'Battle for Jerusalem has begun'

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By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
August 28, 2005

The Palestinian Authority Sunday held its weekly cabinet meeting in a Mount of Olives town just half-a-kilometer away from the Temple Mount.

Convening in Abu Dis, it was the first time that PA lawmakers held such a meeting adjacent to the heart of the Israeli capital, which the Palestinian Arabs claim for their own.

While a Palestinian Authority official said the meeting's aim was to express the Arabs' concern over Israel's ?plan to expand settlements,? the decision to convene the meeting so close to Israel?s holiest site was apparently made by a PLO emboldened by its successful campaign to drive the Jews out of the Gaza Strip.

Since Israelis were expelled from the strip last week, the PA has reiterated its resolve to also see the Jews driven from the heart of Israel?s ancient land, including Jerusalem.

Following that line, PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia declared during Sunday's meeting that ?the fight for Jerusalem has begun.?

?And it is a dangerous war,? continued Qureia, insisting the Arabs, both Muslim and Christian, would never accept Jewish sovereignty in the city where Israel's kings once ruled.

Abu Dis is located between the site of the biblical town of Bethany and one of two sites identified as the village of Bethpage. It is an area rich in Jewish and Christian history, Bethany being a place Jesus loved to frequent and Bethpage the site where sacrifice animals were kept before being taken up to the Temple Mount.

The Temple Mount was designated by the God of Israel as His holiest site ? the place where He put His name. It is the holiest place to the Jewish people.

Abbas? predecessor ? Yasser Arafat ? wanted to be able to see the mount from his offices in Abu Dis. Reports a few years ago spoke of his ambition to lead worshippers to prayer on the Temple Mount after the successful establishment of his state.

Arafat wanted to be buried on the Temple Mount but Israel would not permit this desecration of its sacred site.

The compound built in Abu Dis under the Oslo Accords has served in the past as headquarters for PA security organs, including Force 17, the General Intelligence Force, the Preventative Security Service, Military Intelligence, the Political Guidance Apparatus (responsible for military and political propaganda) and the Palestinian Police forces.

In May 2000, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak extended ?A-area? status to the town, placing it under full PA control.

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• Netanyahu to Bush: Jerusalem is Israel's for eternity
• Minister appeases Muslims on Temple Mount
• Mufti: No Jewish prayers in 'Palestine's' Jerusalem
• Academics wrestle with ramifications of dividing Jerusalem

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