12 aug 2019
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Israeli police injured dozens of Palestinians praying at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on Sunday, the first day of Eid al-Adha or Feast of the Sacrifice.
The Muslim holiday this year coincides with the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, which in Jewish belief commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. The Islamic Waqf – the body responsible for Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem – announced on Friday that only the al-Aqsa mosque would open its doors for prayers in Jerusalem on the first day of the holiday. Israel initially closed the al-Aqsa mosque compound, which Jews call the Temple Mount and Muslims call al-Haram al-Sharif, for Jewish worshippers on Sunday, as is the norm, to avoid clashes with Muslim worshippers. Israel regularly imposes tight closures on all Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip for days during Jewish holidays. Israel then reversed its decision, allowing more than 1,700 Jewish Israelis to enter the compound under the protection of occupation forces: tweet, video tweets Israel fired tear gas canisters, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinian worshippers in the compound. This video shows Israeli forces firing rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians: |
Local media circulated pictures and videos showing Israeli forces attacking Palestinian worshippers: This video shows Palestinians, including children, running from Israeli forces:
Fifteen Palestinians were hospitalized and seven arrested.
Gradual takeover
Jewish religious authorities backed the ban on Jewish worshippers from entering the compound during the Tisha B’Av holiday out of religious principles.
“Jews are strictly prohibited from entering Temple Mount according to Jewish law, and it would be best if they avoid from entering the complex all year long,” Yitzhak Yosef, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis, stated.
This reflects the longstanding position of Israel’s official rabbinate.
But Jewish nationalist groups with close links to the government defy this position.
Activists from the so-called Temple movement encourage Jews to go to al-Aqsa, using such incursions as steps toward a gradual takeover of the site by settlers.
“It seems the Arabs are going to win over the battle to open Temple Mount to Jews on Tisha B’Av,” an activist with the movement told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“When hundreds of thousands of Jews arrive at Temple Mount, no one will be able to prevent the building of the Temple,” another said.
The ultimate aim of the movement – openly declared by many of its adherents – is the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock and their replacement with a Jewish temple.
However, Temple movement activists often obscure this goal and claim they merely want more access for Jews to pray at the site, framing the matter as an issue of equality and civil rights.
But as The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah told Al Jazeera English on Sunday, “you can’t have civil rights under military occupation when Palestinians have no civil rights, no human rights.”
“The thing I would ask [Likud lawmaker] Yehuda Glick, which I don’t see too many journalists doing, why have you and your Temple movement published blueprints for this Jewish temple, which will be built on the ruins of al-Aqsa mosque?” Abunimah added.
Glick is a leader of the Israeli-government backed Temple movement.
United States envoy Jason Greenblatt tweeted in support of Israeli settlers.
“Don’t let anyone claim Israel is ‘judaizing’ the City of Jerusalem,” Greenblatt stated. tweet
Israel’s strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan celebrated the decision to allow Jewish Israelis into the compound to “strengthen Israeli sovereignty on the mount.”
Such comments expose how Israel’s real agenda is to use Jewish worship at the site as a cover and alibi for its illegal annexation of occupied East Jerusalem.
Condemnations
Jordan – the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem – condemned Israeli violence against Palestinian worshippers.
Foreign minister Ayman Safadi said that “attempts by the occupying authorities will not change the status quo of occupied Jerusalem.”
Safadi warned that Israel’s violations of the holy site could lead to an “explosion” in the already volatile situation.
Jordan called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt its provocations.
The Palestinian Authority also called for international action.
Settler organization strengthens hold
Meanwhile, the Greek Orthodox Church filed a lawsuit with an Israeli court last week seeking to overturn leases of Jerusalem properties to a settler organization.
The 99-year leases are for three prime properties near Jaffa Gate. They were given to Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing organization involved in Israeli settlement on Palestinian land in Jerusalem.
In June, the Israeli high court ruled in favor of the settler organization, giving the greenlight for it to take over the properties.
