THE TEMPLE MOUNT HAS BEEN REOPENED TO NON-MUSLIM VISITORS.

Israel renews tours to flashpoint Jerusalem shrine (MSNBC)

By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
JERUSALEM, July 7 � Seated on an embroidered red rug outside Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque, Muslim worshippers glared on Monday at the wide-eyed Jewish visitors who walked by with an Israeli police escort.

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Three years after a Palestinian uprising for statehood erupted following a visit to the compound by Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader and now Israel's prime minister, police are allowing local and foreign tourists back on to the site.

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Police shut the area to tourists immediately after the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000. The compound, where biblical Jewish temples stood, is Islam's third holiest site.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has criticised the tours as ''provocative.'' President Yasser Arafat accused Israel of letting in extremists under ''the pretext of tourism.''

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''We are not doing this for religious reasons, but to bring Jerusalem back to normalcy and ensure that all the holy sites are accessible to visitors of all faiths,'' Gil Kleiman, an Israeli police spokesman, said about the tours.
Kleiman said dozens of Israeli, Jewish and Christian tour groups have participated in the visits, which run up to an hour. Police allow only a handful of visitors into the compound at a time, in an apparent bid to maintain a low profile.
Police cut short one impromptu visit arranged on Monday to only 20 minutes, to make sure the Jewish tourists would be out before noon prayers began at al-Aqsa.
Shuki Haas, a religious Jew on the tour, pointed at the golden-topped Dome of the Rock. He remarked that this is where Jews believe their two ancient temples once stood.
''And that, please God, is where the temple shall rise again,'' he said.

Although I strongly support the right of people of all religious faiths (or none) to visit the Temple Mount, I don't find that last quotation very encouraging.