A Mosque Once Stood Here
Hundreds of former mosques around the country were destroyed or serve other purposes. Most were turned into synagogues or museums, a few became storerooms, at least two are cafes, and one became a cowshed.
It was as if Sami Hilmi of the Al-Aqsa Institute was waiting for a phone call. The scenes of destruction of the synagogues in Gush Katif had put Muslims in Israel on the defensive. On the physical defensive the police announced it was stepping up its security around the country's mosques for fear of Jewish attacks; and on the political defensive for years, Arab public leaders have spoken of the damage done to mosques and Muslim cemeteries in Israel. But now live on television a Palestinian crowd was inflicting damage on Jewish synagogues.