(Ha'aretz) Nir Hasson - Israel and Jordan have been negotiating over opening sites on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem that were closed to non-Muslim visitors when the Second Intifada erupted in September 2000, according to a report by the International Crisis Group. Until 2000, Jewish and Christian visitors could enter the Dome of the Rock, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Museum by buying a ticket from the Muslim Waqf, which manages the mosques. Israel believes that opening the mosques to paying visitors would give the Waqf an incentive to keep the peace on the mount. The Waqf was once controlled by the Palestinian Authority, but it is now under growing Jordanian influence.
2015-06-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive