FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
A six-decade-old agreement governing Muslim and Jewish prayer at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site has "collapsed" under pressure from Jewish extremists backed by the Israeli government, experts have warned.
A series of arrests of Muslim caretaker staff, entry bans for hundreds of Muslims and escalating incursions by radical Jewish groups culminated this week with the arrest of the imam of the al-Aqsa Mosque and a raid by Israeli police during evening prayers on the first night of Ramadan.
The actions of the Jerusalem police and the Shin Bet internal security force, both now under far-right leadership, represent a breach of a status quo agreement dating back to the aftermath of the 1967 war, which stipulates that only Muslims are allowed to pray in the holy compound around the mosque, known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, which also includes the seventh-century shrine, the Dome of the Rock. For Jews, it is the Temple Mount, the site of the 10th-century BC First and Second Temples, which were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
Changes to the status quo have historically shown the potential to ignite unrest and conflict in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories with repercussions around the world. A visit by then-Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon in 2000 sparked the second Palestinian intifada, which lasted five years, and Hamas dubbed its October 2003 attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 Israelis and sparked the Gaza war, as the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” claiming it was provoked by Israeli violations of the Jerusalem mosque.
“Al-Aqsa is a trigger,” said Daniel Seidemann, a Jerusalem-based lawyer who has regularly advised Israeli, Palestinian and foreign governments on legal and historical issues in the city. “It’s usually the same thing, a real or perceived threat to the integrity of the holy space. And that’s what we’re witnessing. There have been provocations often during Ramadan, but things are much more sensitive now. The West Bank is a hotbed of fire.”
Tensions have been steadily escalating around the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, as far-right Israelis have taken over key security positions. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had eight criminal convictions before taking office, for supporting a terrorist organization and inciting racism, among other charges, has said he wants to raise the Israeli flag at the compound and build a synagogue there.
Ben-Gvir has made provocative visits to the al-Aqsa site over the past year and has supported a series of unilateral changes to the status quo, allowing Jews to pray and chant at the compound. In January, he appointed an ideological ally, Major General Avshalom Peled, as Jerusalem police chief, and with the reported support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowed Jews to obtain locally printed prayer sheets, in increasingly blatant violations.
“The status quo has fallen because there are prayers every day,” Seidemann said. “In the past, the police were very strict in preventing any kind of provocation… but these measures are a show of ‘we are in control here, get used to it or leave.’”
On the eve of this year's Ramadan, the Jerusalem Waqf, the Jordanian-appointed foundation tasked with managing the al-Aqsa site as part of the status quo agreement, has come under increasing pressure.
Waqf sources said that up to 17 members of its staff had been placed in administrative detention (detention without charge) this week by the Shin Bet, and at least 42 staff members had been banned from entering the country.
They said six Waqf offices had been ransacked in recent weeks and staff were prevented from replacing doors or making other repairs. The Waqf has been prevented from setting up shelters from the sun and rain or setting up temporary clinics for worshippers. Officials claim they have even been prevented from bringing toilet paper into the country.
The cumulative effect, officials said, had been to strain the Waqf's ability to care for the 10,000 Muslims expected to come to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan.
The Palestinian-run Jerusalem governorate gave different figures: 25 Waqf staff members were detained and four were arrested. Neither the Jerusalem police nor the Shin Bet responded to requests for comment on the allegations. /Adapted from Pamphlet /
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