforcement of these procedures in the city must not make us forget the serious excavations under the Holy Mosque of Al-Aqsa, which came dangerously close to collapsing, especially with the continued Israeli attempts to rebuild their so-called third Temple (al-Haykal) on the ruins of Al-Aqsa. The following revealed hints and implications indicating this plan should not be forgotten:
1. The gift presented to the head of the Greek Church, Archbishop Maxim Soloum, on 29 December 1996, which was a silver statue of Jerusalem minus Al-Aqsa and replaced by the Temple.
2. Israeli TV broadcast a documentary showing that Al-Aqsa would soon collapse as the result of an earthquake which will strike the area within two years. Moreover, the excavations will help in this process, having already weakened its foundations, and because geologists have confirmed that the area is one of the most active for earthquakes to take place.
3. The publication of a new book in occupied Palestine entitled, The Daydreams, in which Israeli writers presented four hypotheses to destroy Al-Aqsa and rebuild their Temple.
4. Some extremist Israelis indicated that the birth of the Red Cow, as it was described in the Bible, in a colony near Haifa, was a Heavenly sign that the rebuilding of the third Temple in Jerusalem has come nearer. Although they consider it a miracle, they have to wait until the Cow becomes three years old, then they will start to build their Temple.
5. Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, the mayor of Um Al-Fahem, revealed that a Jewish attempt to enter Al-Marwani Mosque, located in the eastern basement of Al-Aqsa, was stopped through a gate in the south wall of Al-Aqsa in the last week of Ramadan.
6. In another escalation, the office of the premier allowed the Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa under the pretext that this has never been prohibited. In addition, this move was synchronized with the building of the new settlement on Abu Ghneim and the continued excavations under Al-Aqsa, which began with the Israeli occupation in 1967. In this context, a video prepared by Sheikh Ra’ed Salah and Najeh Bkeirat, the chief of the Islamic Heritage Committee, showed that several tunnels under Al-Aqsa were threatening to collapse its foundations. One of these tunnels starts in the southwest of Al-Aqsa along with the west wall, 4 metres away, at a height of 6-9 metres and a distance of 30 metres. It ends with small stones which have been recently built and could be removed easily. Consequently, it will be quite easy to enter the heart of the holy mosque. The largest tunnel lies under the so-called Single Door (al-Mefred), while the other two tunnels lie under the Double Door. Both of them lead to the eastern basement under Al-Aqsa. Therefore, the excavations on the western and southern sides of Al-Aqsa and Bab Al-Rahma Cemetery have led to the following:
i) The removal of more than 100 tombs and shrines of the Prophet’s Companions and Followers in the cemetery located west of Al-Aqsa.
ii) There were several cracks and collapses in the walls of Al-Aqsa, especially on the south wall, which the documentary tape revealed that the Jews were using it as a place to store their papers, including their hymns and carols, as part of their rituals. This means that they have started using it the same way they do the Wailing Wall (Al-Buraq), and they intend to change it into a place for their prayers as occurred with Al-Buraq wall previously.
iii) Changing the features of the area around the Mosque, in addition to the intensive building boom, which could be considered as part of building the third Temple. Moreover, the Israeli Archeology Authority is building a rest house (a bar) near the windows of Al-Aqsa Holy Mosque, and this bar could be a place for lovers and displaying vices openly.
Jewish Scenarios to Destroy Al-Aqsa and Build the Temple
A book entitled, The Daydreams, has been recently published in Palestine in which the writers adopted four possible scenarios concerning the future of Al-Aqsa. The first scenario calls for the building of 10 columns representing the Ten Commandments near the west wall of Al-Aqsa and its height would reach the yard of the Dome of the Rock. The second theory is quite similar to the first in that it calls for rebuilding the third Temple vertically near the west wall of the Mosque so it will be higher than the Mosque itself and will be connected to the internal yard of Al-Aqsa. The third adopts the notion of architectural transfer, which suggests digging a very deep spiral path around the Dome of the Rock which could be transferred outside the city in order to build the third Temple on its location. Finally, the fourth theory appeals for rebuilding the third Temple on the ruins of Al-Aqsa in general, and this theory has a lot of future imaginary concepts. We have mentioned in an article published in August of 1995 that there are seven various organizations preparing for the rebuilding of the third Temple. The first one has already prepared the geometric and architectural designs, the second has already prepared the special stones, the third has prepared the décor and interior designs, the fourth will prepare the special costumes to be worn in the Temple, and the fifth is collecting funds to finance the building. Meanwhile, Sheikh Ekremeh Sabri, one of the preachers of Al-Aqsa, mentioned in one of his orations on the second Friday of Ramadan that a Jewish organization had warned him that Al-Aqsa would soon be pulled down in order to build the third Temple.
The Declaration Concerning the Path under Al-Aqsa
The Israeli daily paper, Yediot Ahrenout, revealed in its 21 March 1997 issue that the Israeli forces had carried out new excavations under Al-Aqsa in order to find a path which had been the main entrance for the Temple 2,000 years ago. The Israeli sources indicated that this ancient path was discovered accidentally one week before during the excavations carried out by the city municipality under Al-Buraq yard near the western and southern walls of Al-Aqsa under the pretext of working on sewage networks.
Consequently, the municipality stopped the excavations at a depth of 4 metres and called some experts from the archeology department whose general director Amir Dury claimed that the underground discovered path belonged to the era of the second Temple, and it was one of the main roads crossing Jerusalem north-south adjacent to the west wall of Al-Aqsa.
The Birth of a Red Cow is Celebrated as a Sign of Rebuilding the Temple
The extremist Jews received the birth of a red cow as a holy sign that the rebuilding of the third Temple is imminent. This was confirmed by a group of Jewish rabbis when a red cow was born six month ago in a kibbutz for the extremists near Haifa because the cow has the characteristics of the holy cow mentioned in the Bible. According to the Old Testament, the red cow without any spots is essential for the purity of the Jewish rituals and so this cow will be slaughtered and burned, then its ashes will be turned to liquid to be used in a religious ceremony which should take place before the rebuilding of the third Temple in the place of Al-Aqsa. The extremists claimed that no red cow has been born since the second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, so the birth of the red cow has been considered a miracle which will enable them to enter the holy shrine in Jerusalem. However, they have to wait until this cow becomes three years old, at which time they can start rebuilding the third Temple. Yahuda Atzion, a member of the gang which attempted to blow up the Dome of the Rock in 1985, said that they had been waiting for this miracle from God for 2,000 years but they have already been granted a red cow by God.
Permission for the Jews to Pray in Al-Aqsa
In a reply letter which was sent recently by Sham’oun Stien, the legal consultant of the Israeli premier, to Yesrael Medad, the chief of the Temple Mount Group, he wrote that as far as he knows the Jews have the right to pray in the Temple Mount, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they have never been forbidden to do so. Consequently, he addressed the chief of the city police forces, Major-General Ya’eir Yetshaky, to allow the Jews to perform prayers and rituals quietly and peacefully with the full coordination with the police forces in Jerusalem, as reported by Ha’aretz.
Source: http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/am/publish/article_31.shtml
