The Churban underneath the Mount (Tisha B’Av 2013).
I won’t be posting until Tuesday afternoon, but meanwhile, here is something appropriate for the day.
In 1996, the Israeli government gave permission to open a temporary mosque in the area of Solomon’s Stables, a Herodian-era structure that was built underneath an extension to the Temple Mount. The Waqf made it permanent, and during those days of Oslo, (and right after deadly Muslim riots over the opening of the tunnels next to the Kotel) the Israeli government caved:
Muslim authorities angered Israelis on Wednesday with plans to open a new underground prayer hall at Al Aqsa mosque, on the site revered by Jews as Temple Mount and beside the Israeli tunnel project that set off rioting last month.
Hassan Tahboub, the Palestinian minister of Islamic affairs, said the hall would open in two days.
Tahboub refused to comment Wednesday on the timing, saying only that the hall was not Israel’s “responsibility or property.”
The previous Israeli government gave permission in January for the chamber to be used for prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and during rainy periods when worshipers cannot pray in the courtyard of Al Aqsa. But Israel did not authorize the Muslims to use it on a permanent basis.
Right-wing Israelis called for the renovated prayer hall to remain closed, saying it violates the delicate status quo over the site and that renovations might damage it.
The mosque was given the name Marwani, and Muslims claimed ex post facto that it existed since the seventh century.
That wasn’t the end of the story. From Archaeology, March/April 2000: …
a12iggymom's Blog 