World Courant
Dozens of Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque advanced in occupied East Jerusalem to mark the fifth day of Sukkot, the Islamic Waqf Division stated.
Since Sunday, hundreds of settlers have carried out provocative excursions of the mosque advanced following calls from ultra-nationalist Jewish teams.
Below Jewish legislation, Jews are prohibited from coming into any a part of the grounds of the Al Aqsa Mosque, also called the Temple Mount, as a result of sacred nature of the positioning.
Sukkot is a week-long vacation that started on September 29 and can final till Friday.
Israeli settlers stormed the advanced in teams on Wednesday by means of the al-Mughrabi Gate on the Western Wall close to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and tried to carry out “Talmudic rituals,” a Waqf official stated.
Police imposed age restrictions and prevented younger Palestinians from coming into the mosque through the raids, witnesses instructed Anadolu information company.
The Israeli military compelled Palestinians to shut their retailers within the Outdated Metropolis to permit Jewish prayers. Palestinian information company Wafa reported that Israeli forces prevented some Waqf employees from coming into the holy Islamic web site within the morning.
Jewish males kneel on the bottom in prayer outdoors the gate of the Al-Aqsa Mosque advanced, also called the Temple Mount in occupied East Jerusalem (Menahem Kahana/AFP)
Spitting arrests
In the meantime, Israeli police on Wednesday arrested 5 individuals suspected of spitting at Christians or church buildings in Jerusalem’s Outdated Metropolis and fashioned a particular investigation group to cope with rising complaints of hostile gestures in opposition to Christians.
“Sadly, we’re witnessing the continued shameful acts of hatred in opposition to Christians within the Outdated Metropolis of Jerusalem, primarily by means of spitting by extremists,” Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman stated on Wednesday.
No particulars have been offered in regards to the identities of these arrested.
Members of the world’s small Christian neighborhood have stated they’re dealing with rising harassment and intimidation from Jewish ultranationalists, particularly since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right authorities took workplace late final yr.
Wednesday’s arrests got here as the town ready for the annual Jerusalem March, an occasion that usually attracts massive crowds, together with hundreds of Christian pilgrims.
The spitting scene, captured Monday by a reporter for the left-wing Israeli newspaper Haaretz, reveals a gaggle of international pilgrims starting their procession by means of the limestone labyrinth of the Outdated Metropolis in occupied East Jerusalem, house to the holiest floor within the metropolis. Judaism, the third-holiest shrine in Islam and essential Christian websites.
The women and men raised a large wood cross and adopted the route by means of the Outdated Metropolis that they imagine Jesus Christ took earlier than his crucifixion. Alongside the best way, ultra-Orthodox Jews in darkish fits and wide-brimmed black hats squeezed previous pilgrims by means of slim alleys, carrying their ritual palm fronds for the Jewish vacation of Sukkot.
As they streamed previous, not less than seven ultra-Orthodox Jews spat on the bottom subsequent to the Christian tour group.
The incident, which was deplored by the town’s minority Christian neighborhood as the newest in an alarming wave of religiously motivated assaults, provoked uncommon outrage from Netanyahu and different senior officers on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera’s Rob Reynolds, reporting from the Outdated Metropolis in occupied East Jerusalem, stated the incident “got here after an incident earlier this yr, a number of weeks in the past, the place extra video tapes confirmed individuals approaching some Orthodox Greek nuns outdoors spat in a spot. of worship, a church.
“Israel’s authorities, together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and different officers, rapidly condemned the spitting incidents and stated they’d no place in Israel. Nonetheless, different figures within the ultranationalist Israeli motion stated that truly spitting on Christians is a legit Jewish custom with an extended historical past,” Reynolds stated.
Since Israel’s most conservative authorities in historical past got here to energy late final yr, issues have grown amongst spiritual leaders – together with the influential Vatican-appointed Latin Patriarch – about rising harassment of the area’s 2,000-year-old Christian neighborhood.
Right this moment, roughly 15,000 Christians stay in Jerusalem.
Israeli settlers storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque advanced on the fifth day of Sukkot | Israeli-Palestinian Battle Information
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