The official Palestinian Authority website accuses Israel of "disseminating baseless rumors that the eastern and southern walls of [the Temple Mount] could collapse on top of thousands of Muslim worshippers." The website notes that the Mount is Islam's third holiest location, but neglects to mention that it was Judaism's most sacred site for at least 1,400 years before the founder of Islam was born.
The PA source says that Israel's goal in publicizing the dangers - which Israel's Antiques Authority called "close to certain" - is only to restrict Moslem worshipers' access to Al Aksa during the upcoming month of Ramadan.
The Palestine National Authority (PNA) demanded Sunday that the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic conference (OIC), which represents 16 Arab and Muslim nations, convene to confront the new Israeli threats.
The Muslim Waqf, which controls the Temple Mount site, strenuously refused to accept the Israeli warnings, condemning them as an Israeli deception - even though they are based on Egyptian findings and observed cracks in supporting pillars.
The PA took advantage of ex-Public Security Minister Tzachi HaNegbi's recent comments to warn that it would hold Israel responsible in any event. The PA website article quoted HaNegbi as saying this past June [it was actually on July 25 - ed.] that "extremist Jewish groups were planning to destroy the Aqsa mosque either with an unmanned plane filled with explosives or a plane flown by a suicide bomber [he actually made no mention of these methods - ed.]. The Higher Islamic Commission and other Islamic bodies immediately issued a condemnation and warned that they would hold the Israeli government responsible if any harm should befall the mosque."
An editorial today in the Jordan Times, however, takes a more practical approach, stating,
"Our Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Ahmad Hilayel... assured worshippers that a team of Jordanian architects has recently visited the site and found the wall safe and unlikely to collapse, as feared by the Israeli authorities. The director of Waqf in Jerusalem, Adnan Husseini, has also assured Muslims that the wall is safe and labeled the Israeli scare tactic only as a ploy meant to drive away Muslims from prayer.
"As a matter of fact, there is now in place an engineering effort to use rods to strengthen the wall against earthquakes or any other stress that it may be subjected to in the future. This suggests that the wall may indeed require reinforcement, irrespective of the true intentions of the Israeli side.
"It would be safer to use the Israeli recommendation to address the constructional weaknesses in the wall as a serious warning rather than to see in it a merely political ploy to prevent worshippers from carrying out their religious duties. Since all that Israel is calling for is reinforcement of the wall, and since the Muslim authorities are actually aiming to do just that, why not strengthen the wall and play it safe? If doubts persist, why not call on a reputable international construction company to visit the site and investigate the conditions of the wall so that it may be decided, once and for all, what needs to be done from a technical point of view." [with thanks to "www.imra.org.il"]