Egypt students protest Jerusalem holy site dig

CAIRO: Around 400 students demonstrated Monday against Israeli renovations near Jerusalem s Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It will never go down as long as we re alive, read dozens of identical banners at the protest, which was organized by Islamist students and teachers on Cairo University campus. Some students waved Qurans or pictures of the mosque scribbled with the words Poor Aqsa, our Aqsa . The Israeli excavations near the base of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which started on Feb. 6, have angered Palestinians and Muslims across the world and provoked sometimes violent protests. Israel denies the work poses any risk to the holy site, also venerated by Jews as the location of the ancient temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The authorities say the excavations are a vital prerequisite to construction work to replace a damaged wooden ramp leading to the compound with a stone bridge, work that the Jerusalem mayor has suspended because of Arab protests.