PA Gov. spokesman warns of “religious war,” following restoration of synagogue in Jerusalem
Official PA TV News, on the PA government’s response to the participation of Israeli political figures in a Torah dedication ceremony at a restored Yemenite synagogue in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem
Official PA TV newsreader: “The [PA] national unity government viewed the participation of senior Israeli officials in the inauguration of a synagogue south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a new aggression against Jerusalem. Official Spokesman of the [PA] Government Yusuf Al-Mahmoud said that the establishment of the synagogue in Silwan stems only from political reasons, which are connected to the character of the occupation government. [The establishment of the synagogue] constitutes part of the settlement and has no connection to religion. Al-Mahmoud again noted the warnings of the [PA] leadership and government that the policy of the government of Israel is liable to lead to a religious war.”
Silwan synagogue – the Ohel Shlomo Synagogue – A historical Yemenite synagogue in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem, which was destroyed after the British expelled the Yemenite Jewish residents of the neighborhood in the 1930s amid Arab riots. In 2015, the Jerusalem District Court evicted an Arab family that was living in the building, and members of the Jewish Ateret Cohanim organization moved in. The synagogue is now being restored (2017).
Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel and Israeli Parliament Member Mordhay Yogev were present at a Torah dedication ceremony at the synagogue, on Aug. 24, 2017.
Official PA TV newsreader: “The [PA] national unity government viewed the participation of senior Israeli officials in the inauguration of a synagogue south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a new aggression against Jerusalem. Official Spokesman of the [PA] Government Yusuf Al-Mahmoud said that the establishment of the synagogue in Silwan stems only from political reasons, which are connected to the character of the occupation government. [The establishment of the synagogue] constitutes part of the settlement and has no connection to religion. Al-Mahmoud again noted the warnings of the [PA] leadership and government that the policy of the government of Israel is liable to lead to a religious war.”
Silwan synagogue – the Ohel Shlomo Synagogue – A historical Yemenite synagogue in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem, which was destroyed after the British expelled the Yemenite Jewish residents of the neighborhood in the 1930s amid Arab riots. In 2015, the Jerusalem District Court evicted an Arab family that was living in the building, and members of the Jewish Ateret Cohanim organization moved in. The synagogue is now being restored (2017).
Israeli Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel and Israeli Parliament Member Mordhay Yogev were present at a Torah dedication ceremony at the synagogue, on Aug. 24, 2017.