• Newspapers, broadcasts and reports from Jerusalem indicated that the Israeli excavations around the holy Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock were continuing and that they threaten to cause cracks and bring down both temples.

• The Jerusalem Post, in its 4,406th edition of August 22, 1981, reported that archaeological teams belonging to the Israeli military occupation authorities were carrying out excavations aimed at discovering the tombs of the kings of Israel.

• The Israeli military occupation radio reported on the morning of Thursday, August 27, 1981, that the two Chief Rabbis in occupied Palestine had visited a tunnel discovered recently under the Wailing Wall– i.e., the Holy Bozak– leading to a sensitive area– i.e., the Sacred Shrine. The next morning, on August 28, the enemy radio announced that the Islamic Organization at Jerusalem had asked the occupation authorities to allow its engineers to explore the site of the tunnel, and to undertake the necessary measures in the light of their discovery. The broadcast further said that the tunnel was no more than an old well and that it had been discovered well over a month earlier.

• The Jerusalem Post reported in its edition of August 28 details of the tunnel excavations carried out a month earlier by a task force belonging to the Israeli Ministry of Religions. The report added that the excavations had begun a century ago, and that a room had been built there for a synagogue. The report further said that the excavations extended for some distance under the Sacred Shrine, and that they were meant to reach the Dome of the Rock.

• The construction engineer of the holy Al Aqsa Mosque, Essam Awaad, released a later report concerning the digging of the tunnel. The report revealed that the excavations started down below the western wall of the sacred shrine in the place known as Matthara, between Sleselah and Kattanin gates, and extended 25 meters east at a depth of 6 meters, reaching a place in front of Kaitbai fountain facing the western part of the Dome of the Rock.

• These excavations, it has been noted, surround the sacred shrine and the Al Aqsa Mosque from the south and the Dome of the Rock from the west. These excavations are an extension of their counterparts and of the incessant encroachment on Islamic cultural buildings adjacent to the western and southern walls of the sacred shrine, as well as the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

• Regardless of the dispute between the religious communities and the Israeli military governors on the site of the first excavations and their allegations that they are the burial places of the ancient kings of Israel and, regardless of their claim that the tunnel they had discovered in the second place was no more than an old well, the Israeli excavations in the said area constitute a flagrant violation of the sanctity of the holy Islamic sites and persistently threaten to bring them down, thus paving the way for their demolition and the setting up of a shrine for Judaism in their stead and in the courtyards of the sacred shrine thereof.

• These excavations constitute a challenge to the Arab and Islamic worlds, and constitute constant violations of the Hague and Geneva Conventions as well as the resolutions of UNESCO, the Security Council and the entire United Nations, and hence deserve attention and action on all levels.

Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.

Reports concerning the following criminal acts by the Israelis were taken from the records of the Islamic Higher Council in Jerusalem:

March 2, 1982 Armed Jewish settlers and students from Kiryat Arba raided the Al Aqsa Mosque from the Silsilah gate, after assaulting the guards. One was injured•

March 30, 1982 Jewish terrorists called the Temple Mount Faithful group, accompanied by two Knesset members, Guela Cohen and Ben Porat, entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard in a provocative manner•

April 3, 1982 A group of Jewish terrorists tried to raid the Al Aqsa Mosque from the Dung Gate, but were prevented by Waqf (religious Trust) guards. One of the guards was shot•

April 8, 1982 The Temple Mount Faithful group of Jewish terrorists placed a fake bomb and a threatening letter in front of the Aqsa Mosque door. The bomb consisted of a transistor radio and a timing device. The guard of the mosque found and dismantled it•

April 11, 1982 An Israeli soldier, American-born Allan Goodman, entered the Dome of the Rock Mosque and started firing shots randomly. One person was killed and dozens were injured•

May 12, 1982 A sergeant from the Jerusalem municipal police trespassed on Al Aqsa Mosque land. He claimed he was trying to verify allegations made by Geula Cohen that there were illegal buildings in the Mosque area•

May 22, 1982 Jewish terrorists entered the Haram al Sharif area, distributing leaflets and inciting Jews to go to Pray in the Al Aqsa Mosque area

June 4, 1982 Terrorist Jews sent a letter to the Islamic Council threatening the demolition of Al Aqsa Mosque•

July 7, 1982 The Temple Mount Faithful Jewish terrorist group entered the Mosque yard to hold a demonstration in support of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon•

