The last days ,it was witnessed an Israeli escalation that was considered by many
media and analysts to be the most dangerous in the last months, and it threatens
to raise tensions in Palestine and the region. What happened and is happening
these days, in addition to the fact that it is a serious Israeli violation, especially
during the month of Ramadan, when the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem are the
place to which Muslims go to perform prayers, because the mosque and the city
hold great religious importance for Muslims as well as for other religions.
The successive incursions of settlers that took place under the protection of the
Israeli police and security men, and the accompanying repeated assaults on the
worshipers by beating and arrest. Dozens have been arrested and dozens have
been beaten, which did not differentiate between worshipers, whether elderly or
women. Eyewitness Ibrahim Ali, one of the worshipers, said to Alternative
Information Center –Palestine , "Dozens of armed policemen stormed the
mosque at noon and started beating people with batons, kicking, and firing tear
gas and sound bombs intensively. Then they detained hundreds and forced them
to sit on the ground and continued to beat them." He added that the Mosque
squares looked like a war.
The Israeli measures against worshipers and against the right to practice religious
rites for Palestinians in Jerusalem are not limited to what happened and is still
happening inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque or at the doors that lead to
the Mosque. Rather, it is a continuation of an intense and systematic policy
against people's right to practice their religious beliefs. And throughout the days
of the month of Ramadan, Palestinians were preventing from entering Al-Aqsa
Mosque to pray for those under fifty years of age. Restrictions on the military
crossings leading to Jerusalem were imposed by preventing Palestinians from
entering the city to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque., thousands of Palestinians were
prevented from reaching Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. This policy of closure
and isolation between Jerusalem and the West Bank comes within the framework
of the isolation of Jerusalem and Implementation of the policy of annexing the
city of Jerusalem and declaring it the capital of the State of Israel, in a step that is
a serious violation of the resolutions of the United Nations and its international
institutions, and a violation of international humanitarian law, as Jerusalem is an
occupied city according to the Fourth Geneva Conventions which emphasize that
occupying power is prohibited from making any action or changes that affect its
legal status as an occupied territory
What is happening these days in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, in addition to
what constitutes a violation of the Palestinian human right to access holy places
such as Al-Aqsa Mosque and to practice worship, as a right guaranteed under
international law, also constitutes a cause for tension and escalation of the
situation in Palestine in general. Commenting on the current events, the
Palestinian resistance forces issued a statement confirming what is happening in
Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa in terms of attacks and incursions into the courtyards of
the Mosque by settlers, which are constantly increasing and under the protection
of the Israeli police, which gives these incursions legitimacy from the Israeli
government, and what the Palestinian citizens are subjected to in terms of
beatings, abuse, arrests, and prevention of worshipers. From entering the
Mosque by the Israeli police, according to what was stated in the statement, it
requires a response and popular resistance against the Israeli occupation.
In a related context, thousands of Palestinians heading to Jerusalem and praying
at Al-Aqsa Mosque from the West Bank were not able to pass through the
checkpoints and military crossings that separate the West Bank from Jerusalem.
Especially the 300 crossing between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, which separates
the governorates of Bethlehem and Hebron in the south of the West Bank, and
the Qalandia crossing, which separates Jerusalem from the northern West Bank.
What is happening in the political and legal dimension is establishing facts on the
ground to isolate and separate Jerusalem from its environs in the West Bank. It is
also to confirm the Israeli policy of annexing the city and declaring it the capital of
the State of Israel.
Ahmad Jaradat – Alternative Information Center – Palestine