Hurva synagogan återinvigs

Bild:Hurva synagogan hösten 2010 (foto DB)

I kväll skall Hurva synagogan i den judiska delen av Jerusalems gamla stad återinvigas. Synagogan förstördes av den jordanska armén 25 maj 1948.

Palestinska ledare har kallat återinvigningen en provokation och 2500 poliser har inkallats för att se till att ordningen upprätthålls i Jerusalem.

Hurva is again a house of prayer (Jerusalem Post)

"After a nearly 62-year hiatus, the renowned Hurva synagogue inside the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City has been rebuilt and is again an operational house of prayer.Hundreds of people, braving the wind and an unexpected Jerusalem chill, crowded into a courtyard opposite the outer walls of the synagogue on Monday night to take part in an official rededication ceremony for the newly-rebuilt shul – which stands in the exact spot it did before its destruction at the hands of the Jordanian Arab Legion during the War of Independence in 1948.Meanwhile on Monday, the US State Department criticized Palestinians for stoking tensions at the rededication of the historic synagogue."We are deeply disturbed by statements made by several Palestinian officials mischaracterizing the event in question, which can only serve to heighten the tensions we see. And we call upon Palestinian officials to put an end to such incitement," said US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley. "We are urging all parties to act responsibly and do whatever is necessary to remain calm."He added that the US was "not at all" objecting to the rededication itself."

Jerusalem police on high alert

"Police were on high alert in Jerusalem on Monday afternoon, ahead of the official rededication ceremony of the historic Hurva Synagogue in the Old City's Jewish quarter. Hundreds are expected to flock to the synagogue, which was rebuilt after being destroyed by Jordan’s Arab Legion on May 25, 1948.Some 2,500 policemen were deployed throughout east Jerusalem and in the Old City on Monday...

...Khatem Abd el-Kader, holder of the Fatah's Jerusalem portfolio, called on Palestinians to “converge on Al-Aksa to save it” from “Israeli attempts to destroy the mosque and replace it with the temple.”
Khader called the renovation of the Hurva a “provocation” and warned Israel that it was “playing with fire.”