Iran decries plans for synagogue in Temple Mount
By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News)– An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sunday decried an Israeli plan to build a synagogue near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and called on the international community to prevent any further desecration of the Temple Mount, according to the Tehran Times.
Marzieh Afkham claimed that Israel plans to build a synagogue on the Temple Mount as part of its efforts to further Judaize the “occupied” Palestinian territories.
However, this latest Iranian accusation is actually over the rededication of the Hurva Synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.
After the Jordanians destroyed the synagogue in the 1948 War of Independence, the Hurva stood desolate even after the Old City was retaken by Israeli troops in ’67. After years of planning the synagogue was restored to its former state, but its rededication does nothing to alter the status quo in the Old City; the Hurva is nearly 1,000 meters from the Temple Mount and claims that its reconstruction could effect the al-Aqsa Mosque or its surroundings are patently ridiculous.
Nonetheless, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned Israel’s efforts to “Judaize” Jerusalem and called on all Palestinians to act against Israel’s so-called expansionist measures during a televised speech Saturday.