ISRAELI SETTLERS STORM BETHLEHEM’S BURAK SULEIMAN

Bethlehem, 21 Jumadil Akhir 1436/10 April 2015 (MINA) – A flock of Israeli settlers on early Thursday morning stormed Burak Suleiman (Solomon’s Pools) in Al-Khader town, in Bethlehem, under the religious pretext.

Dozens of Israeli settlers, escorted by army officers, broke into the historic Burak Suleiman on allegations of intents to perform religious rituals and bathe in the holy pond waters, said the eye-witnesses, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

According to Israeli narratives, the three pools of Solomon were built with massive stones that date back to the time of King Herod, some 3,000 years ago, as part of endeavors to exploit to the full the available resources and supply Jerusalem with as much water as needed.

Historiographers, however, confirmed that historical records rather testify to the fact that the abundant water reservoirs were built by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century.

Earlier, overnight Wednesday, the Palestinian natives of Bethlehem stood on their guard to Israeli attempts to build an access road near al-Khader town as part of intents to set the stage for Israel’s misappropriation of some 400 dunums in favor of illegal settlement outposts.

Ahmad Salah, coordinator for the popular committee against the wall and settlement in Khader, said the local mayor and himself managed to prevent the Israeli vehicles from carrying out the construction works, warning of the striking upsurge in Israel’s illegal misappropriation of Palestinian land tracts in favor of settlement construction.(T/P008/R03)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)