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The campaign to erase the Jewish connection to Jerusalem has reached a climax with increased violence in order to prevent Jews from visiting their holiest site.
By Atara Beck, United with Israel
The Temple Mount – the holiest site for Jews, where both Holy Temples had stood – is under control of the Jordanian Waqf (Islamic Trust). Non-Muslims and especially Jews suffer profound discrimination and abuse during limited visits to the Mount, including violence.
Recently, the site was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti following incitement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who consistently denies Jewish history both on the Mount and in Jerusalem and the Land of Israel in general. As noted by Palestinian Media Watch, for example, PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published an article in August 2014, which quoted Abbas as saying:
“We are telling Israel and the world that the Israeli efforts to implement a division according to time in the Noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem are a red line, and we cannot possibly accept this in any way. We will not accept that Jerusalem remain occupied.”
In June, according to the same newspaper, “the Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, warned of the occupation’s intensifying Judaization projects in Jerusalem. He continued: ‘The oppressive occupation is trying to Judaize the people and the stones and to obliterate the city’s Islamic and Arab landmarks. But Jerusalem will remain the heart and eternal capital of Palestine.’”
Palestinian Leader Calls Jewish Pilgrims a ‘Herd of Cattle’
Last week, according to several media sources, Abbas had called Jewish pilgrims to the Temple Mount a “herd of cattle.”
PMW also documented that PA TV had broadcast “19 times in three days Abbas’s implicit call for violence in Jerusalem,” including a short video featuring Abbas calling for Palestinian Arabs to prevent – “in any way” – Jews from visiting the Temple Mount.
On Monday, “in a bid to bolster Palestinian claims to the area,” Associated Press reports, Palestinian President Rami Hamdallah, accompanied by PA officials, ascended the Temple Mount and stated:
PA president Mahmoud Abbas delivers a statement in Ramallah on October 18, calling on Palestinian Arabs to prevent Israeli “settlers” from entering the Temple compound “in any way.” (Photo: Flash90)
“There will not be a Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital.”
Violence in the Israeli capital has intensified recently, hitting a climax last Wednesday with a terror attack that took the lives of a three-month-old infant and a woman in her 20s. Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat stated that day:
“We must restore peace and security in Jerusalem. As I have said for months, the situation in Jerusalem is intolerable and we must act unequivocally against all violence taking place in the city. Today, more than ever, it is clear that we must send police forces into neighborhoods where there are disturbances, placing them strategically and widely in significant numbers.”
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an additional thousand Israel Police and Border Police in Jerusalem, including from special units.
Jerusalem Mayor Visits Site amid Hostilities
Barkat visited the Temple Mount in the Old City on Tuesday to “gain a better understanding of issues and challenges,” he explained on Twitter.
Following the mayor’s visit, Israel National News (Arutz-7) reported that Barkat’s visit was “not disturbed, except for some Muslim women who shouted Allahu akbar in a frenzied manner.”
“Yehuda Glick, who directs the Liba organization that encourages Jewish tours of the Mount, commended Barkat for making the visit,” INN added.
“We hope he understands now, after seeing things first hand, the anguish of the pilgrims to the Temple Mount, and that he will show greater involvement in taking action for the rights of Jews on the Mount, and for realizing Israeli sovereignty at the most important and sacred national site of the Jewish people,” Glick stated.
Click below to see video of Abbas urging war against Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount:
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