July 28, 1982 Armed Jewish Yeshiva students seized three apartments near the Al Aqsa Mosque, and left only after they were ordered to evacuate by police•

March 5, 1982 An explosive charge was found on the road leading to the Al Aqsa Mosque, near the entrance of Bab al Majles•

January 14, 1984 Israeli tourist guides handed out false maps to tourists showing two Jewish altars in place of the two mosques on Haram al Sharif•

January 27, 1984 At night a group of terrorist Jews entered the mosque with explosives, intending to blow up Al Aqsa Mosque•

March 24, 1984 An terrorist Jewish group publicly declared its intention to perform the Passover prayers and animal sacrifice in the Al Aqsa Mosque•

March 29, 1984 The Israeli Archaeological Department of the Ministry of Religion constructed a tunnel, one meter in length, two meters wide and ten meters deep, near the western part of the Al Aqsa Mosque near the Dung Gate. The tunnel endangered the Islamic Council Building•

April 23, 1984 Terrorist Jews entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, holding weapons, during the prayer time. They proceeded to commit immoral and indecent acts on the holy site•

September 25, 1984 Members of the Temple Mount Faithful Jewish terrorist group attempted to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque yard to pray, but were prevented by Waqf guards•

January 8, 1986 Some Knesset members accompanied by other extremist Jews tried to hold prayers in the Al Aqsa Mosque yard•

January 9, 1986 The Temple Mount Faithful terrorist Jews entered the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, after hoisting the Israeli flag at the Dung Gate. Police removed the flag•

January 14, 1986 When Rabbi Eliezer Waldman trespassed into the Al Aqsa Mosque yard, hundreds of Muslim youth demonstrated against his entry. Military forces used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and arrested 19 persons•

January 19, 1986 The Kach movement, led by Meir Kahane, violently attempted to enter the Al Aqsa Mosque yard. They were prevented by border guards, and detained for one hour and then released•

May 12, 1988 Israeli soldiers opened fire on a peaceful Muslim march at the Haram, killing and wounding about 100 Palestinians•

August 8, 1990 The Israeli authorities committed a grisly massacre at the Al Aqsa Mosque, killing 22 worshippers and injuring over 200.

July 25, 1995 The Israeli High Court of Justice allows Jews to pray at the “Temple Mount”, sparking widespread protests among Muslims.

Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.

The United Nations Security Council was convened in April, 1981, to discuss the new attack and desecration by Zionists of the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque. Dr. Hazem Nusseibeh, the Ambassador of Jordan, described the attack in his statement to the Council in its meeting of April 13, 1982. The following are excerpts of the statement:

On Sunday, 11 April, at 9:20 a.m., a gang of armed Israeli troops directed heavy fire from various directions at the Al Aqsa Mosque…

That Israeli carnage was carried out to give cover to an Israeli soldier– or is he an American? He is in fact both– by the name of Alan Harry Goodman, who was on a murderous journey of death and desecration. He killed in cold blood a 65-year old unarmed Arab guard at the Magharba– Moroccan Gate– evidently unchallenged by the armed Israeli trooper who sits there. He murdered in cold blood two other unarmed guardians and seriously wounded a third at the entrance to the Dome of the Rock, opened up his fire-arms at the worshippers in every direction, for a duration of half an hour. Eyewitnesses at the scene reported that he had a large stock of ammunition on his shoulders, to murder the maximum number of devout worshippers and civilians in the vicinity. Having murdered nine and wounded 40 other in the Mosque, this Israeli-American criminal directed his fire at the Al-Minbar– pulpit– the chandeliers, the mosaic, the marble and the carpets, some of which caught fire. The casualties in that premeditated and well-planned assault totaled at least 100 inside and outside the holy Mosque.

Fearful that the highly provoked victims would capture that gutter terrorist, his accomplices– the Israeli so-called anti-riot police– imposed a total curfew on that historic and ancient City, demolished a part of one of the walls of the holy sanctuary, stormed the Dome of the Rock and ensured the safety of the criminal by firing at the crowd, and then whisked him away to safety in a closed military van…

The Islamic Council in Jerusalem, which has called a seven-day strike throughout the occupied territories, denounced a statement issued Sunday by the office of Prime Minister Menachem Begin which described the Israeli soldier as mentally ill. The criminal, Alan Harry Goodman, formerly of Baltimore, was inducted into the army last month for a brief service customary for immigrants. Of course, he has dual nationality.

