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Topic: Israel fears Temple Mount wall may collapse due to Ramadan crowds
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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posted
The Wall: 'eight month' bulge
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Weekend News Today
Lead: Weekend Staff
Source: The Guardian
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Mon Oct 7,2002 -- Ariel Sharon risks provoking another Palestinian backlash over control of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as he decides in the coming days what to do about a large and unstable bulge in a wall of one of Islam's holiest sites. The bulge is more than 30 metres long and protrudes by about a metre. Some archaeologists have compared it to a slow pregnancy. "A year ago you could barely see the bulge," said Dr Eilat Mazar, a Hebrew university archaeologist. "Now it's much more serious. If it was a 'four month' bulge back then, now it's an 'eight month' bulge. "There's no doubt that it will collapse before long. The question is by how much, and whether it will bring down other structures nearby, including the al-Aqsa mosque." A small group of Jews has urged Mr Sharon not to repair the wall because they say its collapse would destroy the "pagan Arab presence on the Temple Mount".
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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Miguel
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Member # 47
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Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Psalms 48:14 For this God [is] our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide [even] unto death.
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Romans 9:11-24
Our Eschatology may vary even our Ecclesiology may be disputed among us but our Soteriology most assume a singularity and exclusivity which in biblical term is known as Quote; "The Narrow Way" and Quote!
Posts: 2792 | From: Stockton,Ca | Registered: Jun 2002
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Kindgo
Advanced Member
Member # 2
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Israel fears Temple Mount wall may collapse due to Ramadan crowds
Before departing for Russia on Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reportedly met with Israeli officials to discuss the protruding bulge in the southern wall of the Temple Mount. The urgency of the discussion was due to the fact that hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshippers are expected to visit the Temple Mount next month for the holiday of Ramadan, and the massive crowds may lead to the wall's collapse.
Participating in the meeting were Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau, Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, Jerusalem Police Commissioner Mickey Levy, a representative of the Shin Bet security agency and Shuka Dorfman of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Maariv reported. In August, Olmert called on the government to prevent the "historical and human disaster" that would occur if the southern wall collapsed and Dorfman warned Sharon that such a collapse was a "clear and present danger."
Discussion at the meeting focused on the protruding bulge in the southern wall, which now extends about a meter outwards. Members of the Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount, a citizens watchdog committee, say the bulge is the result of illegal construction work on the Temple Mount, especially the development of the underground area known as Solomon's Stables as a mosque.
The Temple Mount is under the authority of the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust. Access to the Temple Mount has been off limits to non-Muslims since the outbreak of Intifada violence in September 2000, following Sharon's controversial visit to the site, revered by Jews as the location of the ancient holy Temples.
The urgency of the discussion was due to the fact that during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan next month, hundreds of thousands of worshippers are expected to visit the Temple Mount on Fridays. When access to the mosques on the Temple Mount is unlimited, as many as 400,000 worshippers attend the prayers. When curfews are imposed and access is limited due to security concerns, 200,000 worshippers could still arrive at the Temple Mount.
Officials in the Ministry of Internal Security are aware of the possible consequences if the southern wall would collapse while the mosques behind it are packed with worshippers. One senior official described the scenario to Maariv as "the Third World War."
In Sunday's discussion, it was clear to all participants that Israel would have to pay the price no matter what happened regarding the southern wall, Maariv reported. "If Israel decides to repair the wall, without the agreement of the Waqf, this will result in riots in Israel and the territories," one official said. "If the wall collapses when worshippers are on the Temple Mount, it will be even worse. We will be held guilty no matter what."
Maariv said that the officials also considered the consequences if Israel limited the number of worshippers praying at the mosques during Ramadan by declaring the Temple Mount in danger of collapse. Additional concern was raised regarding the upcoming winter months, when rain and snow could speed up the wall's collapse.
According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, both Israel and the Waqf agree that the southern wall is in desperate need of repair, but the dispute regarding who is responsible for the wall is delaying its repair.
Maariv's report did not say if Sharon and the other participants in the urgent discussion reached any decision regarding the future of the Temple Mount wall.
http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en...cs&enVersion=0&
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God bless,
Kindgo
Inside the will of God there is no failure. Outside the will of God there is no success.
Posts: 4320 | From: Sunny Florida | Registered: Jun 2002
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