11 April 2005	Monday	01 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

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AL QUDS, April 10: Thousands of Muslims, backed by senior members of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, formed a mass human shield on a vigil at Al Aqsa mosque on Sunday against any possible threat to the flashpoint site from Jewish extremists. With thousands of police also deployed to bar the extremists, no more than a few dozen right-wing Jews turned up, after their newly-formed movement had vowed to rally 10,000 supporters at the holy site they claim as their own.

“We appeal to all Arabs and the entire Muslim world to protect Al Aqsa,” said Hassan Yussef, a leader of the radical Palestinian movement Hamas who left Israeli officials red-faced after slipping into Al Aqsa undetected.

Yussef was addressing fellow Muslims who had gathered inside the compound in such numbers that Israeli police eventually prevented any more from entering, sparking clashes in the process.

Inside the compound however, the atmosphere remained relatively calm and even festive at times with families picknicking under the shade of cyprus trees as they listened to a series of speeches.

At times, the crowds broke into chants of “With our blood and with our souls, we will defend Al Aqsa” to underline their determination to stand up to any perceived threats to a site which is holy to both Muslims and Jews.

The Muslim faithful had begun gathering at the mosque the night before, many of them sleeping inside the compound for its protection, amid fears that Jewish protesters were trying to provoke a confrontation at the site.

Yussef appealed on the crowds to avoid any direct confrontation with police.

“We have come here to support the Al Aqsa mosque and to defend our holy places. The Muslim and Christian holy places need our protection,” he said in an address by loudspeaker.

“The dream of the extremists is to destroy Al Aqsa and to build the temple, so we ask all the Islamic world to join us in protecting Al Aqsa.”

The compound, called Haram al-Sharif by Muslims, shelters the Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque) as well as the Al Aqsa mosque. But it is also revered by Jews as the site of the Jewish temple, the holiest shrine in Judaism, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Hind Khuri, minister without portfolio in the Palestinian cabinet who was also among the crowds inside the compound, said the Israeli authorities had been “playing with fire” by failing to deal more firmly with extremists.

She was also furious that some Muslims had been barred from going to the compound by Israeli police on horseback.

“We are not threatening anyone, it is only the settlers who are coming with a dangerous message,” she told AFP. “It is almost a sin not to allow Palestinians to go to their holy sites.”

Members of Revava, the extremist Jewish organisation which was prevented from holding a prayer session at the site, were also angry with the Israeli police for preventing them from exercising what they regarded as a fundamental religious right.—AFP