A group of Jewish activists intended today to enter the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site usually restricted to Arabs only with the exception of specific tourist times during the day. The second intifada began at the site following the arrival of future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In order to counter the arrival of Jewish activists, Palestinians organized the arrival of thousands of counter protesters to the site. Due to security concerns that violent riots could erupt, the Israeli government barred entry to the site today to anyone under the age of 50 who holds an Israeli identification card, thereby refusing entry to Jews and Muslims alike. The religious sect Chabad organized the Jewish activity in order to ‘conquer and Judaize” the site, according to some reports.
With elections anticipated for early next year in the Palestinian Authority, it seems neither PA President Mahmoud Abbas nor Hamas currently lead in the polls. In fact, Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah member who often opposed Yaser Arafat and remains imprisoned in Israel, obtained 56-percent favor-ability compared to 44-percent for Abbas in a head-to-head poll. Similarly, Barghouti garnered 69-percent, a clear margin of support over Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in a head-to-head poll.
According to Quartet Middle East Envoy Tony Blair, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu intends to build a Palestinian state from the ‘bottom-up,’ first focusing on the development of institutions such as security forces. He would leave the question of borders and Jerusalem to final status decision negotiations.
Due to previous comments made by the new Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, including telling Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to “go to hell,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Abu el Gheit will not put out the welcome mat for his counterpart. El Gheit stated that Lieberman remains banned from Egypt until his posture changes towards Mubarak.
