Jerusalem police stand up to the Wakf, stop illegal Temple Mount work
The Jerusalem police finally stood up to the Wakf - the Islamic police that de facto control the Temple Mount. The police put a stop to illegal 'construction work' taking place on the Mount.Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said that police blocked Arab workers from continuing to carry out "surfacing work" in an unauthorized area.Here's a video and another video and some pictures of past Temple Mount 'restoration' by the Wakf.
"It is our duty to ensure that the status quo is kept on the Temple Mount," Franco said during a police briefing.
He noted that Islamic officials had planned to carry out the work as a result of weekend violence that erupted in east Jerusalem over IDF operations in Gaza, and that the unusually open police intervention sparked opposition on the Jerusalem holy site.
According to decades-old regulations in place at the Temple Mount, Israel maintains overall security control at the site, while the Wakf, or the Islamic Trust, is charged with day- to-day administration of the ancient compound, which is Judaism's holiest and Islam's third holiest site.
Independent Israeli archeologists have long charged Islamic officials with destruction of antiquities at the bitterly-contested holy site, and blamed the Israeli Government and Israel's state-run archeological body for turning a blind eye to the action due to the political sensitivities involved.
Antiquities Authority spokeswoman Yoli Shwartz said Tuesday that the police had alerted the Antiquities Authority about the issue, and that it would be "examined" in the coming days.
The Palestinian Authority Jerusalem Affairs Minister for Adnan Husseini said that police stopped the "restoration work" of "deteriorated tiles" on the northern side of the Temple Mount.
"They are not digging or doing anything there but restoration," he said.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:57 PM
2 Comments:
One wonders if this police move was initiated by the Jerusalem municipality or the national government. After all, Ehud Olmert's government is notable for its permissiveness towards Wakf activity on the Temple Mount and its efforts to enforce a ban on Jewish prayer there.
Congratulations to Chief Aharon Franco.
At last someone has had the courage to halt the Wakf's ongoing destruction of Jews' holiesr site.
The next step is the complete removal of the Wakf from the temple mount and giving complete control to the proper Israeli authorities.
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