Special Report: Discrimination Against Jews on the Temple Mount
by Michael Fuah
Preface
This report is a sequel to the two previous reports that we have published in the past in 2011 and in the Summary of Discrimination Against Jews on the Temple Mount in March 2013[1].
Following the first two reports, the Interior Committee of the Knesset convened during the previous Knesset term. Beyond the public interest that it created, two actual improvements resulted. First, IDF soldiers were allowed to enter the Mount dressed in IDF uniform. Second, the amount of time that those identified as Jews were delayed at the entrance to the Mount was shortened.
On Jerusalem Day (28 Iyar 5773/ May 8, 2013) the Knesset Interior Committee chaired by MK Miri Regev, was convened to deliberate on Jewish rights and Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount. This report relates to the deterioration of the situation since the Interior Committee meeting on this issue and covers a time period of 90 days.
Unfortunately, the document[2] summarizing discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount that was presented to the Committee in its meeting, as above, is still entirely relevant. Not only has the situation not improved, but just the opposite is true. Over the past three months, the situation on the Temple Mount has worsened, as will be detailed in this report.
We hope and pray that the government of Israel and Israel’s Knesset will activate Israel’s Police to actualize Jewish sovereignty at our holiest site - and that the prayer of King David, “Enter His gates with thanks, His courtyards with praise[3] will be speedily fulfilled.
First and foremost, I wish to thank to all my brothers and sisters who ascend the Temple Mount with endless dedication, knocking on its closed gates . Your faith and determination in the face of all the humiliation and threats have created public interest in the Mount and will continue to propel us forward.
Thank you to all the Temple Organizations and all their members, particularly to my friends, Yehudah Glick, Chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Fund and Rabbi Shimshon Elboim. Both have been tremendously helpful, gathering the material for this report.
My thanks to the Members of Knesset who share our goal and actively help to rectify the situation: Housing Minister Uri Ariel, Deputy Foreign Minister MK Ze’ev Elkin, Deputy Transportation Minister MK Tzippi Hotovely, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon, Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin, MK Shuli Mualem-Refaeli, MK Orit Struck.
My special thanks to Chairwoman of the Knesset Interior Committee, MK Miri Regev, who has skillfully and courageously taken upon herself to place the issue of the Temple Mount on the Knesset agenda.
My special thanks to my good friend, Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Moshe Feiglin, who has risked his life and courageously takes action despite the danger to his political future with boundless dedication for the Temple Mount. His clear thinking, advice and analyses guide me and illuminate my path.
My sincere thanks to the Manhigut Yehudit movement and its General Director, Shai Malka, who have made it possible for me to undertake this research and publish this and the previous reports.
Michael Fuah
Director of Research and Development
Manhigut Yehudit
Preface
On Shabbat, June 17th 1967, in an act that defines stupidity, Israel’s then Minister of Defense sat down on the prayer carpet of the Al Aksa Mosque with leaders of the “Supreme Muslim Council” (the Waqf) of what had been Hashemite occupied Yerushalayim. Dayan had already ordered our flag removed from the Temple Mount on the very afternoon of the Old City's liberation.
For Dayan, the Holy of Holies was in the fields of Nahalal, Degania and Beit Alpha. Before the shloshim for the fallen he handed our astounded enemies the very victory they thought to have been lost to them forevermore. Administrative control over the Temple Mount was to be the sole responsibility of the Waqf!
Decades of further humiliation were insured. On that very day, we squandered grace!
And so it is to this day. Jews are humiliated daily, followed by officials of the Hashemite Wakf who judge their every step and the very movement of their lips and by the Israel Police who are apparently ordered to by our government to enforce draconian measures deemed “necessary to maintain public order”.
• Fact: Jews are barred from entry for weeks on end when demanded by Muslim clerics
• Fact: Jews are not permitted to pray, in any manner or form, even in a murmur
• Fact: Jews are not permitted to carry prayer books or any books of a religious nature
• Fact: Jews are not permitted to bow or prostrate themselves
• Fact: Jews are not permitted access throughout the day
• Fact: Jews are not permitted to study text.
