Re: Let the observers statistically analyze the Palestinian loss of life in the same manner that they divide up Israeli casualties (2 to 1 ratio between civilian and soldier casualties),....
Indeed, let the observers statistically analyze the death toll's breakdown:
Sharon for Jews to access Jerusalem mosque
JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered Israel's security services to find ways to let Jews visit the Jerusalem mosque compound, the bitterly disputed shrine where the six-month-old Palestinian uprising broke out, Sharon's office said on Thursday.
"The prime minister has given instructions to different security services to find an adequate way (to apply) the right to visit the Temple Mount," as Jews call the site, Sharon's office said in a statement.
Sharon "defends the principle of every religion having the right of access to the Temple Mount," the statement said.
The Palestinian uprising, or intifada, broke out September 28 when Sharon, then Israel's right-wing opposition leader, made a high-profile visit to the mosque compound, which Muslims consider their third holiest site.
Ensuing Israeli-Palestinian clashes, mostly in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, have since claimed 468 lives: 383 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs, 71 Jews and other Israelis and a German [a medic killed by Israeli shellfire].
Israeli police, fearing trouble, generally bar Jews from praying inside the mosque compound, whose day-to-day administration is run by the Waqf, a Palestinian body charged with the Muslim community's welfare.
Muslims believe the compound, which includes both the al-Aqsa mosque and the golden Dome of the Rock, is where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to Heaven.
The compound was built on top of the remains of the last Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Its last remnant, the Western or Wailing Wall below the mount, is considered Judaism's holiest site.
Sharon's office published its statement after an extremist group called the Temple Mount Faithful protested to the Israeli Supreme Court, saying Jews should be allowed into the mosque compound.
But public radio reported that the high court rejected the demands.
The Temple Mount Faithful calls for the destruction of the mosque compound and construction of a Third Jewish Temple.
(AFP) |