The Higher Islamic Council said it was absurd of the Prime Minister’s office to describe the assailant as deranged, because soldiers were supposed to undergo physical examinations. Moreover, the Higher Islamic Council added, the assailant was not alone. It asserted that he had been covered during his attack by fire from many directions. How else could he have continued his shooting spree within the Dome of the Rock for half an hour until he had expended all his bullets?

The Zionist designs against the Islamic Holy Sanctuary are long and infamous. A chronology survey of these activities includes the following:

1.Continuous and sustained deep digging under the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Sanctuary as a whole– structures which are 14 centuries old– began immediately after the Zionist occupation of the Holy City, in addition to the demolition of hundreds of buildings in the area adjacent to it. These deep diggings have reached such depths that entire structures are threatened with collapse.

2.On 21 August, 1969 the Zionists carried out a plot of arson to set the entire Al Aqsa Mosque on fire. The arsonist, Michael Rohan, a Zionist Australian, was declared deranged– not unlike the person in question today– and sent to Australia.

3.On 9 May 1980, 120 kilos of high explosives, scores of bombs, wires and other explosive contraptions were accidentally discovered a mere few minutes away from the time of detonation on the roof of a Jewish school in the Old City, 150 yards away from the target. The Gush Emunim terrorist movement was behind the plan, which aimed at blowing up the Al Aqsa Mosque and other historical buildings. The day was a Friday and tens of thousands of worshippers might have been killed or maimed if that arsenal of explosives had not been accidentally discovered two minutes before explosion.

4.Repeated attempts by Israeli groups to force their way into mosques of the holy sanctuary, leading to numerous clashes.

5.Last year, the Israeli Gush Emunim started digging a tunnel leading to the Dome of the Rock. The attempt was discovered and foiled by the civilian inhabitants.

6.7 April, 1982– that is, three days before the Easter Sunday massacre– explosive charges placed by (Gush Emunim) were discovered at the entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque and dismantled. Beside the charges were pamphlets threatening to blow up the Al Aqsa Mosque and physically liquidate the religious dignitaries. The threats were written in broken Arabic and issued from the Kiryat Arba illegal settlement overlooking the City of Al-Khalil (Hebron).

(New York Times correspondent David Shipler revealed the following on 12 April 1982, p.12). He said, referring to the Israeli troops, that “Just before going, one of them, with a laugh, threw a tear gas grenade near the (Al Aqsa) Mosque upwind of the main door. Smoke from the perfectly placed canister blew into the mosque, and worshippers came out coughing and wiping their eyes. One elderly man was carried to an ambulance. A few of the troops walked away laughing.”

If the spot is as sacred to those troops as they claim it is, it is truly incongruous that the soldiers would have behaved with that bellicose and nauseating meanness…

Source: Encyclopedia of Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.

Some Christian American evangelists and Jewish terrorists have formed an organization with the name The Jerusalem Temple Foundation. It has an address in Los Angeles, California, and in Jerusalem. The Board of Directors of this foundation are the following: Terry Risenhoover, Chairman of the Board, is Chairman of Alaska Land Leasing Inc., of Los Angeles, California; Douglas Krieger, Executive Director of Jerusalem Temple Foundation and of Alaska Land Leasing Inc., of Los Angeles, California; Dr. Charles E. Monroe, President, is President of the Center of Judeo-Christian studies, of Poway, California; Dr. Hilton Sutton, Director, is Chairman of Mission to America, of Humble, texas; Dr. James DeLoach, Director, is Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, of Houston, Texas; and Stanley Goldfoot is a Jew from South Africa. He was a member of the Irgun Z’vai Leumi and was one of the four terrorists who placed the bombs in 1946 under the King David Hotel and caused the massacre of the King David Hotel.

The contemplated projects of this foundation as they appear in a brochure printed by it are the following: “1. Jewish Temple Foundation office at the Temple Mount area in Jerusalem. 2. The establishment of a Temple Mount area in Jerusalem. 3. Assistance in land and buildings redemption by Jews in Israel. 4. Freedom for Jews and Christians to worship on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. 5. The use of geophysical methods for archaeological surveys in Jerusalem. 6. Preparations for the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. 7. Preparation of films and video presentations related to the Temple Mount. 8. Other projects as necessary and as funds are made available.”

