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Al-Aqsa mosque fire
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Al-Aqsa mosque fire
The Al-Aqsa mosque fire was an arson attack on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, the primary prayer hall within the Al-Aqsa compound, on 21 August 1969. The attack was carried out by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan, who initially set fire to the pulpit.
The event has been described as "an act which plunged the Middle East into its worst crisis since the June, 1967, Arab-Israel war", and was a key catalyst for the creation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The 12th-century minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque was destroyed in the fire.
Initially, Israelis blamed the fire either on an accident related to ongoing renovations, or to a false flag attack by Palestinian group Fatah.
Rohan had been in Jerusalem for almost six months, and frequently visited the area of the Temple Mount / Haram Al-Sharif / Al Aqsa, becoming friendly with the guides and guards of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. Rohan first tried to set fire to the mosque 10 days prior, at approximately 11:30 pm on 11 August 1969. Rohan poured kerosene through the keyhole of the south-east gate door, and inserted a kerosene-soaked cord into the keyhole, setting light to the end; however, his attempt failed.
The Israeli report on the event stated that on 21 August 1969, at approximately 6 am, Rohan entered the gate of Bani Ghanim with two containers and a water bottle filled with benzene and kerosene hidden in a haversack. He entered the Jami'a al-Aqsa through the main entrance at about 7 am. He placed the containers of benzene and kerosene below the steps of the minbar of Saladin, soaked a woollen scarf with kerosene placing one end of it upon the steps and the other end on the containers, and set alight the scarf. He left the building immediately after lighting the scarf, but was seen by many witnesses. A Palestinian technical report concluded that there were two separate fires, one in the area of the mihrab and a second in the ceiling of the south eastern part of the mosque.
The fire destroyed much of the southern and the southeastern parts of the mosque, including the 12th-century minbar of Saladin. 400 m2 of the southeastern ceiling was badly burnt, as were the ornamental mosaic dome and two marble pillars between the dome and the mihrab. Rohan was arrested for the arson attack on 23 August 1969. He was tried, found to be insane, and hospitalised in a mental institution. On 14 May 1974 he was deported from Israel "on humanitarian grounds, for further psychiatric treatment near his family". He was subsequently transferred to the Callan Park Hospital in Australia. Some sources say that he died in 1995, but an investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 2009 found that he was still alive then and a few years later he spoke to an ABC journalist.
The fire at Al-Aqsa was the cause of great anger in the Muslim world, and demonstrations and riots occurred as far away as Kashmir. Many Muslims alleged Rohan's actions were part of a wider plot by Israelis, while some Israelis have attacked widely-repeated claims by some Palestinians and other Muslims that Rohan was Jewish, when in fact he was Christian. Palestinian officials have alleged that the arson was carried out with the blessing of Israeli authorities and minimize the culpability of Rohan, while Israeli firefighters at the scene later complained that the hostility directed at them by an assembled crowd of Palestinians, some of whom believed the firefighters were dousing the flames with gasoline instead of water, interfered with their ability to put out the fire.
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Al-Aqsa mosque fire
The Al-Aqsa mosque fire was an arson attack on Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, the primary prayer hall within the Al-Aqsa compound, on 21 August 1969. The attack was carried out by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan, who initially set fire to the pulpit.
The event has been described as "an act which plunged the Middle East into its worst crisis since the June, 1967, Arab-Israel war", and was a key catalyst for the creation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The 12th-century minbar of the al-Aqsa Mosque was destroyed in the fire.
Initially, Israelis blamed the fire either on an accident related to ongoing renovations, or to a false flag attack by Palestinian group Fatah.
Rohan had been in Jerusalem for almost six months, and frequently visited the area of the Temple Mount / Haram Al-Sharif / Al Aqsa, becoming friendly with the guides and guards of the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. Rohan first tried to set fire to the mosque 10 days prior, at approximately 11:30 pm on 11 August 1969. Rohan poured kerosene through the keyhole of the south-east gate door, and inserted a kerosene-soaked cord into the keyhole, setting light to the end; however, his attempt failed.
The Israeli report on the event stated that on 21 August 1969, at approximately 6 am, Rohan entered the gate of Bani Ghanim with two containers and a water bottle filled with benzene and kerosene hidden in a haversack. He entered the Jami'a al-Aqsa through the main entrance at about 7 am. He placed the containers of benzene and kerosene below the steps of the minbar of Saladin, soaked a woollen scarf with kerosene placing one end of it upon the steps and the other end on the containers, and set alight the scarf. He left the building immediately after lighting the scarf, but was seen by many witnesses. A Palestinian technical report concluded that there were two separate fires, one in the area of the mihrab and a second in the ceiling of the south eastern part of the mosque.
The fire destroyed much of the southern and the southeastern parts of the mosque, including the 12th-century minbar of Saladin. 400 m2 of the southeastern ceiling was badly burnt, as were the ornamental mosaic dome and two marble pillars between the dome and the mihrab. Rohan was arrested for the arson attack on 23 August 1969. He was tried, found to be insane, and hospitalised in a mental institution. On 14 May 1974 he was deported from Israel "on humanitarian grounds, for further psychiatric treatment near his family". He was subsequently transferred to the Callan Park Hospital in Australia. Some sources say that he died in 1995, but an investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in 2009 found that he was still alive then and a few years later he spoke to an ABC journalist.
The fire at Al-Aqsa was the cause of great anger in the Muslim world, and demonstrations and riots occurred as far away as Kashmir. Many Muslims alleged Rohan's actions were part of a wider plot by Israelis, while some Israelis have attacked widely-repeated claims by some Palestinians and other Muslims that Rohan was Jewish, when in fact he was Christian. Palestinian officials have alleged that the arson was carried out with the blessing of Israeli authorities and minimize the culpability of Rohan, while Israeli firefighters at the scene later complained that the hostility directed at them by an assembled crowd of Palestinians, some of whom believed the firefighters were dousing the flames with gasoline instead of water, interfered with their ability to put out the fire.