Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site

CAIRO, August 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Exactly thirty five years passed Saturday, August 21, after setting Al-Aqsa Mosque on fire by an extremist Israeli, but still accusations are leveled at Israel of being the mastermind behind the debilitated fire of the holy place.

The arson attack on Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest Mosque, in 1969 by an Australian Jew named Denis Rohan, had destroyed the priceless one-thousand-year-old wood and ivory Minbar of Saladin.

Palestinians at the time accused Israeli authorities of failing to exert enough efforts to put out the blaze.

For its part, the Israeli government always tried to distance itself from the crime, claiming that the perpetrator was insane and therefore could not be prosecuted.

On Friday, August 20, the eve of the 35th anniversary, the Israeli forces tightened up security measures in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem for fears of disturbance in Al-Aqsa mosque in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, now in the seventh day of an empty stomach strike, the Israeli Ha'aretz reported Friday, August 20.

The Israeli police allowed only men aged 45 who have Israeli identity cards into the mosque, the mass circulation paper added.

More than 8,000 Palestinians detained in Israel , some are held with no charges leveled or terms set for their release, have started an open-hunger strike last Sunday to protest the Israeli practices against them.

Accusations

The Arab world accuses Israel of being responsible for the fire of Al-Aqsa mosque following its seizure of the area after the 1967 war.

A Jordanian government official said there was "crystal clear proof" that Israeli authorities were involved in instigating the fire in the holy site, the Washington Times said Saturday, August 21, quoting the Jordanian official Petra news agency.

In response, Israel rejected the accusation, saying it was part of the wrong claims of the Arab world against the state of Israel .

"This is an outrageous libel against us, similar to the continued claims in the Arab world that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are genuine," said Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

Steinitz was referring to a controversial document from Czarist Russia about a Jewish plot to take over the world - a document that is accepted as fact today throughout much of the Arab world, but Israel insists it is a forgery.

Extremist Jews believe that the destruction of Al-Aqsa mosque is the first step in a series of events that would step up the return of Jesus.

Islamic Conference

Israeli police try to prevent Palestinians from entering the mosque

Marking the 35th anniversary of torching the holy site, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held Thursday, August 19  Israel responsible for guaranteeing the protection of the Islamic holy sites under its authority.

"Israeli occupation authorities are held entirely responsible before the international community, particularly the Muslim world, for guaranteeing the protection of the holy sites under their occupation in Palestine ," an OIC statement said.

The 57-member pan-Islamic body called on the Jewish state to adhere to international treaties, mainly the fourth Geneva convention, and "to adopt the necessary measures against those plotting to attack the holy sites in Jerusalem ."

The statement come on the heels of reports on Jewish extremists' planning to launch attacks against the holy site in a bid to stop the Israeli government from implementing plans to withdraw from Gaza Strip.

The statement also warned the Israeli government that any harm against the Islamic holy site will have grave consequences on the international peace and security.

In 1996, Israel secretly opened a tunnel under the mosque, which Muslim archaeologists have said could undermine the foundations of the old structure.

The opening of the tunnel sparked bloody confrontations and street battles that led to the killing of 65 Palestinians.

The Noble Sanctuary, Al-Haram Al-Sharif, is at the heart of occupied Jerusalem and it encloses over 35 acres of fountains, gardens, buildings and domes. At its southernmost end is Al-Aqsa Mosque, and at its center is the celebrated Dome of the Rock.

It is the third most important site in Islam after Makkah and Madinah, and a showcase for Islamic architecture and design from the Umayyad to Ottoman empires, which continues to be an important religious and educational center for Muslims to the present day.

The entire area is regarded as a mosque, and comprises nearly one sixth of the walled city of Jerusalem .