Israeli Forces Storm Aqsa Compound, Dozens Injured and Detained

By Chris Carlson

[Sunday, April 20, 2014] Dozens of Palestinian worshipers were wounded and dozens of others were detained after clashes broke out in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, on Sunday morning, with Israeli forces who had stormed the courtyards firing stun grenades and rubber-coated bullets.    (MaanImages)

The raid comes amid frequent clashes in recent days, Ma’an News Agency reports, after right-wing Jewish groups urged Jews to flock to the compound — which they believe is the site of a former Jewish temple — and conduct Passover rituals inside.

Director of Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Kiswani told Ma’an that more than 400 police officers stormed the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Moroccan Gate and the Chain Gate, escorting Ultra-Orthodox Jews other Jewish visitors into the compound.

Israeli forces, Kiswani said, “besieged” worshipers in the southern mosque “attacking them with clubs and pepper spray,” after clashes broke out with Palestinian worshipers in the compound.
Dozens of Palestinians sustained injuries during the assault, while several others suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation. Twenty-five young men were reportedly detained by Israeli forces.
Kiswani said that Likud member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin had also entered the compound during the raid, accompanied by special security units. Feiglin has visited the site frequently in recent months, and he has vocally supported the extension of Israeli sovereignty over the compound.

Earlier on Sunday morning, clashes erupted outside the Lions’ Gate (Bab al-Asbat) and Gate of Remission (Bab al-Hutta) of the Al-Aqsa compound when Israeli police denied hundreds of worshippers access to the compound.

Witnesses said that Israeli officers had denied all Palestinian residents of Jerusalem under the age of 60 access to the compound, including students who attend schools inside. Men and women were also attacked with clubs and pepper spray, witnesses said.

Israeli forces detained a young man after he was beaten brutally.

Israeli police spokesman said in a statement that police had detained 16 Palestinian “rioters,” adding that they were all detained “as they threw stones/blocks at officers at the scene this morning.”
He also said that two police officers lightly injured in the clashes, which broke out after the Palestinians threw stones as “tourists visited.”

About 100 Muslim worshipers have decided to stay inside the compound day and night, throughout Passover, after right-wing Jewish organizations called for Jewish worshipers to enter the area en masse for religious festivities.

Because of the sensitive nature of the Al-Aqsa compound, Israel maintains a compromise with the Islamic trust that controls it to not allow non-Muslim prayers in the area. Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to the site, leading to tension with Palestinian worshipers.

The compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque and is the third holiest site in Islam.

It is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place as it sits where Jews believe the First and Second Temples once stood. The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Editors note: Some pro-militancy advocates have gone so far as to suggest the bombing of the mosque, to Western Christians, in order to see a third temple built. However, a number of Christians maintain that any reference to a third temple, in their prophetic texts, merely depicts the essence of God and Christ and is that of a spiritual nature. (Revelation 21:22)

Al-Aqsa is located in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian territories that have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.

16-18