PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL/JERUSALEM-SHRINE Israel bans Palestinian activists behind Jerusalem shrine protests

Record ID: 140102

  • Title: PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL/JERUSALEM-SHRINE Israel bans Palestinian activists behind Jerusalem shrine protests
  • Date: 10th September 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (SEPTEMBER 10, 2015) (VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS) WOMEN CHANTING 'ALLAHU AKBAR', ARABIC FOR 'ALLAH IS THE GREATEST', NEAR AL-AQSA MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF JERUSALEM, KHADEEJA KHUWAIS, SAYING: "I stand near the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque, to ask for my right of entering (al-Aqsa mosque) and to protest against the decision that prevents us (as Murabetoon from entering the mosque) whether it is a temporary decision or a permanent one, for two months, six months, or even until 1430 (local time everyday)." JERUSALEM (SEPTEMBER 10, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF DIRECTOR OF AL-AQSA MOSQUE, OMAR KISSWANI, TALKING TO REPORTERS REPORTER TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DIRECTOR OF AL-AQSA MOSQUE, OMAR KISSWANI, SAYING: "When the Murabeteen (sentries) stay inside the al-Aqsa Mosque and protest (against the Jews entrance to the mosque), this is a peaceful demonstration. When they say Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest), this is peaceful demonstration against the extremists (Jews) visits (to the mosque) with the support of the Israeli police and the (Israeli) occupation forces."
  • Embargoed: 25th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAGU6VAB6JT9407ZSSBUH63MT3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Israel outlawed two grassroots Palestinian Islamist groups involved in vocal protests at a flashpoint Jerusalem shrine against stepped-up visits by religious Jews, officials said on Wednesday (September 9).
    The ban on the "Mourabitoon" and "Mourabitaat" - Arabic for male and female "sentries" - marked Israel's latest bid to assert its authority at al Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site and the vestige of Judaism's ancient temples.
    Captured by Israel along with other parts of East Jerusalem in a 1967 war, the ancient esplanade is a focus of Palestinian statehood hopes that Jewish ultra-nationalists oppose.
    Israeli police enforce exclusively Muslim prayer at the site, a ban some Jewish activists have campaigned to overturn with visits that have increasingly met chants of "Allah is great" and jostling by Mourabitoon and Mourabitaat activists.
    Khadeeja Khuwais, a resident of Jerusalem and one of the Mourabitaat said that she is demonstrating for her right of entering the mosque.
    "I stand near the gates of the al-Aqsa Mosque, to ask for my right of entering (al-Aqsa mosque) and to protest against the decision that prevents us (as Murabetoon from entering the mosque) whether it is a temporary decision or a permanent one, for two months, six months, or even until 1430 (local time everyday)," Khuwais said.
    Such protests give voice to Palestinian suspicions that Israel seeks to introduce Jewish worship at the compound or even remove the mosque to make way for a new temple - something denied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
    In parallel to last year's Gaza war, Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank saw a spike in street attacks on Israelis by Palestinians, some of whom said in messages left on social media or with relatives that they were acting to defend al Aqsa.
    Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon, who signed the ban, said in a statement that the Mourabitoon and Mourabitaat are a "main cause in the creation of tension and violence on the Temple Mount (al Aqsa compound) specifically and Jerusalem in general".
    He said anyone who takes part in, organises or funds the groups' activities would be subject to criminal prosecution.
    Director of the al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar Kisswani said that the Murabitoon and Murabitaat are demonstrating peacefully to protect the mosque.
    "When the Murabeteen (sentries) stay inside the al-Aqsa Mosque and protest (against the Jews entrance to the mosque), this is a peaceful demonstration. When they say Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest), this is peaceful demonstration against the extremists (Jews) visits (to the mosque) with the support of the Israeli police and the (Israeli) occupation forces," Kisswani said.
    The Western-backed Palestinian Authority, whose last round of statehood talks with Israel stalled in April 2014, brushed off the ban and signalled support for the activists.
    "The terrorists and lawbreakers are those who attack the mosque day and night, those who are aided by the (Israeli) government. They must be stopped," Adnan al-Husseini, the PA's governor for Jerusalem, told Reuters in a statement.
    A visit to al-Aqsa in 2000 by then-Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon was seen as serious provocation by Palestinians and a contributing factor to the five-year uprising or Intifada that followed the collapse of peace talks.
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