The church claims to have new evidence of corruption including bribes between the settler group and church officials involved in the leases, Haaretz reported.
Previously, Ateret Cohanim claimed to have bought the church land in 2004 from Ireneus I, the Greek Orthodox patriarch at the time.
The Greek Orthodox Church has subsequently taken over the site but Ateret Cohanim is now trying to seize the land that it says it bought over a decade ago.
Ireneus I claims his ousting was not legal and still identifies as the patriarch.
Theophilos III, the current patriarch, has rejected the sale that his predecessor approved, saying it involved corruption.
Fifteen Palestinians were hospitalized and seven arrested.
Gradual takeover
Jewish religious authorities backed the ban on Jewish worshippers from entering the compound during the Tisha B’Av holiday out of religious principles.
“Jews are strictly prohibited from entering Temple Mount according to Jewish law, and it would be best if they avoid from entering the complex all year long,” Yitzhak Yosef, one of Israel’s two chief rabbis, stated.
This reflects the longstanding position of Israel’s official rabbinate.
But Jewish nationalist groups with close links to the government defy this position.
Activists from the so-called Temple movement encourage Jews to go to al-Aqsa, using such incursions as steps toward a gradual takeover of the site by settlers.
“It seems the Arabs are going to win over the battle to open Temple Mount to Jews on Tisha B’Av,” an activist with the movement told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
“When hundreds of thousands of Jews arrive at Temple Mount, no one will be able to prevent the building of the Temple,” another said.
The ultimate aim of the movement – openly declared by many of its adherents – is the destruction of the al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock and their replacement with a Jewish temple.
However, Temple movement activists often obscure this goal and claim they merely want more access for Jews to pray at the site, framing the matter as an issue of equality and civil rights.
But as The Electronic Intifada’s Ali Abunimah told Al Jazeera English on Sunday, “you can’t have civil rights under military occupation when Palestinians have no civil rights, no human rights.”
“The thing I would ask [Likud lawmaker] Yehuda Glick, which I don’t see too many journalists doing, why have you and your Temple movement published blueprints for this Jewish temple, which will be built on the ruins of al-Aqsa mosque?” Abunimah added.
Glick is a leader of the Israeli-government backed Temple movement.
United States envoy Jason Greenblatt tweeted in support of Israeli settlers.
“Don’t let anyone claim Israel is ‘judaizing’ the City of Jerusalem,” Greenblatt stated. tweet
Israel’s strategic affairs minister Gilad Erdan celebrated the decision to allow Jewish Israelis into the compound to “strengthen Israeli sovereignty on the mount.”
Such comments expose how Israel’s real agenda is to use Jewish worship at the site as a cover and alibi for its illegal annexation of occupied East Jerusalem.
Condemnations
Jordan – the custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem – condemned Israeli violence against Palestinian worshippers.
Foreign minister Ayman Safadi said that “attempts by the occupying authorities will not change the status quo of occupied Jerusalem.”
Safadi warned that Israel’s violations of the holy site could lead to an “explosion” in the already volatile situation.
Jordan called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt its provocations.
The Palestinian Authority also called for international action.
Settler organization strengthens hold
Meanwhile, the Greek Orthodox Church filed a lawsuit with an Israeli court last week seeking to overturn leases of Jerusalem properties to a settler organization.
The 99-year leases are for three prime properties near Jaffa Gate. They were given to Ateret Cohanim, a right-wing organization involved in Israeli settlement on Palestinian land in Jerusalem.
In June, the Israeli high court ruled in favor of the settler organization, giving the greenlight for it to take over the properties.
The church claims to have new evidence of corruption including bribes between the settler group and church officials involved in the leases, Haaretz reported.
Previously, Ateret Cohanim claimed to have bought the church land in 2004 from Ireneus I, the Greek Orthodox patriarch at the time.
The Greek Orthodox Church has subsequently taken over the site but Ateret Cohanim is now trying to seize the land that it says it bought over a decade ago.
