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News from the Region

Palestinians Suffer Amid Rumors of Radical Jewish Attack

By Paul Pierce, Quaker International Affairs Representative, AFSC

Jerusalem took on the look of an armed camp instead of a holy city on May 7th and 8th as hundreds of police mobilized amid rumors that Jewish extremists were planning a mass rally and assault on the Temple Mount. As a result, thousands of Muslim men, under age 45, were prevented from praying at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third most holy site.

Israeli police check IDs of Palestinians entering Old city of Jerusalem. Photo: Paul Pierce

Police set up blockades to entrances of the Old City of Jerusalem and checked everyone’s ID to make sure only Muslims with Jerusalem IDs would be permitted to pray at the Mosque. In the early morning on May 8th, hundreds of young Palestinians chanted and some threw rocks and bottles at Israeli police officers to protest being barred from the holy site. At least 7 police officers sustained injuries and had to be taken to hospitals.

Palestinians were outraged at being prevented from entering the Al Aqsa Mosque to pray due to the possible actions of Jewish extremists.

“It is ridiculous that Palestinians always have to suffer because of the acts of radical Jewish groups,” said one East Jerusalem resident.

Police were responding to rumors that the Israeli right-wing group Mevava might gather its followers to rally at the Temple Mount and clash with hundreds of Muslim men who were already hiding in the Al Aqsa Mosque to defend it from possible takeover by the group. There were no confirmed reports of an actual gathering, but large numbers of police were mobilized just in case.

Area residents had mixed feelings about the police action. While most Muslims condemned the barring of worshippers from the Mosque, one Christian minister said he had mixed feelings about the situation.

“On the one hand it is good that the Israeli police are so diligent about protecting the Haram and the Dome of the Rock from the radical right of Jewish society. On the other hand I think, ‘Why is it always at the expense of the Palestinian people?’” asked Russell Siler, pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in the Old City.

Siler thinks that rather than make Muslims suffer unnecessarily, the police should focus their attention on the possible perpetrators of unrest, the right-wing elements in Israeli society.

“Perhaps, for a change, the next time there is a Jewish threat to the Dome of the Rock, the police should simply bar all Jewish people from the Old City," said Rev. Siler.

Siler says that he was amazed by the complete blockade on the East Jerusalem side of the Old City, while the West Jerusalem side was left virtually unguarded. “If the threat is from the Israeli side, why is that side left totally vulnerable?” he asks.

By 2 pm on the 8th, any threat that police anticipated had failed to materialize, and they left their barricades for other duties.

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