ANKARA (AA) - September 5, 2012 - Palestine has thanked Turkey for its efforts to stop plans to hold a wine festival at the courtyard of a museum-turned-great mosque in the Israeli city of Be'er Sheva.
The Palestinian Embassy in Turkey thanked the Turkish people and the government for its contributions in the widespread protests and condemnations that forced the organizers of the festival to change the venue of the event, which was originally planned to be held at the courtyard of the Be'er Sheva Mosque Museum.
On Tuesday, curator of the mosque museum, Dr. Dalia Manor, told the Anadolu Agency that the Be'er Sheva city council had decided to hold the festival outside the courtyard.
The wine festival was scheduled for September 5 and 6.
The Be'er Sheva Mosque was built in 1906 during the Ottoman reign of the region and used as a house of worship until 1948.
It was turned into an Islamic museum on the orders of an Israeli high court in 2011.
