Muslims say Israel to raze suburban Jerusalem mosque
Reuters
Date: 05-31-05
By Cynthia Johnston
JERUSALEM, May 31 (Reuters) - Israel plans to demolish a building in Arab East Jerusalem that Palestinians say holds a newly refurbished mosque but which Israeli officials call an illegal structure they do not recognise as a house of prayer.
The move angered Muslims who see it as an assault on Islam in the holy city. An Arabic sign outside the disputed building identifies it as the Badr mosque. Inside, Muslim prayer mats cover the floor of an open hall, fronted with domed windows.
An Israeli spokesman for the city of Jerusalem said on Tuesday the building would be razed because it was built without a permit, and denied it was a recognised mosque.
"We are not going to demolish any mosque," he said, adding that a date for the demolition was not yet set. "We are going to demolish a structure that is not completed."
Muslim groups expressed outrage at the planned demolition in East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed in a move not recognised internationally.
The status of Jerusalem is among the most sensitive issues in decades of Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israel regards the entire city as its indivisible capital, while Palestinians want the Arab eastern part as capital of a future state.
"It is a political issue," said Adnan al-Husseini, director of the Palestinian Waqf, or department of Islamic religious endowments. "This is a mosque built between houses. It is not in the desert or in the middle of the street."
An Israeli-Arab religious foundation, the al-Aqsa Association for the Preservation of Islamic Holy Sites, also condemned the plan.
"We consider decisions like this as consecration of a policy of religious oppression and a violation of the sanctity of mosques and holy sites," the group said in a statement.
BUILT ILLEGALLY?
At the site, workers stood on wooden scaffolding putting final touches on the stone face of the single storey structure, which is attached to a larger residential building in a suburban Arab neighbourhood.
The building was being restored not by the Waqf, the official caretaker of Muslim sites, but by volunteer neighbourhood workers who wanted a better place to pray. The workers said the mosque was built by residents years ago.
A green cardboard sign outside read: "Why are you destroying a Muslim mosque?"
Part of the dispute stems over how old the building really is. Palestinian volunteer workers at the site said they were restoring an older mosque -- putting in stone walls, removing rubbish and reinforcing the ceiling, which had leaked in winter.
Israel says the building is fresh illegal construction, not yet finished.
"The municipality's policy is to exterminate illegal construction all over Jerusalem, which hurts law and order, puts a heavy burden on taxpayers and damages the quality of life for all the people of Jerusalem," the city said in a statement.
It said it had demolished 22 buildings in East Jerusalem in 2005 and that the demolition decision could be appealed. Palestinians and rights groups say building permits are nearly impossible for Arabs to obtain, and many build without them.
The Israeli human rights group B'tselem says Israeli housing demolitions have increased in East Jerusalem since the start in 2000 of a Palestinian revolt in the West Bank and Gaza, citing anecdotal evidence and reports from field workers.
Source
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. |
|