• Fact: Jews are not permitted to linger
Jews are not even permitted to use toilet facilities controlled by the Muslim Wakf. For those Jews who dare to exercise their civil and religious rights as guaranteed by the Israel Supreme Court and the K’nesset and murmur a prayer their lot is verbal abuse, physical violence, detention, arrest!
In Hevron, in the Cave of the Machpela, we were relegated for centuries to the humiliation of non-access, the physical proximity of Jews limited to a very real seventh step of a staircase leading to a side entrance. For centuries the Muslim occupation of Hevron was the cause of daily abuse and humiliation visited upon countless Jews. In 1967 that changed. While far from ideal, Jews now have access to the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. While far from ideal, we no longer cry bitter tears of exile like orphaned children begging for morsels from the plates of our tormentors in order to survive yet another dismal day!
The center of our individual and national being, the focus of our prayers and worship, the very heart of Jewish Peoplehood is Har HaMoriah, The Temple Mount. Now more than ever it is up to us to insure our civil and religious rights in our holiest of sites…if to praise, if to supplicate, if to connect, if simply to do justice in here and now of the spiral of time.
As we are duty bound to safeguard the civil and religious rights of minorities we are no less obligated to insure our own civil and religious rights. As we are duty bound to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of those who fell for our freedom and national liberation we are no less obligated to confront past mistakes and make them right in order to truly honor their sacrifice and memory!
And we are duty bound never again to squander grace.
Aharon Pulver
Executive Director
The Israel Independence Fund
קרן נחלת עצמאות
Contents:
1. Time allotted for Jewish presence on Temple Mount
2. Security and freedom of movement on Temple Mount
3. Parliamentary presence on Temple Mount
4. Destruction of archeological artifacts
5. Sovereignty on Temple Mount
1. Time Allotted for Jewish Presence on Temple Mount
Non-Muslims face constant discrimination in the time allotted for their presence on the Temple Mount. While the Mount, in principle, is open to Muslims 7 days a week, 12 hours a day, non-Muslims are allotted only Sunday – Thursday for approximately 2 hours per day. This means that during a regular month, Muslims enjoy an average of 708 hours on the Mount, while non-Muslims have a mere 86 hours (without Fridays and Saturdays).
This year, the month of Av, extremely meaningful for Jews because of the Tisha B’Av fast day that marks the destruction of the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount and our hopes and aspirations for its rebuilding, also marked the Muslim Ramadan[4]. During this month, the Jews were shamefully banished from the Mount due to Moslem violence. The Mount was closed to Jews for most of the days of the month, including Tisha B’Av. In all, the Mount was open to Jews for only eight days in Av and even on those days, for no more than three and a half hours. This means that during the month of Av, the Mount was opened to Muslims for 720 hours. The Muslims took advantage of this to the full and even slept on the Mount. [5] Non-Muslims enjoyed no more than 32 hours on the Mount, less than 5% of the time allotted to Muslims.
The days that the Mount was opened to Jews during the month of Av are: 1,2,3,4,7,8,10,11, 14 of Av, corresponding to: July 8-11, 14-15, 17-18 and 21.
It is important to note that the Jewish groups generally walk the circumference of the Mount from south to east, exiting in the West on a path that is approximately 1 km long. However, on the days when the Mount was open during the month of Av, some of the visitors were allowed to enter and forced to immediately exit the Mount via the Gate of Chains, approximately 100 meters from the Mugrabim Gate. This path is at the edge of the Mount and distances the Jews from the places most important to them when they ascend the Mount.
It is important to note that Jews come from throughout Israel to ascend the Mount after they have completed a complex process of personal purification. As the Mount is open to non-Muslims during normal work hours, these visitors generally lose their day’s work, or at least half of it. As such, arbitrary closure of the Mount with no advance warning is a painful and severe blow to those who made this tremendous effort and were not allowed into the Mount, or those who entered and were forced to exit after a few minutes. The following table summarizes the information in this paragraph:
At the time of this report’s writing, the Temple Mount is still closed to Jews.
