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Palestine Today 021307

IMEMC Audio Dept. | 13.02.2007 16:44 | Palestine | World


Palestine Today, a service of the International Middle East Media Centre, www.imemc.org, for Tuesday February 13th, 2007.

One Palestinian fighter is killed by Israeli army gunfire east of Gaza city, while Israeli troops invade several West Bank areas and abduct at least 23 Palestinian civilians. These stories and more coming up, stay tuned.

Palestine Today 021307 - mp3 5.5M



The Gaza Update

On Tuesday morning Israeli army troops stationed on the Gaza-Israel border, to the east of Gaza City, opened heavy fire at Palestinian resistance fighters. They killed one and injured another, Palestinian media sources said.

The sources added that armed clashes erupted between the Israeli soldiers and the resistance fighters in the area located between the Juice factory and the Alshuhada cemetery, east of Gaza city.

Dr. Moa’wiya Abu Hasanain, director of the emergency department at the Alshifa hospital, confirmed that Mohammad Als’eedi, 22, was killed and another person was wounded by live ammunition. Als’eedi is believed to be linked to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Fatah.

Dr. Hasanain added that the Israeli forces are still denying medical crews access to the area, and the wounded man has not yet been evacuated. Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes have been frequently hovering over Gaza since yesterday morning.

The West Bank

Israeli troops abducted at least 23 Palestinian civilians from several parts of the West Bank on Tuesday.

On Tuesday morning Israeli forces conducted a wide scale invasion into several parts of Hebron city and nearby villages in the southern part of the West Bank. Thirteen men were abducted during the military operation. In Hebron's city center, troops attacked and searched houses before abducting four men.

Another Israeli force invaded the village of Kharssa, south-west of Hebron. Soldiers searched and ransacked scores of houses and abducted seven men from the village. Local sources stated that among those arrested were Khalil Al Shahatit and his brothers Salem and Yousif. They are aged 20, 31, and 23.

Dora village near Hebron was also attacked by the Israeli army on Tuesday morning. Soldiers attacked and searched the house of Mohamed Al Rujuop and abducted him, his family reported. In the meantime Abdullah Faraj-Allah, 24, was taken prisoner by Israeli forces from his house located in Ithna village, west of Hebron.

Palestinian sources reported that Israeli police abducted six Palestinian civilians on Tuesday morning form several parts of Jerusalem.

Three men were taken when police attacked and searched Palestinian homes in the Jabal Al Mukaber neighborhood in the eastern part of Jerusalem. Among those abducted was a father of three named Mussa Ibidat, aged 26. In the meantime another three people were abducted from Jabal Al Zaiton (olive mountain), neighborhood near the old city of Jerusalem.

Also on Tuesday, three civilians were abducted from the northern West Bank city of Nablus during a morning invasion, while one young man was abducted from the village of Al Khader near Bethlehem city in the southern West Bank.

Jerusalem

On Tuesday, Israeli authorities continued digging at the Mugrabi gate near the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem's old city. Malaysian Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, called on the UN Security Council to intervene to halt the Israeli authorities’ construction works at the mosque. Badawi called the Israeli digging ‘irresponsible', and added that he would send relevant letters to Arab leaders and member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference, asking them to exert pressure on Israel for the halting of the construction work.

Although the decision to construct a new bridge at the site was withdrawn for re-assessment on Tuesday, excavation at the site is continuing. An Israeli media source is now reporting that the excavation work is unrelated to the construction work, despite the fact that the need to build a new bridge was the initial reason given by Israeli authorities to legitimize the excavation, which started last Tuesday.

The controversial excavation has sparked Palestinian, Israeli and international criticism. Various human rights organizations have called for the halting of actions, citing that they are provocative and jeopardize peace efforts. Clashes have occurred in the old city due to the excessive presence of Israeli military and police forces, and their tactics of aggravating worshippers.



