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Palestinians
Angry Over Israel's Decision To Halt Mosque Construction
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| Israel
Halts Mosque Construction in Nazareth |
NAZARETH, Jan. 13 (IslamOnline
& News Agencies) - The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee held an urgent
meeting Saturday, January 12, 2002 to discuss the Israeli government's decision
to halt the construction of the Shihab al-Din mosque compound in Nazareth,
reported Israeli daily newspaper, Ha’aretz Sunday.
The Israeli government has formed a special committee to look into the
possibility of building the mosque at a site farther away from the Christian
Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, reported Ha’aretz.
The paper added that the committee slammed Israel's decision to halt work on the
mosque and its wanting to relocate it.
The Monitoring Committee
yesterday re-adopted its resolution of three years ago, endorsing the
construction of the mosque at the present site, reported the paper.
Ha’aretz claims that the monitoring committee issued a statement
Saturday and criticized Israel for inciting church leaders in Israel, who are
believed to have pressured the Vatican and the U.S. government to urge Israel to
stop work on the mosque.
The paper added that on Friday, Muslims from Nazareth and surrounding areas
staged protest prayers in response to the government's decision.
The BBC's online news service reported that Muslims in Nazareth were allowed to
build the mosque two years ago, in Barak's government, but that move was
denounced by Christian groups.
The Vatican opposed the plans
and accused Israel of creating "the foundation to foment division", a
charge Israel refuted, reported the BBC.
The construction of the
mosque began several weeks ago and its foundation has already been completed,
the BBC said.
According to Muslims, Shihab
al-Din lies buried under the disputed land.
The basilica in Nazareth is
built on the site where Christian tradition holds that the Angel Gabriel told
the Virgin Mary she would give birth to Jesus.
The deputy mayor of Nazareth,
Salman Abu Ahmed, a prominent advocate of the project, accused the Israeli
government of the "miserable persecution of Muslims", reported U.K.
paper, Scotland On Sunday.
"The government and the church leaders will pay the consequences for what
could happen," he said. "We know how to struggle."
He said the decision amounted to a "declaration of war" on Muslims in
Israel.
Members of the Waqf, the Islamic Trust responsible for the mosque project,
branded the decision as "persecution of Muslims and Arabs in Israel"
and vowed to continue their "holy struggle" for Shihab al-Din, the
paper reported.
Other Muslim leaders, however, voiced more moderate protests. "We want to
proceed legally," said Abdulmalik Dehamshe, who represents the Islamic
Movement as an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, "but we
will never give up our right to build the mosque on this site."
A lawyer for the Waqf said that the first legal action might be to petition
Israel’s Supreme Court, the paper said.
Muslims in Nazareth rioted during Easter in 1999, when they feared the mosque
would be blocked. The unveiling later that year of the cornerstone for the
project led to protests from the Vatican and suggestions that the project might
put at risk Pope John Paul II’s millennium visit to the Holy Land.
An Anglican priest, Ray Lockhart, vicar of Jerusalem’s Christ Church and
president of the United Christian Council in Israel, applauded the decision to
halt the project, the paper reported.
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