Al-Aqsa Restrictions Lifted As Tensions Mount

By Meredith Lee-Clark

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

 

EAST JERUSALEM, Israel/West Bank – On October 11, Israeli police lifted restrictions on Palestinians visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, two weeks after violence exploded around the site. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount, is on land considered holy by both Jews and Muslims.

 

Since September 27, the Israeli police had closed the site to Muslim males under the age of fifty. On that day, Palestinians threw rocks at a group of visitors the Palestinians suspected of being right-wing extremists. The Israeli police responded with shun grenades. Many Palestinians expressed concern that the tourists would try to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque as a political statement during the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday. In the past, political tensions have sparked violence during the Jewish holy days. Most notoriously, the Second Palestinian Intifada, or Uprising, began after Ariel Sharon, who later went on to become Israeli Prime Minister, visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the holidays.

 

Prior to lifting the restrictions, Palestinians who did not meet the age requirement and did not have an Israeli ID card were barred from religious services at the mosque. Israeli soldiers were stationed at the gates to the mosque courtyard, checking the IDs of all who arrived. Demonstrations against the police action sprouted up throughout the West Bank and Gaza. On October 9, hostilities had heightened, with Israeli helicopters circling the site and several Palestinian news sources reported that Israeli police posing as journalists were sent into demonstrations to seize those participating.

 

While the police have lifted the restrictions, there may be further repercussions in the region. Jordan has threatened to expel Israel’s ambassador from Amman, citing the provision in the Jordanian-Israeli 1994 peace treaty in which Israel recognized Jordan’s right to look after all Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers East Jerusalem an occupied territory.

 

There were also unconfirmed rumors running through the city that Israel was planning to dig under the area, with the aim of building a synagogue on the site. At his cabinet meeting on October 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Arab world to ignore the “lies.” Prime Minister Netanyahu also directly addressed Israeli Arabs:

 

“You are citizens with equal rights; we want to live together in coexistence and bring our children prosperity.”

 

For more information, please see:

 

Ha’aretz – Netanyahu to Arab World: Ignore “Lies” About Temple Mount – 12 October 2009

 

Ma’an News Agency – Christians Gather in Support of Muslims Trapped in Al-Aqsa – 12 October 2009

 

Press TV – Al-Aqsa Flares Up Tensions Between Israel, Jordan – 12 October 2009

 

Al Jazeera – Israel Lifts Al-Aqsa Restrictions – 11 October 2009

 

Palestinian News Network – Worshippers Banned from Reaching Al-Aqsa, Prayers Held Outside, Soldiers Pose as Journalists – 10 October 2009

 

Author: Impunity Watch Archive