Conclusion

Thank you for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem. You have been listening to Palestine Today from the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, brought to you by Tamara Mousa, Jane Smith and Ghassan Bannoura




IMEMC Audio Dept.
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Comments

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Arabs Claim what that which does not belong to them

14.02.2007 16:22

Presently, the Mullahs are calling for another "intifada" claiming that the Jews are undermining the Al Aksa Mosque and the place where their myths believe Mohammed launched himself into the Seventh Heaven. Where did this story come from? Does it meet any known time-line?

Mohammed died in 632 C.E. During his lifetime an imaginative story floated by an unknown follower was circulated about Mohammed's midnight dream ride on a flying horse to "Al Aksa". Serious Islamic scholars were embarrassed by this crass imagination that made no sense -- as follows:

In the time it takes a clay water jar to tip and spill its first drop, Mohammed, in his mythical dream, flew from Mecca to the "the furthest place." In Arabic, "the furthest place" is "Al Aksa." At that time "Al Aksa" (or "furthest place") would be either a mosque in Medina or Allah's Courtyard in Paradise. There was no mosque, no "Al Aksa" mosque, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in Mohammed's lifetime.

From 685-705 CE the Umayyad Caliph Abd-el Malik built the Dome of the Rock, also on the Temple Mount, Mount Moriah. (It is now called the "Golden Dome" after it was covered with gold by the King of Trans-Jordan.) Caliph Abd-el Malik, who lived in Damascus, wished to be viewed as Mohammed's heir and leader of Islam. He attempted to re-direct the Islamic religious/political compass away from Mecca towards Jerusalem and his sphere of religious/political power. The political thrust of all this was that al-Malik failed.

Islam as a religion and Muslims as a group continued to ignore Jerusalem as a non-entity and continued to bow in their worship toward Mecca. However, the myth was created among the (uneducated) Muslim/Arabs, that, by right of conquest, they owned the Temple of the Jews which existed as Solomon's Temple of the Jews for thousands of years before Mohammed and Islam. However, the myth took root among the Muslims -- as history was pushed aside.

That childish myth has become factual history, as the Arab/Muslims claimed the Jews' most holy religious site, built thousands of years before Christianity or the beginnings of Islam. But, the West oohs and aahs as the Mullahs babble about their non-existent history, harking back to the Philistines (a warlike tribe of Phoenicians who came to the sea coast of Eretz Yisrael) and other tribes long gone.

The "Al Aksa" mosque was not considered a true holy site of Islam until Saladin, the Kurdish warrior in the 12th Century, needed an excuse to attack the Christian Crusaders who had taken Jerusalem. Saladin then claimed Mohammed's dream of "Al Aksa" was the mosque built on top of the Jewish Temple and, therefore, holy to Islam. But, their claims are accepted today as if they were not a backward, uncivilized culture but an advanced society of great thinkers and, therefore, worthy of being taken seriously. The media was presented with the scholarly history of the Jewish Temple numerous times, but they prefer the "mythical" version created by the Muslim/Arabs.

Sixty years after Mohammed's death, Caliph Abd el-Malik from Damascus did build the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, over the site where the Jewish Temple stood in ancient times. It was later covered with gold leaf to become known as the Golden Dome. Caliph El-Malik's objective was to turn the political loyalty to Mohammed which was epi-centered in Mecca toward him as the next leader. Even the Media, always in a state of lazy denial must admit that every long dead visionary is followed by wannabe pretenders to the crown so he conveniently revises history toward himself and his new goals.

That ploy failed and the Dome of the Rock was NOT visited as a holy place as were Mecca and Medina. It eventually fell into ruins through neglect and lack of interest. Twenty years after El Malik built the Dome of the Rock, his son al-Waleed, built a nearby building and named it Al Aksa after the dream allocated to Mohammed. This story of how Mohammed was to travel to "Al Aksa," the farthest place is interesting. As the story goes, Mohammed mounted a giant white horse named el-Baraq, with great wings, the face and breasts of a woman and the tail of a peacock. Clearly, these were the fantasies of a zealous but ignorant follower of Mohammed anxious to expand the influence of the man whom he revered as his earthly deity.