2. Security and Freedom of Movement
The El Aktza fund[7] maintains a group of provocateurs on the Mount – both men and women – and activates them to undermine Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. The writer of this report, who experienced this provocation first-hand, warned Chief Superintendent of Police Avi Bitton of this situation in a letter from the 22nd of Nissan 5773/ April 2, 2013. (Appendix 1).
Superintendent Bitton admitted that this group of provocateurs does exist on the Mount. He claims that Israel’s Police do take action against these groups.
In addition, on the 22nd of Tamuz, 2013 /June 30, ’13, the Association of Temple Movements sent Superintendent of Police Yossi Prienti, commander of the Jerusalem region, a letter in which representatives of the organization warn of the escalating Muslim violence on the Mount. The letter is in this report, appendix 3.
During this three month period, countless acts of violence were perpetrated by Muslims against Jews. Every time a Jewish group would visit the Mount, it would receive a ‘welcome’ of shouts and epithets. Sometimes, the verbal assault would turn into physical assault. The following are details of just a small number of incidents that were publicized in the press.
18 Sivan, 5733
Rocks are thrown at Rabbi Yehudah Glick, Chairman of the Temple Mount, while he was at the southeast end of the Mount. In response to his request to apprehend the rock throwers, the police officer on duty said to him, “That is not my job. My job is only to accompany you and not to chase rock-throwers.” http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/256570
11 Tamuz
New immigrant Dan Tubul is beaten by Muslim rioters. Israel’s Police arrested the victim and not the perpetrators. It is important to note that Mr. Tubul was brought to court to lengthen his remand, and was released by the court.
8 Av
Moslem provocation was documented and publicized in the media. Note how the Jewish group is walking quietly, while tens of Moslem rabble-rousers gather around them shouting threatening slogans. In response, the police distance the Jews and close the Mount. They do not take action against the Moslem provocateurs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0V0Ipfw0fo
10 Av
A group of Moslem provocateurs chases Deputy Foreign Minister MK Ze’ev Elkin in shame from the Mount. It can be clearly seen in the video how the group gets organized, links arms and marches with the intention of trampling anybody in its way. Note how the Israeli Police distance the Jews, first and foremost among them Deputy Minister Elkin, from the path where they were quietly standing. The police do not arrest the rabble-rousers. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169931#.UhNpfdIweCQ
14 Av
Chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Fund, Rabbi Yehuda Glick is driven from the Mount by a Moslem mob. This incident was documented and publicized by the rioters: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10200928798481129
Later that day, Moslem children were documented inciting a crowd of thousands of Muslims with severely inflammatory words. http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/259529
These groups continue to control the Mount and to dominate the activity there. Every group of Jews visiting the Mount is treated to threatening chants by these groups. The Muslim groups surround the Jewish groups, shouting loudly so that the Jews cannot hear each other. Often, it is enough for the Muslims to surround the Jews to provide the police with an excuse for removing the Jews from the Mount.
It must be expected of Israel’s Police to photograph the provocateurs and to distance them from the Mount. Further, the police must investigate who funds this criminal activity and to put them on trial. The helplessness and paralysis that grips Israel’s Police in the face of these groups has led to PLO, Hamas and Al-Qaeida flags flying freely on the Mount on the days that it is closed to Jews. During the month of Ramadan, the Mount was abandoned to the control of these terror organizations, which openly and demonstratively controlled the Mount.
3. Parliamentary Oversight
According to the Knesset Immunity Law: “No directive that prohibits or limits access to any place in the State that is not private property will apply to a Knesset Member, except if the prohibition or limit is for reasons of state security or military secrets. “
Despite the law above, at the Interior Committee meeting of 28 Iyar, Israel’s Police announced prohibitions that would prevent some of Israel’s lawmakers from entering the Temple Mount. This completely contradicts the law. The prohibition was initially applied against Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Moshe Feiglin. Subsequently, it was expanded to the Knesset Interior Committee, which was prohibited from visiting the Mount. During the last three months Israel’s Police have not managed to perform their duty to allow MKs to visit the Mount. Further, on 12 Av , the police informed Housing Minister Uri Ariel that he should not visit the Mount.[8] In addition, Israel’s Police prevented the visit of Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin and MK Shuli Mualem on the 9th of Av, despite their explicit request to visit within the framework of their immunity as Knesset Members.[9] On the following day, when Deputy Minister MK Elkin entered the Mount[10] he was driven out in shame when a group of Muslim provocateurs began to riot around him.
