Non-Muslims Banned from Flashpoint Jerusalem Shrine
Reuters
Date: 04-07-05
By Jonathan Saul
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel will ban non-Muslims from a sensitive Jerusalem shrine on Sunday amid fears Jewish militants could provoke bloodshed aimed at stalling Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza, officials said on Thursday.
Police have tightened security at the site, revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and by Jews as Temple Mount, to keep out Jewish ultra-nationalists who have vowed to hold a rally there on Sunday.
Palestinian militants have vowed renewed violence, which would break a two-month-old ceasefire, if Jewish nationalists enter the compound.
"We have received warnings in recent days over the Temple Mount. We have no concrete information but we must prevent all possibilities," Israeli Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra told Israel Radio.
"The Temple Mount will be closed to visitors (on April 10). Only Muslims will be allowed to enter," a police spokesman said of the site at the heart of the Middle East conflict. "This is to prevent any confrontations."
"The ... operative decision is to prevent Jews getting to the Temple Mount at this time. This is a sensitive time," Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said on Army Radio.
Organizers said the rally, part of a rightist protest campaign against the Gaza pullout, would go ahead despite the ban, and would get as close to the shrine as possible.
The ancient mosque compound is Islam's third holiest site. It is Judaism's most sacred site, the place where Jews say a biblical Jewish temple was razed by the Romans in 70 A.D.
An attack on the compound's mosques could inflame Muslims worldwide and jeopardise U.S.-backed efforts to revive Middle East peace talks based on the truce and Gaza pullout.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority cabinet said it perceived "escalating threats by Jewish extremist groups to attack the al-Aqsa mosque (in the compound). Any harm to al-Aqsa will mean an attack on both the Arab and Muslim nations."
Sunday is the eve of a meeting in the United States between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush on Middle East issues, including the withdrawal from occupied Gaza.
Palestinians began an uprising in 2000 after Sharon, then Israel's opposition leader, toured the compound in Jerusalem's walled Old City under heavy security.
Israel bars Jewish prayer inside the compound to avoid inflaming tensions with Muslims. But police restored access for Israelis and other non-Muslim visitors in 2003 after a years-long security ban. (Additional reporting by Diala Saadeh in Ramallah)
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