Flying horses, flying dragons and gods able to fly were a common myth centuries before Mohammed, often grafted onto new religions. The story continues that Mohammed, in his dream, flew to the farthest place (al Aksa). But, the mosque named "Al Aksa" was NOT built until 80 years after Mohammed's death. So even in such minds with maximum imagination, 80 years out of sync tells us, there was no "Al Aksa" to support the myth.

It wasn't until the 12th Century C.E. that the myth took a new turn. Salah a-Din, the great Kurdish warrior wanted an excuse to attack Jerusalem and drive the knights of the Christian Crusaders off of the Temple Mount and out of the Holy City. The Temple Mount has been Holy for three thousand years because it was chosen by G-d -- which is why the Jews built their two Temples there; the Christians later built churches there; the Muslims called it the Noble Sanctuary and built their two Mosques on top of the site of the Jewish Temples.

Since that time the Muslims have used the ready excuse of Al Aksa being attacked to gather forces and riot. This, of course, is happening right now as the Mullah and self-appointed leaders call for the Arab Muslim Palestinians to riot over the repair of the Mugrabi ramp.

Some will recall the years of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, who spread the rumor that the Jews were going to attack Al Aksa mosque. That was in 1929 and started the riots that killed hundreds of Jews. The Grand Mufti, "Haj" Amin al-Husseini, was a close follower of Hitler during WW II, hoping to entice him to bring his Jew-killing mechanisms to Jerusalem. The only condition Husseini set for assisting the Nazis was that, after they won the war, they would murder all the Jews in Palestine. You would not be surprised that Yassir Arafat was a nephew of Uncle Haj Amin al-Husseini. Arafat was born in Cairo named Rahman Abdul Rauf al-Qudwa al-Husseini. Arafat took over the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) which was established in 1964 by Gamal Abdul Nasser.

In 1929, the Arabs responded to Husseini's "rumor" and rioted in Jerusalem, Motza, Hebron, Safed, Jaffa and other areas -- all over what was then British Mandate Palestine. The Arabs murdered a total of 133 Jews, wounding more than 300 wherever they could find them. In Hebron 67-69 Jews were murdered, with 58 wounded and women were raped; in Safed 18-20 were murdered with 80 wounded. The British evacuated the Jewish survivors, leaving their homes and belongings to be taken and occupied by the Arabs from 1929 to 1967 when Hebron was liberated along with the east side of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. 1929 was not the only time Husseini initiated attacks against Jews.

Reports today on CNN (February 12th) indicate that the Arabs have started to riot in Hebron because of the false accusations that the Jews are undermining the "Al Aksa" mosque in Jerusalem.

The use of "Al Aksa" is an excellent spark to inflame the familiar joyful hysterical rage so very near the surface for Muslims. The story continues that Mohammed flew to a certain spot in the "farthest place" which they have now named "Al Aksa" mosque in Jerusalem. It was "supposedly" the rock where Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac in the Akeda. The "winged horse" el Buraq landed and left a giant hoof print in the stone.

The myth continues: In his dream Mohammed flew on el-Buraq to the Seventh Heaven where he meets all the Jewish prophets, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses and even Jesus. The story teller says: They gave Mohammed the stamp of approval that he was to be the last and only prophet of G-d. Ostensibly, Mohammed absorbed the older religions of Judaism (The Root) and Christianity. He claimed descent from the prophets as the foundation for the new religion of Islam.

At that moment in his dream, he flies back to earth in an instant -- remember the drop of water at the beginning? Regrettably, the Media and even nations hesitate to question the basis of the myth of the midnight flight and the giant flying horse, el-Buraq. The Muslim people have accepted many myths and interpretations of the Koran as suits the needs and the imaginations of their Mullahs.

However, only since 1967 through the cleverness of Yassir Arafat, did they claim that Jerusalem is their third holiest city and give credence to another myth that of a non-people as a nation of history. Never before, whenever the Muslim conquerors had control did they establish a capital in Jerusalem. If you check out photos of the Temple Mount when the Muslims were in control, please note the grass growing up between the paving stones. The crowds of Muslims weren't there until the leaders started to remake their PR that Jerusalem is their third holiest city.

I see in the dark


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