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Reopening the Temple Mount to People of All Faiths

(Philadelphia Inquirer) - The sacred plateau known to Jews as the Temple Mount - the site of the First and Second Temples - reopened last week on a limited basis to people of all faiths for the first time since violence forced its closure to non-Muslims in 2000. Three officials of the Islamic Trust (Waqf), which runs the site, were arrested Monday for obstructing access to the mount, but there have been no other incidents since Israeli police last Wednesday began permitting morning visits by about 100 non-Muslims at a time through the tightly guarded Mugrabi Gate. During the period of the closure, the Waqf removed "about 13,000 tons of unsifted archaeological rubble," some of which might have contained artifacts affirming that temples once stood there, said Dore Gold, an advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. "The Waqf was exploiting its self-declared exclusive control to engage in activity that involved removing archeological remains as part of their preparation of a huge subterranean mosque," Gold said. "All Israel is doing is re-establishing the pre-September-2000 status quo whereby access is guaranteed to all faiths, which has been a cardinal principal of Israeli policy since 1967."
2003-08-27 00:00:00
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