Assaults on the Mosque
Two groups in particular are dedicated to the destruction of
Jerusalem’s most sacred Islamic shrine: the militant Bloc of the
Faithful or Gush Emunim, led by rabbis such as Moshe
Levinger; and Ateret Cohanim, a Jewish yeshiva composed of
militant Jewish students and their rabbis. Fundamentalist,
militant Christians, who also want the mosque destroyed, give
support and financial aid to both of these Israeli organizations,
as do wealthy American Jews.
Beginning in 1967, when Israel militarily seized Arab East
Jerusalem, Jewish terrorists on more than 100 occasions have
laid siege to the Muslim mosque. Here are a few of the assaults:
• August 1967. Chief Chaplain of the Armed Forces Shlomo
Goren—later Israel’s chief rabbi—leads 50 armed extremists
onto Haram al-Sharif. “It is a holy commandment,” Goren said,
for Jews to go to the Muslim grounds, which Jews call the
Temple Mount. Writing in an Israeli publication, Eti Ronel
reports: “Many rabbis, including members of the Council of the
Chief Rabbinate, support…Jewish sovereignty” over Haram
al-Sharif.
• August 21, 1969. Jewish extremists set fire to Al Aqsa,
destroying a priceless wood and ivory pulpit sent from Aleppo
by the Muslim ruler Saladin. The arson prompts the United
Nations Security Council to condemn Israel’s failure to curb
terrorist attacks on Islam’s shrine. Four months later (12/19/69)
a group of militant Jews storm their way to Haram al-Sharif, in
order, they claim, “to conduct Hanukkah prayers.”
• March 3, 1971. Gershon Solomon leads Temple Mount
Faithful followers onto Haram al-Sharif. After struggling with
Palestinian guards, they are expelled. Three years later (3/3/74)
Solomon again, with followers, storms the mosque. Again
(7/14/78) Solomon leads militant Jews onto the Islamic holy
grounds. Palestinians stage protests. Israeli troops hurl tear gas
to quell the rioting.
• August 10, 1980. Three hundred Gush Emunim fanatics,
heavily armed, overcome Palestinian police and storm the
grounds, but are later dispersed. A month later (9/15/80) armed
Gush Emunim settlers associated with Stanley Goldfoot and the
Temple Mount Faithful again force their way onto the mosque
grounds. After scuffling with police they are evicted.
• April 11, 1982. Alan Goodman, an Israeli citizen with a U.S.
passport, marches into Al Aqsa with an M-16 rifle and opens
fire on worshippers, killing two Palestinians and wounding
others. In November 1997, the Israeli government releases
Goodman. Unrepentant, Goodman boasts, “I fulfilled my
mission.”
• July 25, 1982. Yoel Lerner, a member of the militant Meir
Kahane Kach movement, storms the mosque grounds with
plans to dynamite and destroy the Dome of the Rock.
• March 10, 1983. Armed Gush Emunim fanatics climb walls
onto Haram al-Sharif, attempting to overcome security guards
and take the mosque by storm. They have in their possession
large quantities of explosives, automatic rifles and pistols.
Twenty-nine are charged and held for trial.
• September 21, 1983. An Israeli court acquits the 29 Jewish
terrorists who six months earlier had laid siege on the mosque.
• January 27, 1984. In the most ambitious plot to dynamite
and destroy the mosque, Jewish terrorists, armed with 250
pounds of explosives, including dozens of grenades, boxes of
dynamite and 12 rounds of mortar, attempt to dynamite and
destroy the mosque. They are led by Rabbi Moshe Levinger,
one of the most militant of Jewish extremists.
• 1994. The Israelis appoint Meir Davidson, a senior official of
Ateret Cohanim, as a municipal adviser on Palestinian
properties. This signals the Israeli government will work closely
with an organization whose aim is destruction of the mosque.
• September 1996. Ateret Cohanim, funded largely through
tax-exempt dollars donated by rich American Jews, including
Miami millionaire Irving Moskowitz, opened a tunnel—excavated
in secret night-time operations—that runs the length of the Al
Aqsa complex. The controversial tunnel sparked intense fighting
which claimed the lives of 60 Palestinians and 15 Israeli
soldiers. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu proudly
visited the tunnel, as have fundamentalist Christian leaders.
• October 18, 1998. Gershon Solomon, with followers waving
Israeli flags and blowing rams’ horns, mounts a ramp to the
mosque grounds. “The time has come to rebuild the Jewish
Temple,” said Solomon. To underscore his point, Solomon
parked near an Old City gate a flatbed truck carrying a
41—G.H.
washington-report.org |