Ireneus I claims his ousting was not legal and still identifies as the patriarch.
Theophilos III, the current patriarch, has rejected the sale that his predecessor approved, saying it involved corruption.
3 june 2019
The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) has appealed to the international community to necessarily protect the Aqsa Mosque and Muslim worshipers in Occupied Jerusalem against Israel’s violations.
In a press release on Sunday, Sheikh Ali al-Qaradaghi warned that Israel’s repeated attacks on Aqsa and worshipers would provoke the feelings of Muslims in general and the Jerusalemites in particular and disturb their joy during these holy days.
Sheikh Qaradaghi condemned the Israeli police for storming the Aqsa Mosque on Sunday morning, attacking Muslim worshipers and allowing Jewish settlers to provocatively tour the Islamic holy site. video
The IUMS official called on the Arab and Islamic worlds and the human rights and UN organizations to protect the Muslim worshipers’ natural right to practice their religious activities at the Aqsa Mosque and prevent Israel’s repeated violations against the holy site.
In a press release on Sunday, Sheikh Ali al-Qaradaghi warned that Israel’s repeated attacks on Aqsa and worshipers would provoke the feelings of Muslims in general and the Jerusalemites in particular and disturb their joy during these holy days.
Sheikh Qaradaghi condemned the Israeli police for storming the Aqsa Mosque on Sunday morning, attacking Muslim worshipers and allowing Jewish settlers to provocatively tour the Islamic holy site. video
The IUMS official called on the Arab and Islamic worlds and the human rights and UN organizations to protect the Muslim worshipers’ natural right to practice their religious activities at the Aqsa Mosque and prevent Israel’s repeated violations against the holy site.
The Global Coalition for Quds and Palestine (GCQP) has strongly denounced the Israeli occupation forces for violating the sanctity of the Aqsa Mosque and assaulting Muslim worshipers on Sunday, urging the Arab and Muslim nations to assume their role in protecting Jerusalem and the first Qibla.
In a statement, the Coalition described Sunday’s attack on the Aqsa Mosque as contempt for the Muslim nation and the international community and the international law calling for respecting places of worship.
The Coalition accused Israel of violating the protocol of the Geneva Conventions demanding occupying powers to respect the occupied populations’ freedom to practice religious rituals in their places of worship, stressing such violation “constitutes a war crime according to the statute of the International Criminal Court.”
“The attack on the Aqsa Mosque in the holy month of Ramadan has affirmed the nature of the Zionists who have no regard for other human beings and do not care about humanity and other religions and laws,” the Coalition underlined.
In a statement, the Coalition described Sunday’s attack on the Aqsa Mosque as contempt for the Muslim nation and the international community and the international law calling for respecting places of worship.
The Coalition accused Israel of violating the protocol of the Geneva Conventions demanding occupying powers to respect the occupied populations’ freedom to practice religious rituals in their places of worship, stressing such violation “constitutes a war crime according to the statute of the International Criminal Court.”
“The attack on the Aqsa Mosque in the holy month of Ramadan has affirmed the nature of the Zionists who have no regard for other human beings and do not care about humanity and other religions and laws,” the Coalition underlined.
Prominent Jerusalemite institutions on Sunday warned against frantic Israeli attempts to change the status quo at the Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem.
This came in a joint statement released by the Islamic Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Council, the Higher Islamic Council, the Palestinian Fatwa House, the Chief Justice Department and the Islamic Awqaf Authority.
The institutions deplored the Israeli police for assaulting on Sunday morning Muslim worshipers and al-Haram al-Sharif guards at the Aqsa Mosque and allowing hundreds of Jewish settlers to desecrate its courtyards.
They affirmed that such Israeli police’s practices aimed to destabilize the historical, legal and religious situation at the Islamic holy site.
“The practices of the occupation police, their security arms and the groups of [Jewish] extremists have exceeded all levels of insolence and arrogance on the 28th of Ramadan,” the statement said.