To summarize, Israel’s Police does not allow representatives of the sovereign, first and foremost – the official representatives of the parliament – the Interior Committee, to perform their duties.
4. Destruction of Antiquities
“No work on the Temple Mount today is carried out without coordination with us, and without our control and supervision.” (Major General Yossi Parienti, Commander of Police , Jerusalem region). [11]
In the month of Tamuz, groundwork was documented on the Mount. This work was done with no supervision of the Antiquities Authority or Israel’s Police . Clearly, the Temple Mount is a site where even the simplest dig into the ground unearths history of thousands of years. On the 19th of Tamuz, construction work was documented on the Mount. The construction was accompanied by a representative of the Muslim wakf.
On the 26th of Tamuz, a worker was documented working with a pneumatic drill on the northern part of the Ramah area of the Temple Mount. No supervision was in place.
On 26 Av, tiling work was documented.
5. The Diplomatic Arena
Background:
The backdrop of the political discourse is the question of sovereignty on the Temple Mount. Who is the sovereign there? The State of Israel? A different entity? In order to understand the deterioration that has taken place in the past months, a short historical survey is in order:
After the Six Day War, Israel’s government deliberated the subject of Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount[12] and decided to direct Jewish worshippers to the Western Wall. [13] The government did not comprehensively prohibit Jewish prayer on the Mount, despite the fact that this idea was brought up and voted upon. In this deliberation, the government of Israel clearly saw itself as the sovereign on the Mount.
In the year 5740/1980, Israel’s Knesset passed the Jerusalem Basic Law that determines that the entire Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount, is included within Jerusalem’s boundaries. The law also says that “the holy places will be preserved from desecration or any other harm or anything that may infringe upon freedom of access of people of all religions to their holy places, or upon their sensitivities toward those places.” The law also says: “Any authority relating to Jerusalem, legally extended to the State of Israel or the Jerusalem municipality will not be transferred to a foreign entity, political or governmental, or to any similar foreign entity, either permanently or for a set period of time.” The State of Israel clearly determined its sovereignty on the Temple Mount in unambiguous terms and prohibited the transfer of any governmental authority there to a foreign entity.
Despite the above, Israel acknowledged that the Muslim wakf is responsible for the administration of the Mount. This report will not examine the question of the authority to transfer the administration to the wakf, but it is important to note that the wakf takes its orders from the Jordanian government. Further, the administration of the site by the wakf blatantly contradict the laws of the State of Israel, including the Personal Honor and Liberty Basic Law, the Jerusalem Basic Law and the Parliamentary Immunity Basic Law.
In a meeting of the Knesset Interior Committee held on 28 Iyar 5773, the representative of the Foreign Ministry, Deputy Administrator of the Jordan Bureau, Freida Yovel was asked by Committee Chairman MK Miri Regev who is sovereign on the Mount. Her reply was, “Jordan.” Only after she realized the severity of what she had said did she try to moderate her answer and said that Jordan had international responsibility on the Mount. This remark was decisively denied by PM Binyamin Netanyahu in the Likud faction meeting in the Knesset on 18 Sivan 5773/May 28, ’13. In answer to a parliamentary question by Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Feiglin, the Prime Minister said, “The State of Israel is the only sovereign on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem in its entirety.”
Parallel to the above, on 20 Nissan 5773/March 31 ‘13 the King of Jordan and PLO representative Mahmoud Abbas signed an agreement to divide the sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Temple Mount between them. The agreement is mutual: Jordan recognizes that the PLO is sovereign over the entire city of Jerusalem and the PLO recognizes the rights of Jordan to administer the Islamic holy places and its authority to manage and supervise the wakf. The agreement emphasizes that this management will be in coordination with and subordinate to the laws of the Jordanian kingdom.
