Israel conspired to burn Al-Aqsa and hindered fire engines
Dr. Tayseer Al-Tamimi, PA Chief Justice of Religious Court, and Chairman of Supreme Council of Islamic Law:
"The Israeli government conspired and formed an alliance with this criminal -- who came from Australia, and is a Jew -- for the burning of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. On August 21st, 1968, a year before the burning of the Mosque, he came to the Mosque and tried to burn it. He inserted the [flammable] substances to burn the Mosque, but the guards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque prevented it… A year later on the same date, on August 21, 1969, this criminal arrived and set fire to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. This is why we claim that the Israeli government is the planner and executer. The area burned by the fire, which included a large portion of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirms that the one who committed this catastrophic action is not [Australian] Michael Rohan, as claimed, but a number of people . . . There is a lot of evidence pointing to the fact that Israel is the one that planned the burning, [including] the delay of the fire engines to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. If it were not [for the delay] of the fire engines from Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, and other cities in the West Bank, the fire would not have spread to the whole mosque. . . One piece of evidence that clarifies that the Israeli government participated in the event is that it shut down the water to the Al-Aqsa Mosque." Note: The fire in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 was started by a deranged Australian Christian.