The statement stressed that using Jewish holidays as a pretext to justify such aggressive and provocative practices at the Aqsa Mosque cannot be accepted and treated as a passing event, especially during the last days of Ramadan.
The institutions called on the Islamic world, its governments and peoples to sound the alarm and close ranks to protect the Aqsa Mosque against Israel’s attempt to change the status quo at the holy site.
This came in a joint statement released by the Islamic Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Council, the Higher Islamic Council, the Palestinian Fatwa House, the Chief Justice Department and the Islamic Awqaf Authority.
The institutions deplored the Israeli police for assaulting on Sunday morning Muslim worshipers and al-Haram al-Sharif guards at the Aqsa Mosque and allowing hundreds of Jewish settlers to desecrate its courtyards.
They affirmed that such Israeli police’s practices aimed to destabilize the historical, legal and religious situation at the Islamic holy site.
“The practices of the occupation police, their security arms and the groups of [Jewish] extremists have exceeded all levels of insolence and arrogance on the 28th of Ramadan,” the statement said.
The statement stressed that using Jewish holidays as a pretext to justify such aggressive and provocative practices at the Aqsa Mosque cannot be accepted and treated as a passing event, especially during the last days of Ramadan.
The institutions called on the Islamic world, its governments and peoples to sound the alarm and close ranks to protect the Aqsa Mosque against Israel’s attempt to change the status quo at the holy site.
The office of the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, issued a statement strongly denouncing the ongoing and escalating Israeli violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, in occupied East Jerusalem, and the worshipers.
President’s spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rodeina, said the president and the government hold Israel accountable for this serious escalation, especially amidst increasing invasions by illegal colonists, accompanied by soldiers and officers, into the holy site.
He added that Israel is not only allowing and encouraging these violations, but is also escalating its attacks and abductions of Palestinian worshipers in the occupied city, in addition to imposing severe restrictions on those who are allowed into Al-Aqsa.
Abu Rodeina also said that Israel’s serious violations are dragging the entire region into a new wave and violence.
The Palestinian official also warned that, by trying to turn this political conflict into a religious one, Israel is dragging the region into very dire repercussions that would affect everybody, and every country, in the region.
He saluted the steadfastness of the Palestinians despite the latest serious Israeli escalation, the abduction and imprisonment of dozens of Palestinians in the last few days alone, in addition to the dangerously increasing assaults against them.
On its part, the Palestinian government in the West Bank issued a statement condemning the Israeli violations, and accused Tel Aviv of deliberately causing more deterioration to the social and economical conditions in occupied Palestine, including Jerusalem.
It said Israel is trying to pass resolutions that avoid implementing any of the internationally guaranteed rights of the Palestinian people, including their rights to their holy sites, liberation, independence and sovereignty.
It added that what Israel and the United States are doing are direct violations of many and treaties, including the Right of Return to the refugees, the right to establish and independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right to self-determination.
President’s spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rodeina, said the president and the government hold Israel accountable for this serious escalation, especially amidst increasing invasions by illegal colonists, accompanied by soldiers and officers, into the holy site.
He added that Israel is not only allowing and encouraging these violations, but is also escalating its attacks and abductions of Palestinian worshipers in the occupied city, in addition to imposing severe restrictions on those who are allowed into Al-Aqsa.
Abu Rodeina also said that Israel’s serious violations are dragging the entire region into a new wave and violence.
The Palestinian official also warned that, by trying to turn this political conflict into a religious one, Israel is dragging the region into very dire repercussions that would affect everybody, and every country, in the region.
He saluted the steadfastness of the Palestinians despite the latest serious Israeli escalation, the abduction and imprisonment of dozens of Palestinians in the last few days alone, in addition to the dangerously increasing assaults against them.
On its part, the Palestinian government in the West Bank issued a statement condemning the Israeli violations, and accused Tel Aviv of deliberately causing more deterioration to the social and economical conditions in occupied Palestine, including Jerusalem.
It said Israel is trying to pass resolutions that avoid implementing any of the internationally guaranteed rights of the Palestinian people, including their rights to their holy sites, liberation, independence and sovereignty.