Israel’s government ignored this agreement, despite the fact that it is a serious blow to its sovereignty and a blatant violation of the peace accords signed by Jordan, in which it is determined that “They (Israel and Jordan, m.f.) recognize the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of each other and will honor them.”
To summarize: On one hand, we have a decisive statement of Israel’s government and Knesset stating that Israel is the sole sovereign on the Temple Mount. On the other hand, its conduct on the ground points to the transfer of responsibility and sovereignty, for all practical purposes, to foreign hands. This is prohibited by the State of Israel’s laws and values as a free country, in which there is to be freedom of movement and worship and no racial discrimination - particularly discrimination against Jews. Nonetheless, Israel has given the authority for the administration of the Mount to the Muslim wakf.
Incidents During the Time Period to which this Report Relates:
18 Iyar[14], 5773/April 28, 2013
Commander of the David region calls Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Moshe Feiglin and informs him that as per direct orders from the Prime Minister, he will not be allowed to enter the Temple Mount on the following day, 19 Iyar, as is his custom for the past ten years. This report will not relate to the question of the legality of this order, but clearly, this directive from the Prime Minister was political or diplomatic.
22 Iyar, 5773/May 2, 2013
Israel’s Police inform Chairwoman of the Knesset Interior Committee MK Miri Regev that it will not allow the fact-finding tour of the committee on the Temple Mount, which had been scheduled for Jerusalem Day, 28 Iyar. This decision is also diplomatic, as the committee members were told that they would be allowed to enter the Mount individually, but not as a Knesset committee, representatives of the sovereign.
28 Iyar, 5773/May 8, 2013
The Jordanian parliament demands that the king expel Israel’s ambassador to Jordan on the background of “settler attacks on the Temple Mount.”[15] Israel’s ambassador to Jordan, Daniel Nevo is summoned to a meeting with Jordan’s Interior Minister and substitute Foreign Minister in which he is reprimanded and informed that the Temple Mount is a red line for the Jordanian kingdom. No Israeli response on this interference in Israel’s internal matters, a violation of the peace accords between the countries and the recognition of the sovereignty of the State of Israel was issued. On the contrary: The office of the President of Israel relayed a conciliatory message to the Jordanians. Its implications will be expressed later, in the reduction of Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, as has become obvious.
Tisha B’ Av, 5773/July 16, 2013.[6]
The Temple Mount is closed to hundreds of Jews, including Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin, citing state security.[16] According to the Police Commander at the site, the decision was made just a few minutes before the public who had come from far and near to enter the Temple Mount on the fast day was informed. Deputy Minister Elkin is interviewed on location and claims that senior minister knew about the decision on Tisha B’Av evening. This means that the police are covering for the illegal decision of the political echelon by falsely claiming the existence of a security problem. It is important to note that nothing out of the ordinary was noted on the Mount – no unusual gathering of Muslims or Israel’s Police.
10 Av, 5773/July 17, 2013
MK Yariv Levin queries the Minister of Internal Security on the closure of the Temple Mount to MKs Elkin and Mualem on Tisha B’Av. The Minister’s reply: The closure was due to local security considerations. MK Feiglin mounts a strong verbal response to the minister and demands that he tell the truth. MK Feiglin claims that the decision to close the Mount was a capitulation to the Jordanian demand. On the same day, Jordanian media publicizes that[17] Sheikh Azzam Hatib, head of the wakf in Jerusalem, told the Jordanian news agency Petra that Israeli forces closed the gate and prevented extremists and foreign tourists from entering the Al Aktza area on Tuesday, “the memorial day for the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash” following pressure by Jordan.
21 Av, 5773/July 27, 2013
The king of Jordan and representatives of the wakf and leaders from Jerusalem meet.[18] In this meeting, the representatives thank the Jordanian king for his actions in defense of the Temple Mount against the settler’s attacks (this is how the Arabs describe the visits of Jews to the Temple Mount, mf). The king promises to continue his involvement and expresses his opposition to the Sharansky Compromise in the Western Wall plaza.
