Muslims accuse Israel of intending to open a synagogue at Bab al Rahma prayer room on Temple Mount

 

The Bab al Rahma prayer room on the northeast section of the Temple Mount was closed by Israel in 2003 because it was used by Hamas as a terror base.

Last year the Palestinians forced it open and Israel had to close it again, and last week an Israeli court upheld that closure after Jerusalem police said it was again being used as a Hamas base.

Now, both Hamas and the Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ekrema Sabri are trying to incite violence by  saying that Israel intends to turn the building into a synagogue.

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirmed that the continuous Israeli campaign against the chapel "Bab Al-Rahma" at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, comes as part of plans to seize the chapel and turn it into a synagogue.

"The occupation has plans and ambitions to convert the chapel of Bab al-Rahma into a synagogue, from which the occupation authorities proceed to control the eastern region, and then extend full sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa."

Sheikh Sabri warned that "The pressure generates the explosion, and the answer to the violations of the occupation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque will be in the popular mass anger," stressing that "the door of mercy is an integral part of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and it is for Muslims only."

Of course there are no such plans. Hamas and Sabri are trying to start a religious war by making those claims.

In a fair world, though, the Bab al Rahma prayer room would be an excellent place for a synagogue on the Temple Mount.

I have been interested in the site for a while. To the immediate left of the structure are some old beams of wood, barely covered in canvas. (Here is a screenshot from a video I made last year.)

 

There is serious evidence that some of these beams could be from the First and Second Temple periods, and conceivably from the Temples themselves.

Matti Friedman wrote a fascinating article about them in 2013.