Source: Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem by Issa Nakhleh.

It was located at 10.5 km south of Nazareth. It was occupied by Israel in May 24, 1948. Indur had an elementary school for boys which was founded by the Ottomans, however, it closed its doors during the British Mandate period. A prominent son of the village was , Shaykh Tawfiq Ibrahim,one of the leaders of the 1936-39 rebellion against the British Mandate. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khaldi, the village remains are many partially ruined walls stand on the village site, date, down palm, fig, almond trees.

Land ownership before occupation

Land usage in 1945

Population before occupation

Bibliography:

– All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948 by Walid Khalidi.

– www. PalestineRememenbered.com

Ayn al-Mansi, district of Jenin was occupied by Israel in the 12^th-13^th of April on 1948. The village was completely obliterated and defaced soon after occupation. ‘Ayn al-Mansi inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed. After the destruction a group of Jewish immigrants were established there temporary.

Al-Mansi contains Tall al-Mutasallim, an important archaeological site, which was excavated by the University of Chicago between 1925 and 1939.

In 1931 the number of houses in the village were 15 and in 1948 were 21.

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:

“The village has been completely destroyed and levelled. After the destruction of the village, a temporary camp for Jewish immigrants was established in the early years of the state. After this camp was dismantled, a thick forest of fir trees was planted there. Today the remains of this camp are visible among the trees. In the northern area of the site are the remains of a cemetery , covered with wild grass and thorns. A gasoline station has been built on the eastern side of the cemetery. Almond, olive and fig trees grow to the north and west of the cemetery”.

Land ownership before occupation

Land usage in 1945

Population before occupation

Source: Palestineremembered.com

Israeli Occupation Date: July 10, 1948. ‘Amqa was mostly destroyed with the exception of the its school and its mosque. ‘Amqa was mostly ethnically cleansed with the exception of its Druze inhabitants who still live nearby.

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are: “The site is overgrown with wild grasses. Only the school and mosque are extant. The mosque is a stone structure surmounted with a dome. The school has a gabled roof and has been joined to some new annexes that were added by Israelis who now use the complex as a warehouse.”

One elementary school for boys which was founded by the Ottomans in 1887, which remains standing to this date. ‘Amqa has one mosque which remains standing, but in need of serious renovation.

Three khirbats lay within ‘Amqa’s vicinity that contains the foundations of buildings, well-chiseled building stones, presses, and a cistern.

Land ownership before occupation

  Land usage in 1945

Population before occupation

Number of houses

Source: www.PalestineRememnered.com

Ayn Gazal was occupied on the 26^th of July 1948. Its location is 21 km south of Haifa. ‘Ayn Ghazal inhabitants were mostly expelled eastward to Jinin (West Bank). The village has been mostly destroyed with the exception of the village shrine. According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, the village remaining structures on the village land are:

“The dilapidated shrine of Shaykh Shahada is the only standing structure on the village site. Ruins of walls and piles of stones can be seen all over the site, as well as stands of pine, cactus, and fig and pomegranate trees. “

‘Ayn Ghazal had two schools: the 1st was an elementary school for boys which was founded by the Ottomans in 1886, and the 2nd school was an elementary school for girls.

In 1931, the number of houses were 247 and in 1948 there were 432 houses.

Land ownership before occupation

Land usage in 1945

Population before occupation

Source: Palestineremembered.com

Israeli occupation date: 30^th of May 1948. The village has been completely obliterated and defaced. Al-Mazar inhabitants were completely ethnically cleansed.  The villagers traced their origins to al-Sa’diyyum nomads who in turn were descended from al-Shaykh Sa’d al-Din al-Shaybani (d. 1224), a prominent Sufi mystic from the village of Jaba’ in the Golan Heights, Syria. The village was the home of al-Shaykh Farhan al-Sadi, a prominent leader of the 1936 Palestinian revolt. Al-Mazar may have been named after the burial places for many of those who were killed during the decisive battle of Ayn Jalut (1260) in which the Mamluks of Egypt triumphed over the Mongols. Today, the town is just a site with thorns and cactuses, strewn with stone rubble. We can find almonds trees. The hilly lands are used as grazing areas.

In 1931 there were 62 houses, and in 1948 the number was 75.

Land ownership before occupation

Land usage in 1945

Population before occupation

Source: Palestineremembered.com