Islamic thuggery: 'Palestinian' leaders are stirring up riots at the disputed holy site

MK [Member of The Knesset] Moshe Matalon of Yisrael Beiteinu (‘Israel Our Home’) warned Monday night that Israel could be facing a “third Intifada,” as evidenced by recent violence in Jerusalem. “The government of Israel must use a heavy and uncompromising hand against inciters and rioters in Jerusalem,” he said.

Matalon called to take action against Sheikh Raed Salah in particular. Sheikh Salah, a leader of the Islamic Movement, has accused Israel of planning to destroy the Al Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount.

“Send the arch-inciter, Sheikh Raed Salah, to his followers in Gaza,” Matalon said. Israel must “terminate the Third Intifada with prejudice,” he concluded.

Riots continued in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem on Monday as Muslim leaders and the Palestinian Authority called to “protect Al-Aksa” and “prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem.” Several rioters have been arrested for allegedly attacking police officers and Jewish civilians with stones.

Police revealed Monday that wheelbarrows filled with heavy stones of the type used recently by Muslim Temple Mount rioters were found hidden on the Temple Mount the day before. The discovery indicates that the “spontaneous” Temple Mount riots were planned in advance, police hinted.

‘Second Intifada’ and the Temple Mount

Palestinian Authority Arabs term the bloody years-long terror war that began in 2000 “the Second Intifada” or “the Al-Aqsa Intifada.” Many claim that the fighting, which included hundreds of suicide bombings and other attacks on Israeli civilians, began when then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount.

Sharon’s visit was followed by Muslim riots calling to “protect Al-Aqsa.” Several Palestinian Authority Arabs were killed while clashing with police and soldiers during the violent riots.

Israel rejects claims that Sharon’s visit sparked a “spontaneous uprising” that led to the terror war. “It is clear that the current wave of Palestinian terrorism, which began in the wake of the Camp David summit failure, has nothing to do with a spontaneous Palestinian action to ‘resist the occupation.’ The Palestinian leadership had taken a strategic decision to abandon the path to peace and to use violence as their primary tactic for advancing their agenda,” says a government statement on the violence.

‘Third Intifada’ fears From August

Fears that the PA would begin inciting towards a “third intifada” surfaced in August, as the Fatah party that rules the PA met in Bethlehem and called for “resistance” against Israel. The Fatah conference delegates included several arch-terrorists.

The virulent rhetoric heard at the conference led former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) head Avi Dichter, now a politician with Kadima, to warn that another bloody terrorist war could be on the horizon.

PA officials also warned of a “third Intifada.” In September, the PA official in charge of the “settlement portfolio,” Shassan Daghlas, told Xinhua that Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria could lead to “a popular uprising against Israel,” while PA-based expert Abdel Hantash told the news agency that “The chances of the eruption of another Palestinian popular Intifada against Israel are high.”

Just as last week on Yom Kippur, when Mahmoud Ahmedinejad was test-firing long range missiles, deliberately timed for the highest and holiest of Jewish holidays; last weekend and this week have seen violent protest and rioting around the Temple Mount area of Jerusalem – an ancient holy site for Jews and Muslims (it is also known as ‘al-Aqsa’ and houses the famous ‘Dome of the Rock’ mosque).

This time the agitators, who are none other then the usual suspects for violence in this part of Israel – The ‘Palestinian Authority’ in Judea/Samaria (also known as the ‘West Bank’) – have chosen the seven-day holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of tabernacles) to continue their protest in the only way they know how.

(You will notice how it’s seemingly OK for Muslims to defame, abuse and generally show disrespect other faiths’ holy festivals?)

Although the Muslims claim that this is their third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, the facts – as ever when dealing with Islamists –  are somewhat less supportive of this.

For a start, the supposed role of ‘al-Aqsa’ does not appear even in Muslim documentation until the 1930s. Prior to this (as recently as the mid 1870s), there is photographic evidence to prove that the Dome of the Rock was in fact unused and had fallen into disrepair – remember – this was almost a century BEFORE the creation of the Jewish State of Israel.

The third holiest site of one of the world’s largest religions, desolate and delapidated?  We suggest you form your own conclusions and read the articles here for some historical clarity. Additionally, the al Aqsa mosque was not even completed until several generations after the death of Mohammed.

What does seem true however, is that the ‘Palestinian’ leaders seem hell-bent on escalating the ‘al-Aqsa’ claim’ into further intifada violence, in an attempt grab more territory in a city to which they have no real historical claim (despite what they and the dhimmi governments of the West, who site their ‘Palestinian’ or ‘Occupied Terrotories’ embassies in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel (more details on this in our commentary in this article).

So, third Intifada, or merely part of the ritual of Hamas and the PA jockeying for popularity ahead of elections next year? We’ll be watching closely to see how this develops.

[Main story: IsraelNN]

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