Study finds holy site for Jews is Muslim
Palestine, Religion, 11/20/1997

The western wall of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, known as Al Buraq wall in Islam and the Wailing Wall for Jews, is a property of the Muslim Waqf and not the State of Israel, new legal research by Dr. Shmuel Berkovich of Jerusalem revealed lately.

The research noted that despite the fact that following the 1967 June War, Israel expropriated the Moghrabi quarter, which later became known as the Jewish quarter, it never expropriated the wall itself. All Arab houses in the Moghrabi quarter were demolished and replaced by new buildings and a large plaza next to the wall. The new research is about to be published by the Jerusalem Institute for Israeli Research, which deals with the legal status of holy sites in Jerusalem.

Berkovich, who is an expert on the holy sites of the three religions, carefully checked the expropriation documents from 1968 and found no hints that Israel had intended to expropriate the Wall itself. He found a drawing which shows that Israel expropriated one meter from the thickness of the wall¹s base along 140 meters of the wall from the southwestern corner of the Al Aqsa Mosque to the Shari'a court building. This is the area now used by Jews for praying at the Wall¹s plaza.

Previous Stories:
  Kahalani: We will intervene will full force   (10/23/1997)
  Al Aqsa mufti criticized in secret Israeli report   (10/16/1997)
  Battle over lands: blackmail, extortion and murder   (10/14/1997)

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