Temple Mount - Page 8

TEL AVIV – The Director of the Islamic Waqf, the body in charge of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, spread outright lies on Palestinian news Saturday, saying that Israel is staging “break-ins” in the Al Aqsa Mosque.

TEL AVIV – As Jews worldwide mark Tisha Be’Av, the Jewish fast day commemorating the destruction of the Second Temple at the hands of the Roman Empire in 70 CE, Jewish archeologists recount the challenges in unearthing Jewish artefacts that prove the unbreakable bond between the land of Israel and the Jewish people.

Several Muslim worshippers were removed from the Temple Mount complex on Sunday after clashing with police and with Jews visiting the holy site on Tisha B’Av.

Israeli police are to boost their presence at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount compound for a Jewish day of mourning commemorating the destruction of ancient temples there, a spokesman said.

A 21-year-old civil engineering student from the West Bank’s Hebron University attempted to carry out a mass-casualty bombing attack on Jerusalem’s light rail last month to exact revenge for Jewish visitation to the Temple Mount, police said on Tuesday.

TEL AVIV – Members of a UN agency who attempt to erase Jewish and Christian ties to Jerusalem’s Old City are damaging its status as a World Heritage site for all three monotheistic religions, UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova warned on Friday.

Israel warned the European Union on Thursday night that supporting a UNESCO resolution which views the Temple Mount as a solely Muslim site is akin to ignoring Europe’s Christian roots.

TEL AVIV – Israel slammed a United Nations agency for attempting to “distort history” ahead of a vote on a resolution denying any Jewish connection to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Following a moratorium on non-Muslim visitation to the Temple Mount last week after dozens of Arabs celebrating Ramadan attacked Jewish groups visiting the contested holy site, police said on Tuesday that regular visiting hours will likely resume next week, after the Muslim festival of Id El Fiter concludes.

TEL AVIV – Cries of “Allahu Akbar” directed at Jews on the Temple Mount is illegal and constitutes disturbing the peace, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court ruled.

TEL AVIV – The Palestinian Authority’s Fatah movement has called on the public to rally at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque to prevent the “occupation government” from allowing “settlers” into the holy site during Ramadan. The Temple Mount is considered the

Police on Tuesday announced that Jerusalem’s Temple Mount would be closed to tourists for three days and that extra forces would be deployed to prevent rioting at the religious site in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Mayhem ensued on the Temple Mount Sunday morning, when a group of masked Arab assailants threw rocks, shoes, metal objects, and chairs at a group of Jewish visitors at the contested compound during the first of the last 10 days of Ramadan.

Israeli police at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount clashed Sunday with Muslims protesting Jewish visits there as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan approached its climax, Palestinians said.

Israel allowed hundreds of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip into Jerusalem for Ramadan prayers Friday, an official said, a week after revoking entry permits in response to a deadly attack.

The Knessett Ethics Committee decided on Tuesday that MKs will not be permitted to visit the Temple Mount, despite a framework drawn up by the police allowing them to do so.

An eight-month ban on political leaders visiting the Temple Mount is likely to be lifted by the end of June.

Brazil’s Foreign Minister Jose Serra intends to change Brazil’s anti-Israel vote given in April at a United Nations session, where rights for cultural assets in the areas conquered in the Six-Day War were discussed, Brazilian media reported.

Two Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount were removed from the premises of the holy site Sunday after violating the rules of entry, police said. Jews are permitted to visit the Temple Mount, but prohibited from praying on the contested holy site.

The Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, David Lau, said he would like to see the Jewish temple rebuilt on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The Israeli army late Thursday announced it was sealing off the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the Shavuot holiday, beginning overnight Thursday-Friday through late Sunday night.

The Jerusalem Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attempted to thwart any attempt to use the Temple Mount to spark violence during the Ramadan holiday by assuring Muslims that no changes had been made to the Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound there.

The US Consulate General Jerusalem on Saturday issued a security message cautioning against visiting the capital during Jerusalem Day Sunday and the corresponding Naksa Day, marked by Palestinians.

Newly-appointed Defense Minister Avidgor Lieberman has issued an order easing some restrictions imposed on the Palestinians ahead of the holy month of Ramadan, which begins on Monday.

Ahead of this year’s celebration of the Israeli holiday of Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) on June 5, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said that Israel’s historic ties to the Jerusalem-based Temple Mount and Western Wall sites do not need justifications or apologies.

TEL AVIV – One of the stars of “Orange is the New Black,” visiting Israel for the first time in in honor of Gay Pride Week, seems to be dumbfounded at the country’s lack of unattractive women.

The Jerusalem Post reports: Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick is slated to become the next MK for the Likud party after Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon announced his resignation from the ministry and the Knesset Friday morning.

TEL AVIV – In a strongly worded letter to French President Francois Hollande, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed France’s support for a UNESCO resolution denying Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, a local TV channel reported Saturday.  France issued an

The Jerusalem Post reports: French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was set to arrived in Israel Saturday night to update Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on a new peace initiative his country plans to launch at the end of this month.

The Jerusalem Post reports: While Jerusalem remains adamantly opposed to the French diplomatic initiative, enshrining Palestinian recognition of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people would be an important step, Foreign Ministry director-general Dore Gold told The Jerusalem Post.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories this month in a bid to relaunch the peace process following the worst flare-up of violence in the Gaza Strip for two years, his office said Tuesday.

TEL AVIV – In the latest altercation between the United Nations and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latter’s offer to provide UN diplomats with history lessons on Jewish ties to the Temple Mount was swiftly declined by a UN official.

BEERSHEBA (ISRAEL) (AFP) – Israeli Arab Muslim leader Raed Salah started a nine-month prison sentence on Sunday for fomenting riots at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Times of Israel reports: Kuwait’s minister of information, Sheikh Salman a-Sabah visited the Temple Mount on Saturday to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque, later meeting with Palestinian Authority officials in Ramallah.

TEL AVIV – In honor of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day, leading pro-Israeli Christian groups are heading to the United Nations to condemn UNESCO’s effort to deny Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, calling it “tantamount to Holocaust denial.”

Ynetnews reports: A collection of pictures of Jerusalem and other places in Israel from the 19th century has been sold for $1.4 million the British newspaper The Daily Mail reports. The collection consists of over 1,000 black and white photos,