ABSTRACT
The Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Palestinian-Israeli war in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, was sparked off by a controversial visit of the right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon, on 28 September 2000 to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram Al-Sharif (‘the Noble Sanctuary’) and under Israeli control since the Six Day War of June 1967, is home to a number of mosques, including Al-Aqsa, which have been built over the remains of the second Temple, the holiest site in Judaism.
