Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.

My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.

As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.

What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,

poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.

If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. Hello, this is the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Mike Lanchin.

Today I'm bringing you a program from our archives.

In September of 2000, one of Israel's most controversial politicians

Ariel Sharon visited the compound outside the Al-Axa Mosque in the old city of

Jerusalem. It was a provocative act by the man who was then the leader of

the opposition liquid party. The mosque is one of the holiest sites in Islam and the visit

infuriated Palestinians.

It was followed by some of the worst violence

that the region had seen in many years.

In 2012 I spoke to two people who were there that day. Mr Sharon is a provocator, he and all the people who joined him. He came here in order to build up the area. Al-A-Musk is an Islamic

place. Al-A-L-Sa is in the Palestinian territory.

For Muslims, the Al-a Mosque is sacred, but it sits alongside the Temple Mount, a holy

site for Jews, Muslims and Christians.

It's central to the age-old dispute over who controls the Holy City itself.

But Ariel Sharon claimed that his visit wasn't intended to provoke.

I came here with the message of peace. I came here with a message of peace I came here to the holiest place of the Jewish

people to have the feeling how we need to move forward it was not provocation

...