Israel police detain man planning Passover sacrifice at Al-Aqsa
Fears are growing that Jewish ultra-nationalists are trying to change the status quo on the grounds that house the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israeli police say they have apprehended an ultra-nationalist Israeli campaigner who was planning to perform a Jewish sacrifice in Al-Haram al-Sharif — the site where Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located.
The arrest on Monday comes as Israeli authorities try to prevent what would be considered a provocative Passover sacrifice from taking place at the site as Palestinian Muslims celebrate Ramadan.
Dubbed the Temple Mount by Jews, the compound has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with incidents often occurring during religious holidays.
The holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holidays converge this year, an event that has often led to it Israeli troops crack down on Palestiniansespecially in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Israeli media broadcast phone footage taken by the campaigner, Raphael Morris, showing him being stopped in his car by plainclothes police officers.
In the video, an officer says that Morris is suspected of disturbing public order and that his house would be searched. Police said the video was authentic.
Morris was stopped while driving near Latrun, about 35 km (22 miles) from Jerusalem, said the Temple Mount administration, a Messianic Jewish movement that aims to build a Jewish temple within Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Some ultra-nationalist religious groups have called on fellow activists to bring lambs for sacrifice at the site on Wednesday, the start of the Passover celebration.
Since the 1967 war, there has been a status quo arrangement between Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan – in its capacity as custodian of Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem – that prohibits non-Muslims from worshiping and visits by non-Muslims on allow certain times. time.
Jews do not traditionally worship at the site, and Israel’s Chief Rabbinate prohibits Jews from even entering the site for religious reasons.
Despite this, an increasing number of ultra-nationalist Jews have entered the compound, and the frequent storming of the site by Israeli security forces, including in the prayer room of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, has fueled Palestinian anger.
Similarly, there have been more provocative visits from Itamar Ben-Gvir, a convicted felon who serves as Israel’s Minister of National Security and who is part of a growing movement in Israel that has challenged restrictions on Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa.
Clashes between Israeli security forces and settler groups on the one hand and Palestinians on the other have occurred numerous times over the past two years, particularly following incidents of storming in Al-Aqsa.
The incidents have left Palestinians increasingly fearful of a possible Jewish attempt to take over or divide the site.
Palestinians see Al-Aqsa as one of the few national symbols over which they retain some control. However, they fear a slow encroachment by Jewish groups, similar to what happened at the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron, where half of the mosque was turned into a synagogue after 1967.
Palestinians are also concerned about far-right Israeli movements attempting to demolish the Islamic structures at Al-Aqsa Mosque and build a Jewish temple in their place.
Over the years, there has been a marked trend of an increase in the number of Jews ascending the compound to either demand the formalization of Jewish prayer at the site or to actually pray there covertly and sometimes freely while police officers watch.
Right-wing Jews have historically tried to smuggle goats into the holy site to reenact the Passover sacrifice.
In 2016, ten people were detained by police on their way to make the Passover sacrifice on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The following year, Israeli police arrested a Jewish man carrying a young goat in Jerusalem’s Old City on suspicion that he intended to use it in a religious sacrifice. The incident occurred hours before the week-long Passover holiday.