PARIS, May 10, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – An anti-Zionism Jewish group condemned the latest attempts of Israeli extremists to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, urging the Jews of the world to reject the Zionist schemes orchestrated by the “illegal” state of Israel.

The group also pressed for what it termed “the removal of Israel in order to allow peace to prevail in the Middle East”.

“Attempts of Israeli extremists to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque run counter to the teachings of Judaism,” Rabbi Yisrael David Weiss, spokesman of the New York-based Jewish Neturei Karta movement, told IslamOnline.net Tuesday, May 10.

Weiss, who is currently on a visit to Paris, expressed solidarity of the Neturei Karta movement, which rejects the creation of the state of Israel, with the Palestinian people against Zionist attempts to pull down Islamic holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“Zionism, sponsored by Israel, is not an equivalent to Judaism nor represents the Jews,” Weiss said.

“Zionism has always proved an obstacle to co-existence between the Arabs and Jews.

“True Judaism urges its followers to show respect to all peoples and the time is now ripe for the Jews to abandon Zionism and its long bloody history,” the Jewish rabbi said.

The far-right Jewish group Revava threatened to storm Al-Aqsa May 9, to perform “Jewish rituals” in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The extremist Jewish threat prompted thousands of Palestinians to gather in and outside Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Al-Quds (East Jerusalem) Monday, vowing to defend the mosque against the blatant Jewish threats.

Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, has come to represent the heart of problems, with Israel insisting not to withdraw from it, as stipulated by the international resolutions, and the Palestinians considering East Jerusalem to be the capital of their hoped-for state.

Extremist Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al-Haram Al-Sharif which was the first qiblah (direction Muslims take during prayers).

Palestinian and Jordanian archeologists have warned that ongoing Israeli excavations have weakened the foundations of the mosque, cautioning it would not stand a powerful earthquake.

A part of the road leading to one of the mosque’s main gates collapsed in February last year due to the destructive Israeli digging work.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is Islam's third holiest shrine after Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.

Its significance has been reinforced by the incident of Al-Israa’ and Al-Mi`raj (the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad).

“Illegal Israel”

The Jewish rabbi repeated his group’s call for the removal of the Jewish state and the setting up of an independent Palestinian state, arguing that was the only guarantee for establishing peace in the Middle East.

“True Judaism says problems can not be solved by force and peace will not be born from a bad womb such as the state of Israel,” he said.

Weiss also paid tribute to late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for efforts to regain the legitimate Palestinian rights.

“Arafat was not just a political leader of the Palestinian people but a symbol for all peoples struggling for national liberation,” he said.

“He (Arafat) championed the Palestinian struggle in the battle against the colonialist conspiracy of Zionism which targets, not only Arab and Muslims, but also Judaism.”

Weiss had visited ailing Arafat in November, 2004, during his treatment at the French military hospital of Percy, southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart.

Arafat was officially declared dead Thursday, November 11, 2004.

Neturei Karta is an anti-Zionist organization within the Orthodox Jewish community which is dedicated to representing the hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Jews around the world.