In summary: It seems that Israel’s government, while insisting that it is sovereign, has actually capitulated to Jordan’s dictates, affording it sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
In Conclusion:
The public demand to stop discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount is growing. Thousands of Jews have visited the Mount and demand to continue to securely visit when convenient for them.
The claim that the police are motivated by security concerns and public safety cannot explain or justify the blatant discrimination and violation of Jewish rights on the Mount, as have been documented in this and previous reports. The police must respect the law and those who respect the law and remove all the provocateurs from the Mount. It must not reward violence and terror.
The diplomatic issues regarding the Temple Mount must be honestly clarified in the Knesset. The Prime Minister and Defense and Interior Ministers must not use the police as a fig leaf to cover their complicity on this issue. The Temple Mount is the bedrock of our existence in this Land. If the government of Israel has decided to transfer the sovereignty over the Temple Mount to foreign hands, as is indicated by the facts on the ground, it must bring its decision before the Knesset for its approval and for a public referendum, as required by Israeli law.
Appendices:
Appendix 1
Summary of Violations of Law Perpetrated by Israel’s Police on the Temple Mount
Racial Discrimination at Entrance to Temple Mount
1. Arabs enter from 10 different gates. Non-Arabs from one gate.
2. Arabs are not examined at the entry to the Mount while Non-Arabs are examined.
3. Arabs may enter with any type of written material, including prayers, propaganda and flags. Non-Arabs may not.
4. Jews are prohibited from entering the Mount with religious items such as: prayer shawl, phylacteries, 4 species, etc.
5. Prohibition against entering with an Israeli flag. Arabs are allowed to enter with any flag, including Palestinian.
6. Arabs may enter the Mount at all hours of the day and
part of the night, 7 days a week. Non-Arabs are allowed only six days per week and only four hours per day.
7. A person who looks like a Jew must display an identification card. An Arab or any other person who does not look Jewish is exempt from this requirement.
8. A person who looks like a Jew must listen to a litany of threats and warnings as to his conduct on the Mount. Arabs and those who do not look Jewish are exempt.
Racial Discrimination on Temple Mount
1. An Arab may walk freely on the Mount. Non-Arabs must stay in a group.
2. Arabs and those who do not look Jewish may walk without supervision. Those who look Jewish may walk only with the supervision of the wakf and police.
3. Arabs may pray, enjoy a picnic, game of soccer or do anything else they please on the Mount. Non-Arabs are prohibited from praying or walking freely.
4. Arabs and those who do not look Jewish may use the bathrooms on the Mount. Those who look Jewish may not.
5. Arabs may dig and build with no constraints of the law. Non-Arabs may not.
Violation of Knesset Immunity
1. Knesset Members are prevented from freely entering the Mount
This report was compiled and written by Michael Fuah, Director of Research and Development, Manhigut Yehudit, and funded in part by the Israel Independence Fund, קרן נחלת עצמאות .
Appendix 2
B”H
22 Nissan, 5773
To Chief Superintendent of the Police, Avi Bitton
Commander of the Holy Places, Jerusalem District
Re: Dealing with Provocative Groups on the Temple Mount
On Thursday, 17 Nissan 5773/March 28, ’13, I visited the Temple Mount with my son. We were attached to the first group that entered the Mount at approximately 12:41. Upon our entry, a group of Muslim women confronted us with calls of “Allah Akbar”, “with fire and blood”… and curses such as, “You stinking…” In the past months, this group is always on the Mount. This is not the first time that they attempted to provoke Jews who visit the Mount. Sadly, I have already become accustomed to this harassment that I must suffer as a Jew. If the situation would have remained static, I would not have even turned to you.
As we continued to the southeastern plaza, a group of women awaited us in the shade. When they saw us approaching, they took the chairs upon which they were sitting and came over to sit at the edge of the stairs that descend to the eastern path, so that they were blocking the entire staircase. They did this in a clearly demonstrative way. Fearing what would happen next, the police accompanying us stopped us. The police approached the group of women and after some deliberation they made a narrow space through which we could pass, allowing us to pass while they shouted at and threatened us. At that point, the entire eastern area was closed to the groups behind us and all the Jewish groups were forced to take the shorter, western route.
