Armageddon draws near as Israel pushes brinkmanship

Urgent appeal to all Muslims to defend Aqsa Mosque

(March 17, Jerusalem, Sri Lanka Guardian) Preacher of the Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ikrima Sabri issued on Sunday an urgent appeal to all Palestinians to be alert to the Israeli preparations to open a mythical synagogue tomorrow and head to the holy Aqsa Mosque to defend it by all means.

In a statement, Sheikh Sabri warned that the hurva (ruin) synagogue is a prelude to the building of the alleged temple of Solomon on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque, affirming that the story of this synagogue is fictitious and was made to pave the way towards the demolition of the holy Mosque.

He noted that the higher Islamic council and Jerusalemite organizations issued a statement to call on all Palestinians at home to travel to the Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday to defend it against the dangers threatening it.

The preacher highlighted that the Palestinians alone cannot stand in the face of the Israeli occupation, calling on all Arab and Muslim peoples and governments to support them in these critical moments...

~ more... ~


Clashes in Jerusalem: A Third Intifada?

17/03/2010

by Kifah Zaboun

Ramallah, Asharq Al-Awsat- The streets of Jerusalem were transformed into a battleground between angry Palestinians and Israeli security forces following news of the rededication of a Jewish synagogue and Israeli plans to build settlements close to the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was a scene that recalled the first Intifada which utilized all means of popular resistance, from setting barricades and closing down streets to setting fires and throwing stones. Israeli intelligence agents and Israeli undercover officers dressed as Arabs were also involved, and responded to the demonstrations by arresting a number of Palestinians. Reports indicate that the undercover Israeli officers fired a number of shots resulting in dozens of Palestinians being injured.

The clashes broke out early in the day in what was described as the Palestinian "Day of Rage." National and Islamic forces and religious figures called for a day of demonstrations to protest against the Israeli plans in East Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians reportedly took part in these demonstrations against the rededication of a synagogue near the Al-Aqsa Mosque, something that the Palestinians believe is part of a larger Israeli plan to destroy the mosque and build a Jewish temple on its ruins. Three thousand Israeli officers were put on high alert and took up positions along the Temple Mount. The confrontation between the Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli forces soon moved from the alleys of the Old Town to other areas in the holy city. There were confrontations in the neighborhoods of Ras Al Amoud, Silwan, Jabal al-Zeitun, Wadi al-Joz, and Sawana, as well as the village of Issawiya, and also the Shufat and Qalandia Refugee Camps, and the town of Abu Dis. This wave of anger later spread to the cities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

~ more... ~


Hezbollah pledges solidarity with al-Quds protesters

...The Islamic movement also demanded that Arab and Muslim leaders take concrete action against Israel.

On Wednesday, a Palestinian parliamentary official called on al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, to respond to Israeli practices in East al-Quds.

Fatah's armed wing, al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, also called on the Palestinian Authority to return their confiscated weapons and release the group's fighters in jail so that they could join the "al-Quds Intifada" and help protect the al-Aqsa Mosque — the third holiest site in the Muslim world.

~ more... ~


GORDON DUFF: U.S. TELLS ISRAEL: “YOU ARE UNDERMINING AMERICA, ENDANGERING TROOPS”

Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Clinton and Joint Chief's Chairman Mike Mullen have all recently visited Israel on two issues, reliable information that Israel was planning an attack on Iran, a plan designed to push America into a war our leaders believe is both wrong and likely to risk a global nuclear confrontation with Russia and the building of a massive housing project on the Arab side of Jerusalem in violation of numerous agreements, a project that is likely to cause a spike in world terrorism and send thousands of new fighters to Afghanistan to face American forces there.

This is the worst point in the history of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel since the founding of that nation in 1948 but these are not the only reasons, not these and the arrogant and intractable attitude of Israel's leaders nor being caught in lie after lie, lies told to their financial backer and closest ally, the United States.  Here is some background on CENTOM Commander, General Petraeus' shocking briefing:

On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM's mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region…

 “Everywhere they went, the message was pretty humbling,” a Pentagon officer familiar with the briefing says. “America was not only viewed as weak, but its military posture in the region was eroding.” But Petraeus wasn't finished: two days after the Mullen briefing, Petraeus sent a paper to the White House requesting that the West Bank and Gaza (which, with Israel, is a part of the European Command — or EUCOM), be made a part of his area of operations.  The Mullen briefing and Petraeus's request hit the White House like a bombshell… pressing Israel once again on the settlements issue, sending Mitchell on a visit to a number of Arab capitals and dispatching Mullen for a carefully arranged meeting with the chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi. … Certainly, it was thought, Israel would get the message.

Israel didn't. When Vice President Joe Biden was embarrassed by an Israeli announcement that the Netanyahu government was building 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, the administration reacted. But no one was more outraged than Biden who, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, engaged in a private, and angry, exchange with the Israeli Prime Minister:

 “This is starting to get dangerous for us,” Biden reportedly told Netanyahu. “What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace.” Yedioth Ahronoth went on to report: “The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel's actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism.” The message couldn't be plainer: Israel's intransigence could cost American  lives.

The deterioration started long before this and can be tracked by changing perceptions in the Obama administration whose leaders are heavily “pro-Israel” but lack the extremist convictions of the Zionist/extremist group that surrounded President Bush.  When Obama took office, even Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, one of the most prominent Israeli proponents in the country, had become aware of the extent of Israeli involvement in areas that had taken the “special relationship” into an area of disaster for the United States.

~ more... ~