On September 28, 2000, Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Temple Mount. He toured the site, together with a Likud party delegation and a large number of Israeli riot police. The visit was seen as a provocative gesture by many Palestinians, who gathered around the site. Demonstrations quickly turned violent, with rubber bullets and tear gas being used. This event is often cited as one of the catalysts of the Second Palestinian Intifada. Evidence reveals, however, that one month earlier, Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein warned that: Violence is near and the Palestinian people are willing to sacrifice even 5,000 casualties. A few weeks before the outbreak, the official PA publication, Al-Sabah, declared: The time for the Intifada has arrived... the time for jihad has arrived. Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti would later admit that the Intifada was planned and Sharon merely provided a good excuse for the violence.