Israeli Attorney General Moves To Block Shurat Hadin's Prosecution Of Islamic Waqf  The Israeli Attorney General, Menachem Mazuz, has sent a letter of intention to the Jerusalem District Court announcing his intention to seek to dismiss a criminal indictment brought by a group of over 170 Israeli citizens against officials of the Jerusalem WAQF ("Islamic Trust").
A reminder: The unprecedented private indictment, which was filed on November 1, 2007, alleges that the WAQF officials have been engaged in the deliberate destruction of ancient Jewish relics on the Temple Mount. The case is first of its kind in Israeli legal history and utilizes a seldom applied section of the criminal code. If convicted, the WAQF officials face years in prison.  The legal action, which was organized by Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, accuses leaders of the WAQF of intentionally demolishing priceless Jewish artifacts, including the remains of the Second Temple. In recent months the WAQF has brought in bulldozers and heavy digging equipment to carry out "renovations". Israeli archaeologists who have sifted through the discarded earth were shocked to have discovered a great number of Jewish artifacts brutally trashed by the bulldozers. A wall from the outer courtyard of the Second Temple is believed to have been completely pulverized.
The indictment contends that the recent accelerated destruction is part of a four decade long campaign by the WAQF to eradicate all evidence of the historical Jewish connection and claim to the Temple Mount. After liberating the Old City in 1967, Israel permitted the WAQF to remain as "custodians" of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. Shurat HaDin alleges that the Israeli government, in its political cowardice, has consistently refused to undertake any concrete actions to stop the criminal activities of the WAQF - thus abandoning the millenniums long Jewish claim over the Temple Mount and allowing Islamic extremists to re-write Jerusalem's history. According to the law, the Attorney General's office had 15 days after the private indictment was filed to decide whether it would like to adopt the prosecution on its own or allow the citizen prosecutors to proceed independently. Recently, after weeks of delays, the Attorney General Mazuz decided to choose none of the above and announced in his letter that he will ask that the entire case be stricken. The government lawyers are arguing that it is in the public's interest not to bring the WAQF official to court! Mazuz claims, that the private indictment is not the proper proceeding in this instance, but refuses to take the prosecution upon himself. Shurat HaDin has opposed the Attorney General's efforts to interfere with the prosecution of the criminal WAQF and sent an objection to his letter arguing that if the government is too afraid to place those Islamic extremists who seek to eradicate evidence of the Jewish People's historical connection to the Temple Mount in prison, "the Jewish people are entitled to do it on their own". | | |  Join with us on an Israel adventure of a lifetime: Experience a dynamic and intensive exploration of Israel's struggle for survival and security
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| | | | |  It is day 8173 that Jonathan Pollard remains in an American prison following his arrest on November 21, 1985
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Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center is a long overdue Jewish legal rights institute based in Israel. Staffed by some of the country's leading activist attorneys, we are dedicated to providing legal representation and resources for the numerous courtroom struggles, which are being waged in the Israeli, American and European courts on behalf of the Jewish State. We serve as a central clearinghouse and litigation base for the multifarious legal battles that have been thrust upon Israel's citizens during these dark days.
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