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A complaint was
submitted to the United Nations Security Council on August 28, 1969,
by
twenty-four Muslim
countries due to the attempt to burn Al Aqsa Mosque. Ambassador
Mohammad El Farra of
Jordan made a statement to the Council in which he stated:
Today, my delegation
joins the 24 other members, representing 750 million adherents of
the Moslem faith, which
requested a meeting to consider another, more serious tragedy,
namely of Al Aqsa
Mosque, and the fire which severely damaged that historic Holy Place
on the morning of 21
August 1969. The Israeli authorities introduced
more than one
explanation for the
start of the fire and at last charged an Australian with the arson.
According to news that
originated from Israel sources, the Australian suspect is a friend
of
Israel who was brought
by the Jewish Agency to work for Israel. The Jewish Agency
arranged for the
Australian to work in a Kibbutz for some months, so that he could
learn the
Hebrew language and
acquire more of the Zionist teaching. The report published in the
Jerusalem Post- an
Israeli semi-official newspaper-of 25 August 1969 concerning the
life of
this Australian in the
Kibbutz and his dreams of building Solomon’s temple casts doubt on
the case and adds to the
fears and worries of the Moslems about their holy shrines; it also
throws light on who is
the criminal and who is the accomplice.
We have not forgotten
statements in the early days of the 5 June 1967 Israeli occupation
about the future of
Jerusalem, nor have we forgotten the report of Menahem Borsh, which
was published in Yediot
Aharanot of 18 August, 1969, only three days before the burning
of the Mosque,
emphasizing that the Temple would be built anew in the same spot
that
“Strangers tried to
seize”. The desecration of this holy Mosque by a group of the Bitar
members only three days
before the arson is a living example of Israeli motives and designs.
Let us see what did
and what did not happen on Thursday, 21 August 1969. In the early
hours of that morning
fire broke out the Al Aqsa Mosque. Moslems praying in the Mosque
and others rushed to the
scene to remove some of the valuables in the Mosque and
extinguish the fire. The
Jordanian fire brigade in Jerusalem was called. Moslem religious
leaders as well as
Jordanian officials within the Israeli-occupied area came to the
scene.
To the outside world
news of the fire came in Arabic from Radio Israel at 8:30 a.m., that
is, one hour and ten
minutes after the fire started. The broad cast carried the news of
the
arson; it did not give
any reason for the fire and did not say whether it was extinguished.
Meanwhile, Jordanian
fire brigades from Ramallah, and even those from Al Khalil (Hebron)
and Nablus, were sent to
the scene- and we all know it takes an ordinary car more than one
hour to reach Jerusalem
from those two cities. With the help of those brigades and the
co-operation of the
local population, the fire was at last extinguished and contained.
According to Reuters, it
took the fire brigades over five hours to extinguish the fire; this,
to
a certain extent, was
substantiated by Israeli authorities. As stated at a press
conference
that same day by Teddy
Kollek, the illegally appointed Mayor, and according to Radio Israel
, it took them until
10:30 a.m. to extinguish the fire. We think Mr. Tekoah should have
exchange notes with his
authorities, with Radio Israel and Mr. Kollek, before coming here to
say that it took about
one hour. We find it took them until 10:30 to extinguish the fire.
Certainly Mr. Tekoah
seems to disagree with the Israeli eyewitness who admitted that
there
was delay and tried to
find justification for that delay. There was no doubt among the
inhabitants and
eyewitnesses that the arrival of the Israeli fire brigades, in short
reach of the
scene, was delayed and
their job was unsatisfactory.
That same afternoon
the commander of the fire brigades told the journalists that the
pumping of water was
working swiftly and in an orderly manner at the beginning but that
eight minutes later
something happened-the pumping of the water was interrupted and
could not work as
before. This is something for every member to ponder. The commander
of the fire brigades
reported that it had not been indicated whether that was due to a
technical mishap or to a
premeditated act. It must be remembered, however, that after the
Israeli occupation the
water system in the city was connected to the western part so that
the
Israelis would be in
full control of the water system. This, among other things, elicited
sharp
criticism and
apprehension from Arab Mayor Rouhi El-Khatib and the former
President of
the Moslem Council,
Abdul Hamid Es-Sayeh, both of whom were expelled from Jerusalem
to the East Bank of
Jordan.
Was Rohan, after all,
acting on his own initiative? Was he not brought to Israel and
sponsored by the Jewish
Agency? Where did he get all the money which he offered to the
guards of Al Aqsa on
the morning of the fire and which the guards declined to take?
According to The Times
of London, of 12 September 1969: “On Rohan’s way out he
offered each 110 pounds
sterling but they declined, Mr. Hilwani said.” The Sheikh, thinking
there must be something
wrong, then entered into the Mosque and rushed out crying”
“They have burnt the
pulpit.” According to the same semi-official Israeli newspaper, The
Jerusalem Post of 25
August 1969, Rohan’s foster-parents in the kibbutz said: “He never
appeared to be short of
money to us.”
After several meetings
by the Security Council to discuss the complaint, it adopted on
September 15, 1969,
Resolution 271 (1969), which condemned the act of destruction and
profanation of the Holy
Al Aqsa Mosque. It states:
Resolution 271 (1969) of
15 September 1969
The Security
Council,
Grieved at the extensive
damage caused by arson to the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque in
Jerusalem on 21 August
1969 under the military occupation of Israel.
Mindful of the
consequent loss to human culture,
Having heard the
statements made before the Council reflecting the universal outrage caused by the act of
sacrilege in one of the most venerated shrines of mankind,
Recalling its resolution
252 (1968) of 21 May 1968 and 267 (1969) of 3 July 1969 and the earlier General Assembly
resolutions 2253 (ES-V) and 2254 (ES-V) of 4 and 14 July 1967, respectively,
concerning measures and actions by Israel affecting the status of
the City of Jerusalem.
Reaffirming the
established principle that acquisition of territory by military
conquest is
inadmissible.
1.Reaffirms its
resolution 252 (1968) and 267 (1969);
2. Recognizes that any
act of destruction or profanation of the Holy Places, religious
buildings and sites in
Jerusalem or any encouragement of, or connivance at, any such act
may seriously endanger
international peace and security;
3. Determines that the
execrable act of desecration and profanation of the Holy Al Aqsa
Mosque emphasizes the
immediate necessity of Israel’s desisting from acting forthwith all
measures and actions
taken by it designed to alter the status of Jerusalem;
4.Calls upon Israel
scrupulously to observe the provisions of the Geneva Convention and
international law
governing military occupation and to refrain from causing any
hindrance to
the discharge of the
established functions of the Supreme Moslem Council may desire
from countries with
predominantly Moslem population and from Moslem communities in
relation to its plan for
the maintenance and repair of the Islamic Holy Places in Jerusalem;
5. Condemns the failure
of Israel to comply with the aforementioned resolutions and calls
upon it to implement
forthwith the provisions of these resolutions;
6.Reiterates the
determination in paragraph 7 of resolution 267 (1969) that, in the
event of
a negative response or
no response, the Security Council shall convene without delay to
consider what further
action should be taken in this matter;
7. Request the
Secretary-general to follow closely the implementation of the
present
resolution and to report
thereon to the Security Council at the earliest possible date.
Adopted at the 1512th
meeting by 11 votes to none, with 4 abstentions (Columbia,
Finland, Paraguay,
United States of America.)
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