Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Israeli excavations near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem sparked angry reactions on Monday from Egyptian parliament members, including one who said only a nuclear bomb could stop Israel.
The excavations, which aim to salvage artefacts before construction of a pedestrian bridge leading to the complex also sacred to Jews, have angered many Muslims who fear the work will harm the foundations of al-Aqsa mosque. Israel says the holy places will not be harmed.
"That cursed Israel is trying to destroy al-Aqsa mosque," Mohammed el-Katatny of President Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party (NDP) told a heated parliament session held to discuss the Israeli digging.
"Nothing will work with Israel except for a nuclear bomb that wipes it out of existence," he said...
Okay, maybe I'm missing something obvious. But here we have an Egyptian MP who's angry that Israel is restoring the damaged ramp leading up to the al-Aqsa mosque, fearing that the mosque itself will be damaged (which is nonsense). His suggested solution is "a nuclear bomb that wipes [Israel] out of existence".
Uh, wouldn't such a nuclear bomb damage the al-Aqsa mosque even more than the excavations?
confusedly yours,
Daniel in Brookline
Look, the guy is clearly not a deep thinker, OK?