I do not understand how Israel’s Police allow the presence of a group that is on the Mount for the sole purpose of creating provocations. These women have been photographed by the police and by us. They should be criminally charged with disturbing the peace and with harassment.
If a Jew on the Mount dares pray or gives a media interview, the police know only too well how to prevent him/her from returning to the Mount for months or even years, with no court hearing. Why are the police impotent in the face of Muslim women? Why don’t they press charges against those individuals who they have photographed inciting violence on the Mount?I request to know how the Israel Police force intends to act on this issue so that provocations like this will not be repeated.
With Blessings,
Michael Fuah
Mitzpeh Netofa
Lower Galilee
CC: Police Commissioner Yochanan Danino
Appendix 3
The United Association of the Temple Mount Movements
22 Tamuz 5733
June 30, ‘13
To Major General Yossi Prienta
Commander of Jerusalem District
Re: Urgent Call to Action Due to Impending Danger on the Temple Mount
We, members of the United Association of the Temple Mount Movements are a body that unites 20 different organizations, representing thousands of Jews who ascend to the Temple Mount. Some of us have been visiting the Temple Mount for tens of years.
Over the last weeks, we have noticed phenomena that are more powerful than anything that we can remember over all the years that we have been ascending to the Temple Mount. These phenomena must not be ignored for even one more day:
In the recent past, every Jew who goes to the Temple Mount with a kippah on his head, whether alone or in a group, receives a “welcome” that includes loud shouts of “Allah Akbar” from the mouths of hundreds of Moslems, men, women and children loitering on the Mount. As far as we know, the phenomenon of “learning circles” is new, with no past precedent at all. Furthermore, it is the initiative of fundamentalist Islamist factors, particularly from the circles of Sheikh Ra’ad Salah and others who are connected to the PA. These individuals are terrorists and must be treated as such.
Many of the young people on the Mount attack the Jews who enter the Mount with curses and verbal violence. These are just a few examples of the “pearls” with which Jews were assaulted over the past few weeks: “With fire and blood we will redeem Al Quds”, “Jewish dogs, get out of Jerusalem,” “We will kill you soon,” and more…
This situation is doubly worse when the curses and shouts are directed at the police, who are responsible for enforcing law and order at the site in the name of the State. These expressions of violence are actually directed at the State of Israel, while the police must restrain themselves. This restraint is simply intolerable!!
We have also witnessed violent attempts to approach the Jews who enter the Mount, including physical contact that have been prevented thanks only to physical blocking by the police on the site.
Rocks are also hurled at the Jews who enter the Mount. Miraculously there have not been injuries until now. Sadly, in most cases, the police stand by, impotent in the face of violence.
Clearly, all of these are provocations meant to create a fight, in the hopes that this will result in the removal of Jewish presence on the Mount. When their violence is ignored, the Arabs understand this as our surrender of sovereignty on the Mount.
These are not single occurrences. They are steady phenomena, oft- repeated. The viciousness of these attacks accelerates from day to day.
Words may not kill, but the distance between violent words and physical violence is very short. We fear that it is closer than ever.
Police officers testify time and again that the violence on the Temple Mount stems only from the Moslem side toward the Jewish side. Recently, it was announced that the security forces call for an increase of Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Besides the explosive security situation that is created by this close contact, that has already developed into physical violence, the Jews who visit the Mount also experience terrible humiliation simply because they are Jews at the site most holy to the Nation of Israel. The Jews on the Mount are humiliated and frightened. According to police directives, they must move quickly past the southern area of the Mount for fear of the Moslem rabble sitting in the way outdoors, despite the fact that the mosque inside is empty and air-conditioned.
Public figures, including judges, have recommended on numerous occasions to adopt the Cave of Machpelah model on the Temple Mount. There must be set times during which Jews can enter the Temple Mount without Muslim presence, to walk freely and securely and to know that they will not be exposed to danger.
