JERUSALEM — Muslim worshipers clashed with Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City Sunday, a holy day on the religious calendar for both the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

Israeli authorities said that tens of thousands flooded the holy site to participate in prayers marking the beginning of Eid al-Adha, with clashes breaking out after protesters began crowding around the only gate where non-Muslims can enter the compound.

Police said Muslim worshippers started throwing stones and chairs at officers who were guarding the entrance to the site, which Muslims refer to as the Noble Sanctuary and Jews refer to as the Temple Mount.

Police fired tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets in response.

Some 37 Muslims were injured in the clashes, according to the Red Crescent. Israeli authorities said four officers were lightly injured in the skirmishes.

Palestinian Muslims shout anti-occupation slogans as they protest against the entry of Jewish worshippers into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday. AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP – Getty Images

Rumours had swirled that some Jewish visitors would be allowed to enter to mark the day of mourning for the destruction of the two Jewish temples that stood there in antiquity.

Israeli authorities can decide to bar entry to Jewish visitors on Muslim holidays if they feel it will stoke tensions. Police had initially prohibited them from entering the complex but later reversed the decision after the clashes broke out.

Jewish visitors streamed through the gate under close police escort, triggering further skirmishes, according to a guard at the compound who spoke to NBC News. The Jewish visitors left the compound shortly after, according to the Associated Press.

Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran Palestinian politician, accused Israel of provoking religious and political tension.

“The storming of al-Aqsa mosque compound by Israeli occupation forces this Eid morning is an act of recklessness and aggression,” she said in a statement.

The contested complex in central Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest for Islam after Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

For Muslims, the 37-acre esplanade is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Islamic Dome of the Rock shrine. For Jews, its status as their religion’s holiest site is tied to its history as the site of First and Second Temples.

Conflicts over the area have triggered confrontations for centuries.

Nowadays Israel provides security for the compound while neighboring Jordan manages the ceremonial and religious aspects of the complex.

Jordan issued a statement condemning what it described as “blatant Israeli violations” against Al-Aqsa mosque and said it had sent a formal complaint to Israel.

“The Israeli government bears full responsibility for the resulting violence and high tension,” said Sufian al-Qudah, a spokesman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

Jewish visitors are not permitted to pray at the site under a longstanding arrangement between Israel and Muslim authorities. Jewish tradition also maintains that Jews should not enter the site and Jews pray instead outside at the Western or Wailing Wall.

In recent years, however, Israeli religious nationalists have encouraged Jews to pray inside the site, challenging the delicate status quo.

Palestinians view this as a provocation and are concerned that Jews mean to seize control or partition the complex. The Israeli government has repeatedly said it has no intention of changing the current arrangement.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/muslim-worshippers-clash-israeli-police-jerusalem-holy-site-n1041161

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Members from the group called the Muslim American Society participated in the massive two-day event, which included an estimated 15,000 to 30,000 participants. Imam Asad Zamam, executive director of the Muslim American Society in Minnesota, was a featured speaker at the event, according to the event’s website.

Thousands of Muslim participants at the event in the Minnesota Vikings stadium chanted “Allahu akbar” while praying, WND reported. The phrase loosely translates into “God is the greatest,” however, it is also frequently used in acts of radical Islamic terrorism.

Muslim worshippers pray at the US Bank Stadium during celebrations for Eid al-Adha on August 21, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo: KEREM YUCEL/AFP/Getty Images)

There’s no evidence that anyone at the event has ties to terrorism, however, one of the organizations there does. The Muslim American Society was designated a terrorist organization not by the U.S., but by the United Arab Emirates in 2014 for its ties to another terrorist organization called the Muslim Brotherhood, The Daily Caller reported on Nov. 15, 2014.

The U.S. Muslim Brotherhood secretly created the Muslim American Society in 1993 when its leaders began to fear the attention being drawn to some of its members who supported Hamas, another terrorist organization, the Chicago Tribune reported in 2004.

When the United Arab Emirates released the list of 85 terrorist groups, it surprisingly left out U.S. designated terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, The Washington Post reported. UAE also designated the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a terrorist group.

CAIR was considered a co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation case in 2007, whose leaders were found guilty of aiding Hamas. (RELATED: ISIS Claims Responsibility For Toronto Mass Shooting)

When the Muslim American Society found out it was included on United Arab Emirates’s list of terrorist groups, the group was shocked, as it claims it has never had any contact with the country.

“The Muslim American Society was shocked to read news reports claiming that the United Arab Emirates has listed the Muslim American Society, along with numerous other organizations, as a terrorist organization,” the organization said in a statement in 2014. “Before proceeding any further, we would first like to verify the accuracy of the news reports and receive an official response from the United Arab Emirates regarding the reports.”

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Source: http://dailycaller.com/2018/08/22/super-eid-hamas-hezbollah-muslim-brotherhood/

The post An Organization behind massive ‘Super Eid’ Muslim celebration at Minnesota Vikings Stadium labeled a terrorist organization first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.