Al-Aqsa Mosque: Frequent Flashpoint For Violence Between Palestinians And Jews
Earlier on Friday night, over 150 people were wounded when Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinians at the mosque compound. The protesters threw stones, bottles and fireworks while officers fired rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Jerusalem: Scores were reportedly injured in the clashes, which took place outside near Al-Aqsa mosque — the third holiest site in Islam — in Jerusalem, Israel, during the holy month of Ramazan.
This took place after violence believed to have been fuelled by a dispute over the land ownership case erupted between the Palestinians and Israeli security forces near Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday and Saturday, according to report.
Earlier on Friday night, over 150 people were wounded when Israeli riot police clashed with Palestinians at the mosque compound. The protesters threw stones, bottles and fireworks while officers fired rubber bullets and stun grenades.
Clashes erupted again on Saturday as tens of thousands of Muslims prayed at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr.
Laylat al-Qadr is an important night for Muslims as they believe the Quran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
About 80 people were injured in Saturday night’s clashes, the Palestine Red Crescent said.
Fresh clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinian protesters left dozens injured today as well. The Red Crescent organization reported multiple injuries, with at least 50 sent to hospital, after the fighting at the al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Jews at the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, reported dpa news agency.
Earlier in 2015, similar clashes took place at the mosque between the Palestinian youths and Israeli forces after weeks of tension and a number of confrontations at the site.
The mosque compound, known as Haram al-Sharif in Islam, holds a major significance for Jews, who refer to the holy site as the Temple Mount.
Temple Mount, known to the Muslims as the Haram esh-Sharif, located in the compound is a walled-in area dating back to the time of the Second Jewish Temple built at the end of first century B.C.E. Jewish tradition identifies it with Mount Moriah where the binding of Isaac took place.
The mosque is located in close proximity to historical sites significant in Judaism and Christianity, most notably the site of the Second Temple, the holiest site in Judaism. As a result, the area is highly sensitive, and has been a flashpoint in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
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The mosque was notably the site of the second Palestinian uprising that began in September 2000 after then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon stormed the mosque compound with over a 1,000 heavily armed policemen.
It is believed that Prophet Muhammad travelled from Mecca to Al-Aqsa during the Night Journey and then on to heaven, according to the Quran.
“Glorified be He [Allah] Who did take His servant for a journey by night from Al Masjid Al Haram to Al Masjid Al Aqsa, whose precincts We did bless, in order that We might show him some of our Signs. Verily He is the All Hearing, All Seeing,” reads Surah Isra (17:1), a chapter in the Quran.
It was originally built as a small prayer house. The mosque was reportedly reconstructed by the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik in 705 CE. It had to be reuilt again in 746 post an earthquake, and then again in 1033 and many more changes were made by different dynasties of the Islamic Caliphate.
There were several crusades and then the mosque was recaptured by Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt and Syria, in 1187. Several dynasties including the Ottoman empire, the Supreme Muslim Council, and Jordan renovated the mosque.
Though Jerusalem’s Old City is under Israeli control, the mosque has remained under the administration of the Jordanian and Palestinian-led Islamic Waqf, a religious trust that manages Islamic historical sites around the Temple Mount, since 1967.
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