Temple Mount to be closed to Jews on Jerusalem Day

The Israel Police announced that the Temple Mount would be closed to Jews for several days, including on Jerusalem Day, the day on which the liberation of Jerusalem by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War is celebrated.

Following an appeal on the closure from the “Students for the Temple Mount” group, the police said that “every year the Temple Mount is closed for visits during the last several days of Ramadan, for reasons of public safety and security and public order. We inform you that a petition in this matter was submitted to the Supreme Court.”

Temple Mount activist Arnon Segal wrote in his Twitter account, “It turns out that, as we feared, the Temple Mount will be closed for Jews on the day of its liberation. We will not accept this racial discrimination. We will fight it. Every elected public official who is committed to the principles of democracy, freedom of worship and freedom of access must fight for the return of the Temple Mount to the Jews, to stand with us on the day of the Temple Mount’s liberation at the entrance to the compound.”

As reported by Arutz Sheva, a petition was submitted a week ago to the Supreme Court following the police’s decision to close the Temple Mount to Jews during the afternoon hours throughout Ramadan.

The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to “disqualify the police’s decision to restrict the right of Jews and other religions to enter the Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan, partially or fully, because it was made in violation of legal authority, without the granting of the right to a lawful hearing and a prohibited, unjustified and disproportionate violation of basic constitutional rights.”

The Temple Mount was left in the hands of the Jordanian Waqf following Jerusalem’s reunification in the Six Day War in 1967. The Waqf has taken advantage of this and removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the most Jewish holy site.

Police, in an attempt to appease the Waqf, discriminate against Jews. They limit the number of Jewish worshippers allowed on the Temple Mount at one time in order to prevent conflict with Muslim worshippers. They often close the Mount to Jews in response to Muslim riots – despite evidence that Muslim riots have been planned in advance for the specific purpose of forcing Jews out.

Despite this, Palestinian Arabs regularly blame Israel for the Arab riots and violence on the Temple Mount and, in general, falsely claim that Israel is trying to “Judaize” the compound.