"With our soul, with our blood, we sacrifice ourselves for Al-Aqsa," the Palestinian crowd shouted yesterday, according to the press report, "The soldiers of Satan want to turn Al-Aqsa into a synagogue."What was it that caused yesterday's brouhaha, and this morning's battle with the police? Israel's plan to "strengthen an access ramp to Dung Gate for the ‘benefit and safety of visitors' after an earthquake and snowstorm damage in 2004," as per the same report. In stressing how explosive that engineering project is, the report reminds us that "The compound, which houses both the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is where the second Palestinian uprising erupted in 2000 after a controversial visit by then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon. In 1996, more than 80 people were killed in three days of Palestinian riots after then Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened a new entrance to a controversial archaeological tunnel near...(Read Full Post)