It added that what Israel and the United States are doing are direct violations of many and treaties, including the Right of Return to the refugees, the right to establish and independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the right to self-determination.
2 june 2019
PLO Executive Committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, says that Israel has kept Jerusalem hostage under its illegal practices and de facto separation from the rest of the occupied Palestinian Territory for fifty-two years, now, by imposing severe restrictions on Palestinian access to Jerusalem and its Christian and Muslim holy sites.
To achieve this de facto separation, Israel employs a triple siege of illegal settlement expansion, the annexation wall, and checkpoints, in addition to the ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes and other practices which deny Palestinians access to Jerusalem and undermine the fabric of society. Such policies further include denial of access to family, as well as cultural, economic, and health institutions.
“The Palestinian leadership condemns in the strongest of terms the storming of the holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound this Sunday morning by hundreds of extremist Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. We also condemn the Israeli occupation forces’ violent assault on dozens of Palestinian worshipers and the detention of several others during the course of this highly provocative raid,” said Ashrawi in a statement.
“Through these inflammatory and irresponsible actions, Israel is attempting to normalize the unacceptable raids of Israeli settlers and the restrictions imposed on the right to freedom of worship for Palestinian Muslims, especially during these holy Ramadan days. This is a dangerous and irresponsible course of action that exacerbating religious tensions and threatens to further destabilize the situation on the ground,” she added, according to WAFA.
“They are part of a comprehensive policy aimed at changing the reality and demography of the holy city of Jerusalem, with the full support and aid from the U.S Trump administration and silence from the international community.
“Meanwhile, Israeli occupation authorities and the American administration have willfully participated in spreading falsehoods about religious freedom and freedom of worship in an attempt to shield Israel from the required international rebuke for these unacceptable policies and practices,” added Ashrawi.
“The international community has a responsibility to confront these practices, including the recent approval of over 800 settlement units that would complete the ring of settlements surrounding Jerusalem and separating it from its natural Palestinian surrounding.
Responsible actors must also prevent a downward spiral into religious tensions that the extremist ideology of the fundamentalist right wing in Israel is provoking in Jerusalem,” the statement concluded.
To achieve this de facto separation, Israel employs a triple siege of illegal settlement expansion, the annexation wall, and checkpoints, in addition to the ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes and other practices which deny Palestinians access to Jerusalem and undermine the fabric of society. Such policies further include denial of access to family, as well as cultural, economic, and health institutions.
“The Palestinian leadership condemns in the strongest of terms the storming of the holy Al-Aqsa mosque compound this Sunday morning by hundreds of extremist Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli occupation forces. We also condemn the Israeli occupation forces’ violent assault on dozens of Palestinian worshipers and the detention of several others during the course of this highly provocative raid,” said Ashrawi in a statement.
“Through these inflammatory and irresponsible actions, Israel is attempting to normalize the unacceptable raids of Israeli settlers and the restrictions imposed on the right to freedom of worship for Palestinian Muslims, especially during these holy Ramadan days. This is a dangerous and irresponsible course of action that exacerbating religious tensions and threatens to further destabilize the situation on the ground,” she added, according to WAFA.
“They are part of a comprehensive policy aimed at changing the reality and demography of the holy city of Jerusalem, with the full support and aid from the U.S Trump administration and silence from the international community.
“Meanwhile, Israeli occupation authorities and the American administration have willfully participated in spreading falsehoods about religious freedom and freedom of worship in an attempt to shield Israel from the required international rebuke for these unacceptable policies and practices,” added Ashrawi.
“The international community has a responsibility to confront these practices, including the recent approval of over 800 settlement units that would complete the ring of settlements surrounding Jerusalem and separating it from its natural Palestinian surrounding.
Responsible actors must also prevent a downward spiral into religious tensions that the extremist ideology of the fundamentalist right wing in Israel is provoking in Jerusalem,” the statement concluded.
