Palestinians Form Peaceful Human Shield to Protect Al-Aqsa Mosque, Revava Vows to Storm Muslim Holy Site Again on May 9

11/04/2005

Palestine Media Center – PMC

The ultra-fundamentalist Jewish group Revava vowed it would try again to hold a ten-thousand rally on May 9 at Islam’s third holiest site, al-Haram al-Sharif of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied Jerusalem after thousands of Palestinian Muslim worshippers flocked in a peaceful mass human shield to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and thwarted a similar attempt on Sunday.

Thousands of Palestinian Muslims, backed by senior members of the Palestine National Authority (PNA), Hamas and other religious and anti-occupation faction leaders, formed a mass human shield on a Sunday vigil at Al Aqsa Mosque to thwart any possible threat to the holy site from Jewish ultra-fundamentalists.

Palestinians had begun gathering at the mosque the night before, with a few thousands of them sleeping inside the compound for its protection, amid fears that Jewish fundamentalists were trying to provoke a confrontation at the site.

The Islamic compound of al-Haram al-Sharif shelters the Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque) as well as the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jews claim the compound is the site of the Jewish temple, the holiest shrine in Judaism, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Intensive Israeli archeological excavations under the compound since the Jewish state occupied east Jerusalem in 1967 found nothing to prove the claim the temple was built on the site.

Thousands of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) encircled Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday to keep the Jewish fundamentalists out, sealed off al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) and blocked all approaches to the Islamic shrine.

They strictly restricted the access of Palestinians to the compound and banned non-Muslims from entering the al-Haram al-Sharif.

Brief clashes broke out between IOF police and soldiers as more Palestinians tried to enter the compound. Smoke bombs were fired at Palestinians, injuring a dozen of them, and one IOF policeman on horseback was also slightly injured during stone-throwing.

Palestinian minister without portfolio Hind Khuri, who was among the protesters at al-Aqsa, criticized the IOF police for barring the entrance.

“We are not threatening anyone, it is only the (Jewish) settlers who are coming with dangerous message,” she told AFP. “It is almost a sin not to allow Palestinians to go to their holy sites.”

Hasan Yousef, Hamas’ political leader in the West Bank, slipped into the Jerusalem shrine on Sunday to demonstrate resolve against the Jewish fundamentalists.

“Al-Aqsa is in danger,” Yousef declared, adding: “The dream of the (Jewish) extremists is to destroy Al-Aqsa and to build the temple, so we appeal to all Arabs and the entire Muslim world to protect Al-Aqsa.”

Yousef appealed to the crowds to avoid any direct confrontation with the occupation police. “We have come here to support the Al-Aqsa mosque and to defend our holy sites. Muslim and Christian holy places need our protection,” he said in an address by loudspeaker.

IOF police briefly arrested Yousef as he left the shrine for questioning.

Carmi Gilon, former head of the Israeli Shin Bet security service, said that in the event of a Jewish attack on the compound, Israel would find itself at war with the entire Muslim world. “Of all the means ... of stopping disengagement, no doubt the Temple Mount is the doomsday weapon,” he told Israel Radio.

A provocative visit to the site in September 2000 by then-opposition leader Ariel Sharon sparked the Al-Aqsa Intifada that escalated into more than four years of violence.

Only a few dozen of Jewish fundamentalists showed up Sunday, and at least 30 of them, including Revava leader Israel Cohen, were briefly arrested. Four right-wing Israeli legislators were prevented from entering the shrine.

Revava Offshoot of Banned Terrorist Group Kach

“Revava” announced plans to organize a 10,000-strong session at the Muslim compound on Sunday April 10. “Revava” is a biblical word that means 10,000.

The group stated openly that their goal is to storm the Islamic site in July, when thousands of Israeli police and soldiers are in the Gaza Strip to evacuate 8,000 settlers — forcing Israel’s leaders to pull the forces from Gaza, send them to Jerusalem and, in that way, stop the pullout. The Sunday protest, they said, was just a test.

The group is trying to inflame tensions with Palestinians at al-Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem, allegedly in an attempt to prevent Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from carrying out his unilateral plan to “disengage” Israeli troops and more than 8,000 illegal Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip.

Revava is linked to the Kach Jewish terrorist group that was banned by Israel when the Jewish American-Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein masterminded and took part in the February 25th 1994 massacre of 29 Palestinian Muslim worshippers while they were praying at al-Haram al-Ibrahimi in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Revava is dedicated to rebuilding the Third Jewish Temple on the Muslim compound. The group is led by Israel Cohen who lives in the illegal Jewish colony of “Gosh Ezion” south of Jerusalem.

“These groups are not joking. They unshakably believe that the year 2005 will see the establishment of the third temple at God’s orders,” Nihad Al-Sheikh Khalil, a researcher in Israeli affairs, told IslamOnline.net.

“Though few in numbers, these groups can translate their words into action since they are backed by the influential Israeli right-wing, which grows stronger day in and day out.”

Revava said on its website that posters and nylon signs are being put up in cities across Israel, and thousands of fliers have been distributed among the Israelis to rally a big march.

“In spite of intense police pressure and an official announcement that they will not allow a mass ascent to the Temple Mount, we are proceeding normally in our preparations for the historic event which is to take place as planned,” the extremist group vowed in an online statement.

Former Mossad Chief Warns Against ‘Jewish Coup’

Meanwhile, the former head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency said that Israel faces the danger of a coup by “religious troops” if it does not stop far-right rabbis from preaching mutiny.

Danny Yatom, who headed Mossad from 1996 to 1998 and now serves as a lawmaker for the pro-pullout Labor party, said he saw the seeds of full-blown rebellion.

“There are too many rabbis calling for orders to be disobeyed en masse -- effectively, a mutiny. If there are enough soldiers willing to put such edicts ahead of the army, it will cause a crisis that could lead to a coup,” Yatom told Reuters.

He said Israel should learn from the failed attempt by French hardliners to engineer a coup against President Charles de Gaulle and scupper the 1962 withdrawal from Algeria.

“We can only hope that in Israel there are enough people with the maturity to resist the messianic pull of radical rabbis,” Yatom added.