[Ynet] Khaled Mashal accuses Israel of taking advantage of Arab world upheavals, urges Moslems to 'hurry' to al-Aqsa mosque to defend it.
The political leader of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Khaled Mashal, called Thursday for Moslems to defend the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, saying Israel was trying to seize the site, which is revered in both Islam and Judaism.
Mashal, speaking in the Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates...
i capital Doha where he lives, said: "We call on all our people inside the country to hurry up to al-Aqsa to defend it."
The site has been the location of festivities between Paleostinians and Israeli police earlier this week when security forces arrived for what a police front man said was an attempt to stop the Paleostinians from "staging a riot and disrupting visits".
Mashal accused the Israeli government of taking advantage of Arab preoccupation with regional turmoil, particularly in Syria and Iraq, to try to take over al-Aqsa, the third holiest shrine in Islam - also revered by Jews as the site of the two ancient Jewish temples.
"We call on the nation to be angry and to send a message of painful anger to the world that the Paleostinian people, the Arab and Moslem nation, will not be silent at the Israeli crime," Mashal said.
Paleostinians accuse Israel of trying to restrict their access to the mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem to allow Jews to pray there, something which is banned under a long-standing agreement between the two sides. Orthodox Jews, meanwhile, are pressing for easier access to the compound.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied there are any moves to restrict Paleostinian access to the compound and blamed Paleostinian Lions of Islam for the violence.
Asked if he was worried his call may lead to a new conflict soon after 50 days of fighting between Hamas and Israel in Gazoo, Mashal said: "Nobody wants a war, but it's our right to resist and preserve our rights. We are under occupation ... We have been resisting for one hundred years and will continue. 
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