Barred

Since the massacre, and a month before Monday's re-opening, the labyrinth of around ten streets and alleys leading to the imposing structure have been fitted with gates to facilitate Israeli control of access to the Mosque. Walking through the Old City around the beginning of the midday Friday prayers, one found that gate after gate was barred. A confused Dutch TV crew wandered around, looking for the way to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, while locals pointed those who could ask directions in Arabic to the main road leading there.

Three checkpoints were erected along the road,and worshippers who had successfully negotiated these found themselves face-to-face with 100 Israeli soldiers, 30 fully-armed police officers, 20-30 military vehicles parked along the road, 7 or 8 television film crews, and at least 10 photojournalists.

Left: An Israeli soldier in sunglasses told the assembled Muslims through a megaphone that access to the Mosque would only be permitted in groups of 300 at a time. Several hundred thus had to bow down and pray in the road outside while their 300 brethren inside can only have been wondering whether the post-partition capacity of 2000 would ever be realised.

As the first group left, looking bemused by the sheer numbers of military and media personnel that awaited their exit, two blue-waistcoated UN observers looked on. As a confrontation began to spark up and then died as quickly as it began, creating ripples of frenzied movement amongst the flocks of cameramen, soundmen and photographers, one UN observer commented, "We aren't allowed to use cameras."

Right: The hundred or so young Palestinians who had turned out for the circus were pushed down the road away from the Mosque by a line of Israeli policemen armed with machine guns. When they didn't move quickly enough, the regular army donned metal combat helmets and jogged towards where the crowd was contained. Everybody scattered down the street, whooping and whistling, and the army took off after them. An old man watched the two groups disappearing round the corner, "Peace? Peace?" he said, "What peace? They want to impose it by force. They have guns and we do not. If we had the power, we would never let them impose this peace."

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