In another week and a half, the month of Av will begin. This is the month in which we mark the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash. In our experience, this is the time in which a peak number of Jews wish to visit the Temple Mount. The month of Ramadan will take place in the same month, bringing with it the peak number of Muslim visits to the Mount.
The following are the steps that we think must be taken immediately:
Reinforcement of the Holy Places police unit with many more officers.
Full security checks at all the gates to the Temple Mount, as are performed at the Mugrabim Gate.
Adopting a policy of reward and punishment according to which Muslim entry to the Mount will be limited in response to disorderly conduct on the Mount.
Warning the wakf administration of the severity of the harassment and serving a clear warning by the police.
Secure entry for all those who request to do so. Complete security for all visitors to this holy site.
As visitors to the Temple Mount for tens of years – and some of us even more than forty years, we will be happy to advise you as per our years of experience, if needed.
Respectfully,
Attorney Aviad Visuli, Association Chairman
Rabbi Chaim Richman, International Director of the Temple Institute
Yisrael Meidad, Secretary of “El Har Hashem
Chaim Odem, Chairman of the Movement to Restore the Temple
Attorney Baruch Ben Yosef
Yehudah Glick, Chairman of the Temple Mount Heritage Fund
Yaakov Heiman, Chairman of Yishai Voluntary Association
Orly Benny-Davis, Mikdash Association
Gideon Charlap, Hekdesh Otzar Hamikdash
Arnon Segal, Makor Rishon
Professor Hillel Weiss
Yosef Rabin, Movement to Restore the Temple
CC:
Minister of Internal Affairs, Yitzchak Aharonovitz
Chief of Police Yohanan Danino
Police Commissioner Moshe Bareket, Commander of David District
Chief Superintendent of Police, Avi Bitton
Appendix 5
Jerusalem, 10 Nissan, 5731
1 April 1971
Secret
To the Justice Minister
From the Government Secretariat
Re: The Temple Mount
As per our conversation on the above, the following is the wording of the decision as it was made by the Ministerial Committee for Preservation of the Holy Places on the 10th of Av, 5727 (August 16, ’67):
The Temple Mount
After deliberation upon the various proposals regarding the Temple Mount we decide:
The Committee has made the Chairman responsible for meeting with General Rabbi Goren and to inform him that he must stop organizing prayers, measurements and the like on the Temple Mount.
The Defense Minister is requested to instruct the Chief of Staff to invite General Rabbi Goren to meet with him and to instruct him to desist from all actions that are connected to the organization of prayers, measurements and the like on the Temple Mount.
When Jewish worshippers reach the entrance to the Temple Mount, they will be directed by the security forces to the Western Wall.
There was no stenographer at the above meeting and so there is no written record of the opinions that were expressed by the various ministers.
With Blessings,
Michael Arnon
[1] Attached as addendum 1
[2] Attached as addendum 1
[3] Psalms 90
[4] See section 2 in this report
[5] http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Temple-Mount-shut-to-non-Muslims-till-after-Ramadan-321648
[6] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170452#.UhNqs9IweCR
[7] An Israeli – Arab fund headed by Sheikh Riyad Salah
[8] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/170073#.UhNtstIweCQ
[9] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169965#.UhNubNIweCQ
[10] http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/169931#.UhNpfdIweCQ
[11] Protocol of the Knesset Interior Committee: 28 Iyar 5773, pg. 9
[12] .Paragraph 3 in the protocol of the government decision attached here as addendum 5
[13] Ibid. For further details see the Zohar document.
[14] This date is 10 days prior to the committee meeting, but the incidents during these days foreshadowed the announcement that the committee would be convened.
[15] http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Jordanian-parliament-asks-govt-to-expel-Israeli-ambassador-312480
[16] Eye-witness account, Michael Fuah
[17] http://jordantimes.com/israeli-forces-prevent-jewish-extremists-from-entering-al-aqsa
[18] http://jordantimes.com/jordan-will-exert-all-efforts-to-protect-jerusalem----king
http://www.jewishisrael.org/eng_contents/articles/73/Templmtreport.html
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