Temple Mount Update

MK Talab El-Sana (United Arab List-Ta'al) said that the riots in Temple Mount had been prompted by Israel.

"Israel is taunting a billion Muslims who wouldn't hesitate to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their bodies. Israel Police is allowing foreign elements to desecrate the mosque and is thus initiating unnecessary riots that are taking a heavy toll of injuries and bloodshed," he said.

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Likud MK Ofir Akunis said Sunday that much of the trouble on the Temple Mount in recent weeks is the fault of Arab MKs, who are "fanning the fire of dissent in Jerusalem. They keep repeating the same lies about Israel's 'takeover' of the Temple Mount – how can they continue to utter the same nonsense over and over?"

Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Akunis said that "the whole world knows that Jerusalem is a city where there is freedom of worship for all religions. This takes place only under Israeli sovereignty, and thus it shall remain," he said.

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Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) arrived at the Temple Mount area where, he claims, police on location are preventing his entry to the Temple Mount complex. "I view this with severity. The police are violating the law. This is not within their authority. Al-Aqsa Mosque is not a closed military area," said Tibi.

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...the Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount (OHRTM) called for Jews to visit the east Jerusalem compound, which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque. During a rightist event held in Jerusalem Sunday evening, just hours after Muslims rioted in and around the Temple Mount amid reports that Jewish extremists were planning to visit the site, Professor Hillel Weiss said, "The (third) temple must be built now. The mosques do not have to be destroyed in order for us to do this."

The conference, which was attended by a number of Knesset members and leading rabbis, was held in protest of the decision to seal off the compound due to the recent violence.

"It's time that we stop surrendering to violence," Temple Institute Director Rabbi Yehuda Glick said, adding that "before his assassination, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin said the greatest threat to Israeli democracy is bowing down to violence. "Unfortunately, lately police are surrendering and withdrawing in the face of the Palestinians' violence," said the rabbi.

Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior said, "It is vital that the Israeli people visit the (Temple Mount). We are suffering because a large segment of the populations is indifferent towards this issue. "Reclaiming our sovereignty over (the Temple Mount) will bring redemption closer," said the rabbi.