Synagogue being rebuilt in Old City is part of Israel’s “systematic policy of Judaization,” an attempt to show that “an imaginary Hebrew history exists” about “the first and second alleged Temple”
“The [Israeli-Arab] Al-Aqsa Institute for Islamic Trusts and Heritage said that the occupation government has allocated 50 million shekels for the construction of the Tiferet Israel synagogue in the heart of the Old [City of] Jerusalem, 200 meters from the Al-Aqsa Mosque…
The Institute exposed the details of this project with pictures and maps, and described it as a ‘huge Judaization [project].’ It [the institute] said: ‘Through it [the project], the occupation is acting to plant tall Judaizing buildings in the vicinity of [the] Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, in an attempt to create the impression that an imaginary Hebrew history exists, and in an attempt to Judaize the [urban] space of Jerusalem, to damage the landscape, which exclusively highlights the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock in particular, and to attract millions of foreign Jewish and Christian visitors...’
It [the institute] noted that the synagogue would be built on a site that was originally an Islamic waqf (an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) that includes a historic Islamic house of prayer, but the occupation claims it has recently approved a project to renovate the Beit Israel synagogue, which had been built on the site in the past…
The institute added… that the structure would include a large synagogue and exhibition rooms for archeological findings (the occupation claims it found relics from the period of the first and second alleged Temples) [parenthesis in source]… PLO Executive Committee Member and Head of the Department for Jerusalem Affairs Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa) called the occupation government’s decision to lay the cornerstone of the Tiferet Israel synagogue a criminal act, perpetrated as part of the Israeli occupation’s policy of Judaizing the Holy City and completely altering its landmarks. [He noted that] this step is unacceptable, and that the Israeli occupation government bears full responsibility for its violations, its stubbornness and its determination in instituting a systematic policy of settlement and Judaization in Jerusalem.
In his statement yesterday [May 27, 2014], Qurei expressed deep concern at the fact that the occupation government has allocated millions of shekels to build this Judaizing synagogue, on a site which is originally an Islamic waqf, and which includes a historic Islamic house of prayer.”
From WAFA, official PA news agency
Note: The Tiferet Israel and Ohel Yitzhak (Beit Yitzhak) synagogues are reconstructions of 19th century synagogues that were destroyed in 1948.
The original Tiferet Israel synagogue was constructed in 1872 on land that had been purchased from its Arab owners. It was destroyed by the Jordanian Legion in 1948. (Contrary to the claim made in the article above, no mosque existed on the site; a Muslim sheikh's grave was discovered there during foundation work, but was moved outside the city walls in accordance with the decision of the city’s Muslim religious judge.)
The original Ohel Yitzhak Synagogue was built in the 1870’s in a courtyard that had been purchased from the prominent Khalidiyah family, the owners of one of the largest and most important Islamic family libraries in the world today. It was abandoned during the Arab riots of 1938, and destroyed by the Jordanians during the period of Jordanian rule between 1948 and 1967.
The Institute exposed the details of this project with pictures and maps, and described it as a ‘huge Judaization [project].’ It [the institute] said: ‘Through it [the project], the occupation is acting to plant tall Judaizing buildings in the vicinity of [the] Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem, in an attempt to create the impression that an imaginary Hebrew history exists, and in an attempt to Judaize the [urban] space of Jerusalem, to damage the landscape, which exclusively highlights the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock in particular, and to attract millions of foreign Jewish and Christian visitors...’
It [the institute] noted that the synagogue would be built on a site that was originally an Islamic waqf (an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) that includes a historic Islamic house of prayer, but the occupation claims it has recently approved a project to renovate the Beit Israel synagogue, which had been built on the site in the past…
The institute added… that the structure would include a large synagogue and exhibition rooms for archeological findings (the occupation claims it found relics from the period of the first and second alleged Temples) [parenthesis in source]… PLO Executive Committee Member and Head of the Department for Jerusalem Affairs Ahmed Qurei (Abu Alaa) called the occupation government’s decision to lay the cornerstone of the Tiferet Israel synagogue a criminal act, perpetrated as part of the Israeli occupation’s policy of Judaizing the Holy City and completely altering its landmarks. [He noted that] this step is unacceptable, and that the Israeli occupation government bears full responsibility for its violations, its stubbornness and its determination in instituting a systematic policy of settlement and Judaization in Jerusalem.
In his statement yesterday [May 27, 2014], Qurei expressed deep concern at the fact that the occupation government has allocated millions of shekels to build this Judaizing synagogue, on a site which is originally an Islamic waqf, and which includes a historic Islamic house of prayer.”
From WAFA, official PA news agency
Note: The Tiferet Israel and Ohel Yitzhak (Beit Yitzhak) synagogues are reconstructions of 19th century synagogues that were destroyed in 1948.
The original Tiferet Israel synagogue was constructed in 1872 on land that had been purchased from its Arab owners. It was destroyed by the Jordanian Legion in 1948. (Contrary to the claim made in the article above, no mosque existed on the site; a Muslim sheikh's grave was discovered there during foundation work, but was moved outside the city walls in accordance with the decision of the city’s Muslim religious judge.)
The original Ohel Yitzhak Synagogue was built in the 1870’s in a courtyard that had been purchased from the prominent Khalidiyah family, the owners of one of the largest and most important Islamic family libraries in the world today. It was abandoned during the Arab riots of 1938, and destroyed by the Jordanians during the period of Jordanian rule between 1948 and 1967.