TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH: More Jewish-Temple denial, this time from the Palestine Chronicle. The Temple Mount Faithful are also making things interesting.

Jewish Settlers Plan to Storm Al-Aqsa Mosque
Friday, March 11 2005 @ 08:51 AM EST

"Extremist Jewish groups, which rally for the construction of the 'Temple Mount', are expected to join the storming, according to Israeli press sources.."

By Samer Khuwayera

NABLUS, West Bank - Extremist Jewish settlers are planning to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest place, by next April, according to Al-Aqsa Institution for Reconstruction of Islamic Sanctities.

Leaders of Jewish settlers have declared some 10,000 settlers are planning to storm the holy mosque in a bid to perform Jewish �religious rituals� in the holy place, they claim to be the site of �Temple Mount�.

Leaflets are being distributed by Jewish settlers to urge Jews to join the storming of the Islamic holy site on April 10.

Extremist Jewish groups, which rally for the construction of the "Temple Mount", are expected to join the storming, according to Israeli press sources.

The campaign patron, David Hebrew from the Tfwah settlement in the West Bank city of Nablus, claimed that his campaign aimed at fostering what he termed �spiritual relations� with �Temple Mount� by performing the Jewish religious rituals within the holy mosque.

�Through this campaign, we are trying to bring some 10,000 Jews into the mosque,� he told Israel�s Channel 7.

The extremist Jewish settler pressed for opening up all entrances of Al-Aqsa Mosque before the Jewish people, claiming that Al-Aqsa belongs to Jewish people, not to Muslims.

I can't find complete verification of this story. Neither "David Hebrew" (which doesn't sound like a real name to me) nor "tfwah" (or "tfwa") show up anywhere on Google except this in this article. I can locate no mention of a David Hebrew on the Temple Mount Faithful website (see below). Can anyone in Israel confirm that there is such a settlement in Nablus or that someone named David Hebrew was interviewed on Israel's Channel 7 about these matters?

What I can verify is that the Temple Mount Faithful is planning (or at least hoping), not to "storm" the Temple Mount, but to assemble there on 10 April to perform a Passover sacrifice on an altar they say is already there.

Now let me be quite clear. I am strongly opposed to the objectives of the Temple Mount Faithful. (Links via Indy.media.ie.) I have no interest in their theological agenda but I object on archaeological and historical grounds. I don't want anybody interfering with or damaging the historical treasures that are already on the Temple Mount, including the mosques and the ancient archaeological strata of the site. Even if they decided that the site of the temple wasn't where the mosques are so that the mosques don't need to be moved, the thought of the damage that would be done to the archaeology of the site by building a third temple there makes me ill.

All that said, I do respect the right of these people to free speech and peaceable assembly, no matter how much I oppose their agenda. There is sometimes a fine line between these rights and incitement and I leave it to the Israeli government to decide where that line is. I'm glad I don't have to make that decision.

Israel claims Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the so-called Temple Mount, an allegation refuted by scores of world historians.

This is a variation on a stock Temple-denial sentence we have seen repeatedly before. My comments previously apply as well here.

The article concludes:

Archeologists have also warned that ongoing Israeli excavations weakened the foundations of the mosque, cautioning it would not stand a powerful earthquake.

A part of the road leading to one of the mosque�s main gates collapsed in February, 2004, due to the destructive Israeli digging work.

Israeli soldiers also attempted in June, 2004, to storm the mosque�s prayer hall (Al-Musallah Al-Marwani) and ended by force restoration works that were underway there.

The first paragraph is a bit rich, given the massive destruction wreaked upon the Temple Mount by the WAQF. For a rather different take on the collapse mentioned in the second paragraph, go here. Note also that illicit digging by the WAQF is considered "restoration."

For my take on how the Temple Mount should be treated, see here.

UPDATE: "Manuscript Boy" e-mails:

I would have to check the posters all over Jerusalem to make sure, but
I think the name is David Ivri. Tafwah is surely Kfar Tapuach. And they plan to bring thousands up to the Temple Mount before Passover. It seems to be a different group from the Temple Mount Faithful.

I should have thought to Google "David Ivri." The name does exist, but the only references I can find are to a former air force commander, evidently not the man in question. In any case, the basic elements of the story look to be correct.

UPDATE: Manuscript Boy e-mailed again with the website of the group. The English version is http://www.revava.org/index.php. There's a Hebrew version as well, of course. David Ha'ivri is one of the named leaders of the group.