ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250091
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: JERUSALEM
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Mufti of Jerusalem, the highest-ranking Muslim clergyman in the holy city, is fuming.
The source of his distress? An Israeli proposal to give Jews the right to pray in the al-Aqsa mosque complex.
``It's not a matter for negotiation or compromise,'' said Ikrema Sabri, his voice rising with emotion, in an interview Monday. ``Al-Aqsa is an Islamic mosque by a decree of Allah.''
The smooth stone floors and vaulted ceiling of his 800-year-old office sit astride the fault line of the Arab-Israeli conflict - the wall that separates Jewish and Muslim holy places in the Old City.
With Jewish religious parties gaining influence in Israel's recent elections and pressing their agenda for more religious rights, the al-Aqsa complex once again could be the flashpoint for major Jewish-Muslim tensions.
To the Muslims, the al-Aqsa complex is known as the ``Haram al-Sharif,'' or ``Noble Sanctuary'' - where an outcrop of rock marks the site where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven on a white steed.
To the Jews, it is the Temple Mount, sacred site of the ancient temple first built by King Solomon and destroyed by the Roman Tenth Legion in A.D. 70.
Sabri said the Koran suggests the children of Israel will lay waste to the Earth.
``This is what Allah said. And we consider what is happening now as a beginning for this Ifsad, or destruction, when Jews reach the level that they will trigger God's wrath,'' said Sabri, his white turban resting on a shelf of holy books under a sign that declares him Mufti, or interpreter of religious law for Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
Jews pray at the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism, which was built as a containment wall for the temple rebuilt by King Herod, directly below the al-Aqsa site. But to prevent conflict, successive Israeli governments have kept the al-Aqsa site out of bounds for Jews since it was captured from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.
``I want the right of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount just like other religions have rights,'' said Hanan Porat, a lawmaker from the National Religious Party whose proposal made front-page news in Arabic dailies Monday.
Porat called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new Likud Party government to make good on a promise to make ``prayer arrangements for Jews at holy sites.''
Israel's new minister in charge of police, Avigdor Kahalani, a former member of the liberal Labor Party, said he would continue the policy of preventing prayer on the Temple Mount.
Most Orthodox Jewish rabbis oppose Jews going to the Temple Mount, fearing that since no one knows the exact site of the ancient temple, they could walk in the wrong place and desecrate it.
``The rabbis today feel that the Temple Mount should be reserved for the time when the Messiah comes, and that's it,'' said Gadalia Schreiber, spokesman for Israel's chief rabbinate.
The al-Aqsa mosque complex has been the focal point of tensions over the past 30 years and has the potential to trigger violence at any time. Several extremist Israeli groups regularly try to pray on the Temple Mount and often clash with police.
In 1969, Muslims rioted in Jerusalem and violence spread throughout the region after an Australian man set fire to al-Aqsa. Seventeen people were killed in 1990 when Israeli police opened fire on Palestinians who threw stones at Jews praying at the Western Wall.
``It is our right to have fear and to be concerned about the statements from Israeli officials. We are afraid that these statements will be turned into deeds,'' Sabri said.
His statement followed a meeting earlier Monday by the 12-member executive committee of the Higher Islamic Council, a group of lay and religious leaders who control Muslim affairs in Jerusalem.
The council expressed concern about the outcome if Jews are allowed into the al-Aqsa complex to pray. Non-Muslim visitors are allowed to visit the site but not to worship, said police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby.
It issued a statement condemning Israelis who ``provoke Muslim feelings.''
Sabri made clear to a visiting U.S. diplomat who arrived in the midst of the interview that he felt the Clinton administration was intricately involved in the dispute.
``We consider the United States would be responsible for any tension in the city from the Likud people,'' Sabri said, expressing fear that President Clinton would ``try to appease'' Israel and American Jewish voters in his re-election bid.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Sabri.by CNB