Influential Islamic Cleric Advances Har Habyit Lies
*The Western wall is not a holy Jewish site, but is instead an “integral part” of the Al Aqsa Mosque.
*Jews have no right to pray on the Temple Mount and they can go build their Third Temple in Yemen.
*Archaeological evidence of a Jewish historic connection to the Temple Mount is “one great lie, one great bluff.”
These declarations and more were made by Sheikh Ibrahim Sarsur, one of the leading clerics behind the ideology of the Islamic Movement, which has been spearheading a campaign of incitement claiming a Jewish threat to the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Sansur is the former head of the southern faction of the Islamic Movement, an Israeli Arab Islamist organization whose more radical northern branch stands accused of playing a central role in instigating the current Palestinian “wave of terror” in Israel.
Sansur, an Israeli Arab, also served as a member of Israel’s Knesset.
He made the above statements during a sometimes-heated debate with this radio host, who repeatedly challenged Sansur to explain why Jews can’t pray on their holiest site, the Temple Mount.
“Jews simply want to go up to their holiest site. … What’s the problem with that?” I asked.
“They cannot go,” Sansur replied.
“If a Jew goes to the Al Aqsa Mosque, what happens to the Muslims? Why is it so terrible?” I continued.
“They can build their temple in Yemen from my point of view,” Sansur shot back.
“They just want to pray,” I persisted.
“You are simply exploding the whole area if not the whole world. They have to respect the realities on the ground. Let people think that this place is a sacred place for them. Jews and Muslims.”
“Just as long as Jews don’t go up,” I interrupted.
At another point in the interview, Sansur exclaimed Jews have no right to pray at the Temple Mount “because they have their own wall, by the way, the Western wall. They are praying there…”
I interjected by pointing out that Sansur and the Islamic Movement support a Palestinian Authority bid to submit a resolution to the UN’s cultural body to officially proclaim the Western Wall as part of Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
“We believe the wall is an integral part of the Al Aqsa Mosque,” Sansur affirmed.
In another exchange, Sansur was asked to explain the multiple times the Islamic Waqf custodians of the Temple Mount were caught disposing of Jewish Temple artifacts found on the site. The Waqf was widely accused of attempting to hide evidence of the existence of the Jewish Temples.
Sansur responded by saying the episodes never happened, calling the widespread reports and documentary evidence of the artifact disposal “one great bluff, one great lie.”
“But what do you mean,” I shot back, “this was done in the full view of the entire international media. It’s been reported by the New York Times. It’s been reported by the Washington Post. The head of the Israel Antiquities Authority oversaw and to this day they are still overseeing this”
Sansur responded by stating, “Muslims are here. And they have their own researchers and they have their own archaeologists.”
Media Overlook Interesting Slip By Clinton
In a revealing statement largely overlooked by the media covering last week’s House Select Committee on Benghazi hearing, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton essentially implied that Ambassador Chris Stevens was engaged in securing shoulder-fired missiles in Libya.
The dangerous weapons effort may shed light on why the U.S. special mission in Benghazi was attacked on September 11, 2012.
The largest terrorist looting of Man-Portable-Air-Defense-Systems, or MANPADS, took place immediately after the U.S.-NATO military campaign strongly pushed by Clinton that helped to end Moammar Khaddafi’s rule in Libya.
Khaddafi had hoarded Africa’s biggest-known reserve of MANPADS, with a stock said to number between 15,000 and 20,000. Many of the missiles were stolen by militias fighting in Libya, including those backed by the U.S. in their anti- Khaddafi efforts. There were reports of a Western effort to secure the MANPADS, including collecting some from rebels in Libya.
In her opening remarks Thursday, Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, surprisingly referenced Stevens and the threat of missiles reaching extremists.
Stated Clinton: “Nobody knew the dangers of Libya better. A weak government, extremist groups, rampant instability. But Chris chose to go to Benghazi because he understood America had to be represented there at that pivotal time.”
Clinton said Stevens “also knew how urgent it was to ensure that the weapons Khaddafi had left strewn across the country, including shoulder-fired missiles that could knock an airplane out of the sky, did not fall into the wrong hands.”
Clinton did not further comment on any role Stevens himself may have had in securing the MANPADS.
Later in her testimony, however, Clinton appeared to have addressed the sensitive nature of Stevens’ work, admitting, “Americans representing different agencies” later came into Libya and carried out “the same work” as Stevens but not overtly.
Clinton apparently was referring to the CIA annex located near the U.S. special mission. She seemed to imply that Stevens was involved in efforts beyond the normal diplomatic activities of an ambassador without specifying the nature of the “same work” that both he and other agencies carried out.
A central part of Hillary Clinton’s testimony to the legislative committee investigating the Benghazi attack is directly contradicted by the Pentagon expert who led the U.S. military’s efforts to supplement diplomatic security in Libya.
Meanwhile, repeating an assertion she has previously made, Clinton stated unequivocally at the hearing that there were no recommendations from anyone within the government to close the U.S. special mission in Benghazi despite security threats.
Clinton’s testimony is contradicted by Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, the chief point man in the U.S. military’s efforts to coordinate diplomatic security in Libya.
Wood testified that he personally recommended the Benghazi mission be closed, as documented in the 46-page House Republican report probing the Benghazi attacks.
Page six of the report cites security concerns, including more than 200 attacks in Libya, 50 of which took place in Benghazi, including against the U.S. mission there.
States the Republican report: “These developments caused Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, who led the U.S. military’s efforts to supplement diplomatic security in Libya, to recommend that the State Department consider pulling out of Benghazi altogether.”
The report said Wood “explained that after the withdrawal of these other organizations, ‘it was apparent to me that we were the last [Western] flag flying in Benghazi. We were the last thing on their target list to remove from Benghazi.’”