The sources said that the Jerusalem Development Authority
removed scaffolding from under an arch supporting Palestinian homes in the
Al-Buraq Wall plaza.
The Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said that
the place that was opened to Jewish prayer is known by Muslims as Ribat Al-Kurd
and not the Little Western Wall. The foundation said that courtyard serves 17
Palestinian families living on the site.
It said that the move was carried out by the Israeli
authority to make more room in the plaza for Jewish prayer and other events.
The foundation added that the wall of Ribat Al-Kurd is
another part of the western wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, just as the famous Al-Buraq
Wall. It is located at the Iron Gate of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It added that Israel seized control of the area of Ribat
Al-Kurd after the occupation of East Jerusalem in the June 1967 War.
The foundation said that Ribat Al-Kurd partially collapsed
in 1971 due to excavations carried by Israeli occupation authorities underneath
it. Following the collapse, Jerusalem's Old City and its walls were declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site, but occupation authorities still endanger this and
other parts of Al-Aqsa Mosque, it added.
According to the foundation, Israel turned it into a
religious school and a synagogue while Jewish organizations had been
encouraging visits to the site especially during Jewish religious holidays in
order to establish their claims to it, just as they did with the Al-Buraq Wall.
The Israeli daily Haaretz said that the Israeli authorities
allowed the opening of the site after pressure from Ateret Cohanim, a
right-wing organization that promotes settling Jews in East Jerusalem.
The report said that Ateret Cohanim has been demanding for
years that the scaffolding be removed to make room for prayer and other events,
despite residents’ objections. Amir Cheshin, who was the Arab affairs adviser
to late Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, told Haaretz that the mayor had rejected
Ateret Cohanim’s request to remove the scaffolding due to the sensitivity of
the site.
Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, grand mufti of Jerusalem and
Palestine, denounced the Israeli move. Hussein said the move is part of “an
Israeli scheme to Judaize the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and engineer the
collapse of the mosque and to build the so-called Second Temple on its ruins.”
He described the move as “a theft and piracy against the
Islamic civilization and culture.”
Hussein warned that the opening of the site threatens to
disturb the sensitive status quo in the area.
Danny Zeidman, founder of Ir Amim, a non-profit Israeli
organization dedicated to promoting Israeli-Palestinian coexistence in
Jerusalem, said: “Allowing (Jewish) extremists into the heart of the Muslim
Quarter carries the danger of turning a resolvable political conflict into a
violent religious one.”
