Going Into the Mosque During Our Year of Ramadan, Passover and Easter

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

Ramadan, Passover and Easter all come together this year.  The Temple Mount is the source of disturbance all year round with Muslims not allowing Jews to pray there, where the thought is that our 2nd Temple of Solomon lies beneath Al-Aqsa mosque, and both religious groups intend on praying on the spot. So the scene was set.  And what happened?  Dozens of Palestinian youths clashed with police inside the Aqsa Mosque early Thursday, resuming clashes from the previous night, which then sparked altercations across the country later in the day.  Israel decided to raid the Mosque and put an end to it.                      

Stones planned for use by Palestinians against Israeli police forces in al-Aqsa mosque, April 5, 2023. (credit: ISRAEL POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Groups of young Palestinian men, some of them masked, threw fireworks and stones at the police officers and attempted to barricade themselves in the mosque, shutting its doors and preventing other worshipers from leaving the area, according to a police spokesperson.

Palestinian rioters throw a Molotov cocktail from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount, April 20, 2022 (MFA Twitter screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)  It's been known to Israel IDF that rioters stock up weapons in mosques.1

The al-Aqsa compound was cleared.

The police prevented the barricading and enabled worshipers to exit. Shortly before midnight Wednesday, the compound was cleared completely by police.  Six people were injured in the clashes, according to Walla, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Israeli police walk inside the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, early on April 5, 2023, after clashes erupted during Islam's holy month of Ramadan. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

 In the hours after the raid began, clashes erupted throughout the region.  The evening of April 5th was also the 1st night of the Seder forPassover, starting the 8 day celebration for Jews.  So this was an unusual beginning for Israel, though important. 

 About nine rockets were launched, Israel Defense Forces said.  Four rockets from Gaza Strip were detected as they traveled into Israel, officials said, adding that they'd been intercepted. Another four landed in "open areas," they said.    Rockets came from Lebanon, but security thought they were not from Hezbollah.  Gaza then joined in and shot rockets at Israel, the total of about 80 from both places landing in Israel.

Streaks of light from Israel's Iron Dome system as it intercepts rockets over Israel on Wednesday.

 

Amir Cohen/Reuters  Right now, 4/7/23, Israel has been bombarded with some 1,600 rockets in an escalating conflict.  The Iron Dome has stopped about 90% of them.   

"In response to rocket fire from Gaza into Israel earlier, the IDF struck weapon manufacturing sites and a storage site belonging to Hamas, in addition to a military compound used for training terrorist operatives," security officials said. "IDF tanks also struck military posts along the security fence." ABC News' Joe Simonetti, William Gretsky, Bruno Nota, Kerem Inal and Nassar Atta contributed to this report.

While Israel has exercised sovereignty and overall control of the area of the holy sites in Jerusalem since 1967, the day-to-day administration and organization of visiting and worshipping within the Al-Aqsa Mosque has historically been the responsibility of the Jordanian Waqf, a branch of Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf Islamic Affairs and Holy Places.3

As such, and pursuant to the Israel-Jordan peace treaty of October 26, 1994, in which Israel declared that it “respects the present special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem,”4 Jordan continues, through the Waqf, its historic role in the Al-Aqsa Mosque area, subject to arrangements reached with Israel regarding rights of visit and worship and security.

Entering the Mosque was an affront to Jordan who has raised the question of international law. This caused a domino affect. The Muslim Holy month of Ramadan witnessed a series of public riots and disturbances on the Temple Mount, and specifically around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, orchestrated and organized following considerable incitement by the Hamas leadership in Gaza as well as by the leaders of the Northern Branch of the Israeli Islamic Movement.

Illustrative: An Israeli police officer stands guard as a religious Jew in army uniform visits the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, in the Old City of Jerusalem on August 3, 2021. (AP Photo/ Maya Alleruzzo)  That they need protection to pray on the Temple Mount brings tears to my eyes.  And this done in trying to keep things peaceful. 

Jordan's religious police are on the lookout for any Jew on the Mount who even dares to pray-and if they do, are acted upon, sent out, I imagine.  Christians get away with a little more.  Here's where the Temple Mount is sitting in Jerusalem, Israel's capital, and Jews cannot pray up there, while Palestinian youths can cause constant rioting and throwing of rocks or whathaveyou.  Pretty ironic.  it was in 2021 that Times of Israel reported that Israeli court was not ruling on legality of informally barred Jewish prayer, but lifted ban police had imposed on worshiper; cops appeal; Palestinians, Jordan lead objections.

These included daily acts of provocation and violence by Palestinian youths who entrenched themselves within the Al-Aqsa Mosque, stockpiled huge amounts of rocks, projectiles, firebombs, metal bars, and fireworks. They also erected obstacles and barriers, all intended for use against non-Muslim visitors to the mount, against Jews praying at the Western Wall, and against Israeli police fulfilling Israel’s responsibility to ensure public order and security.

 Because of the repeated clashes in al-Aqsa mosque, demonstrations and violent clashes with the police broke out in multiple cities across the country, including in Haifa, Arrabe, Reine, Baka al-Gharbiya and Umm el-Fahm in the Galilee, according to Ynet.

Protests in Umm el-Fahm led to riots, including throwing of fireworks and stones near Highway 65, as well as the burning of tires. A police detective force was forced to fire into the air to escape the scene, according to a police statement.

Five minors were arrested for rioting and throwing stones at police officers. 

Remembering our 8 days of Passover-which is like a reenactment of the event, brings to mind the Egyptians chasing the Israelite slaves and being unsuccessful.  They managed to get to Canaan by sometimes fighting their way to get there.  Here we are, a modern-day of Passover still fighting to stay in Eretz Yisrael.  

Resource:

https://abcnews.go.com/International/israel-storms-mosque-detaining-hundreds-prompting-clashes-amid/story?id=98372468#:~:text=Israeli%20police%20walk%20inside%20the,Islam's%20holy%20month%20of%20Ramadan.&text=In%20the%20hours%20after%20the,clashes%20erupted%20throughout%20the%20region.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-738550

https://jcpa.org/article/jordan-and-the-temple-mount/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/judges-approval-of-jewish-mans-quiet-prayer-on-temple-mount-stirs-arab-anger/

ABC morning news, 4/7/23 TVnews

CNN 4/7/23 TV news