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14.11.01, 20:37
(21:05) 'Muslim extremists' ignore Vatican, build mosque
By Laurie Copans, The Associated Press
JERUSALEM - Working under cover of darkness, Muslims in Jesus' boyhood town of
Nazareth have begun constructing a mosque alongside the Basilica of the
Annunciation, despite protests by the Vatican and Israeli authorities.
The Vatican, in a statement issued in Rome, called on the Israeli government to
stop "Muslim extremists" from building the mosque next to the church marking
the site where Christians believe the angel Gabriel told Mary she would give
birth to Jesus.
"Building the mosque here will in effect put this holy place in a state of
permanent siege and make its gate a gathering place for the most hostile
elements," the statement said, according to the Vatican news service Fides.
Israeli authorities charged today that the work constituted a provocation and
threatened to stop the construction by force, even as the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan begins. Local Christians warned the work could re-ignite the
interreligious violence that erupted at the site last year.
Construction on the mosque began Monday, without the necessary permits, but the
Israeli Lands Authority ordered it halted. The Wakf, or Islamic Trust, stopped
the work today but said it will start again if it does not get the necessary
permits within a week.
Witnesses said crews were working at the site Monday and Tuesday nights in an
apparent attempt to keep the construction secret.
A lawyer for the Muslims, Dan Shafrir, said the construction had been going on
day and night. The Israeli Lands Authority promised to help the Islamic Trust
obtain the permits for the Muslim-owned land if the construction was stopped,
Shafrir said.
"We're not hiding anything from anyone," Shafrir said. "Whether or not we get
the permits, we will continue construction in a week."
The construction was halted only temporarily, and steel beams arrived at the
site today, said Ahmed Saleh Hamudeh, the head of the Islamic Trust in
Nazareth.
Christians are a minority in Nazareth, and tensions over the mosque have been
running high between the Christian community and the Muslim majority in the
city of 70,000. Nazareth is the largest Arab city in Israel.
Under pressure from Christian leaders, including the Vatican, the previous
Israeli government worked out a compromise in 1999 to defuse a tense situation
in which Muslims were praying in a large tent a few meters from the church, as
a planned millennium visit by Pope John Paul II neared. The Vatican had hinted
the issue could force the cancellation of the pope's visit, which took place as
scheduled in March 2000.
According to the agreement, the tent was removed, and a mosque would be built
on one third of the 2,000-square-meter plot, but only after the millennium
year.
Church leaders in the Holy Land complain that Israel made excessive concessions
to the Muslims, while ignoring promises made to Christian leaders, including
the pope.
Despite the pledges of the previous government, Israeli officials are
indicating that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not allow construction of the
mosque.
"A decision on the matter will be made by the government" due to the
sensitivity of the issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon
said. "We are absolutely against the work going on at the moment."
Israel believes that starting construction days before the start of Ramadan is
a cynical use of the holiday by the Muslims, with the hope authorities will not
act to stop the work, a government official said on condition of anonymity.
The authorities will forcibly halt the work if necessary, the official said.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, himself a Muslim, sided with the
Christians in the dispute, saying in December 1999 that the Muslims should not
build the mosque so close to the church.
The Muslims say a Crusader-era sage is buried at the site, and they hoped to
build a large mosque there. Church leaders wanted the plot for a plaza to
accommodate millennium pilgrims.
