TEMPLE MOUNT WATCH:

Thousand-year-old pulpit rises from the ashes
From Stephen Farrell and David Sharrock in Jerusalem (Times of London)

Prayers at the al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site, will have a special significance for Muslims today when an ornate pulpit destroyed by a deranged Christian tourist 37 years ago is finally returned to the place it has occupied for almost a millennium.

The pulpit, which was brought to Jerusalem from Aleppo, Syria, by Saladin after he drove the Crusaders out of the holy city in 1887, has taken years to reconstruct and is considered a jewel of sacred art.

Master craftsmen from Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia collaborated on the project under the guidance of a Saudi academic, Minwer al-Meheid. In spite of the pulpit’s near-total destruction in a fire which swept the al-Aqsa mosque, Dr al-Meheid was convinced that he could rebuild it to its original specifications, fashioned from 16,000 separate pieces.

[...]

For "1887" in the second paragraph read '1187."

“The story of the pulpit is of the liberation of Jerusalem during the Crusades,” said Adnan al-Husseini, director of the Waqf, the Islamic trust that administers the Sharif site. “Its restoration is a step towards freeing the mosque and Jerusalem from occupation.”

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The pulpit was an important historic artifact and I'm glad it has been restored, but this isn't the most constructive spin for the Waqf to put on the story.

In spite of its rich and troubled history Dr al-Meheid sees no controversy over the artefact itself. “This minbar should be a message of peace. It signifies the place of the preacher who carried the word of God, which is the word of peace,” he said.

I think that's a better message.