Israeli police have closed the Temple Mount to non-Muslim visitors until the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan following several days of Palestinian riots, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
Police said several masked youth attacked Israeli Jews, tourists, and officers at the site — the holiest in Judaism and home to al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam — on Sunday and Monday. The violence continued on Tuesday, when rocks and other objects were thrown at Jewish worshipers in the Western Wall, which the Temple Mount overlooks. One 73-year-old woman praying at the plaza was struck in the head by a rock and treated on-site for her injury. Sixteen suspects were arrested during the riots.
Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat slammed the determination to close the site to non-Muslims, saying “we must not make decisions under pressure from violent disturbances.”
Israel has allowed hundreds of thousands of Muslims to visit al-Aqsa for Friday prayers since the beginning of Ramadan. Non-Muslims were prohibited from visiting the Temple Mount during the last 10 days of Ramadan over the past two years, but police decided not to enforce a similar ban this year. However, as the site was opened to non-Muslims, Palestinian youth began attacking visitors and their police escorts.
“The violence is the result of Muslim worshipers objecting to Jewish visitors during [the Muslim holy month of Ramadan],” The Jerusalem Post reported.
The rioting coincided with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. In speeches he has made since his arrival, the UN chief called for leaders on both sides to take responsibility for their actions and for an end to violence.
Palestinian riots in objection to Jewish presence on the Temple Mount are not uncommon. In September 2015, ahead of the Jewish new year, Palestinians planted pipe bombs around various sites in the compound, which were discovered by Israeli police. The riots led to the deployment of 800 special forces to the Temple Mount to contain the violence, which lasted for three days.
Palestinian officials often charge that al-Aqsa is in danger from Jews — an accusation that predates the founding of Israel — despite routine assurances by the Israeli government and the continued restrictions imposed on non-Muslims at the site. The Islamic Waqf, which administers the Temple Mount, allows non-Muslims to use only one of the complex’s eleven entrances, and non-Muslims are forbidden from praying, singing, or making any kind of religious display.
[Photo: Muammar Awad / Flash90]