6 nov 2019
Israeli settlers are seen at an ancient historical site in the West Bank city of Nablus on 22 April 2019
Palestine is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of antiquities, competing with Egypt in the Arab world. At least 22 civilisations have left their mark on Palestine, the first of which were the Canaanites; their presence is still visible today.
Since 1948, successive Israeli governments have paid particular attention to the antiquities that have a distinct Arab and Palestinian identity. Committees of Israeli archaeologists were formed to research in every part of Palestine on which Israel was founded. The aim remains to create a fake historical narrative by Judaising Palestinian antiquities. Historical monuments in major Palestinian cities, such as Acre, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Tiberias, have not been spared from this process.
Moreover, Israel has used various institutions to Judaise Palestinian fashion through systematic cultural theft and forgery. Even local recipes are not spared. Israel has participated in international exhibitions to display Palestinian fashion and cuisine labelled as “Israeli”.
This is how Palestine’s heritage and history dating back thousands of years are being stolen by the Israeli occupation and the “mafias” selling invaluable antiquities. This is happening at a time when Palestinian parties are taking action and calling for the protection of their legacy, history and civilisation.
In this context, studies have indicated that there are over 3,300 archaeological sites in the occupied West Bank alone. A number of researchers confirm that, on average, there is an archaeological site every half a kilometre in Palestine which indicates the true identity and history of the land.
It is important here to mention the devastating effects of the Israeli separation wall on the future of Palestinian antiquities and monuments. The ongoing building of the wall on Palestinian land in the West Bank will ultimately lead to the annexation of over 50 per cent of the occupied territory. It will also include over 270 major archaeological sites, in addition to 2,000 archaeological and historical locations. Dozens of historically important sites and monuments have been destroyed in the course of the construction of the wall.
Specialised studies of Palestinian antiquities indicate that, since occupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip in June, 1967, Israel has been able to steal and sell even more Palestinian artefacts from the West Bank. This phenomenon was exacerbated by the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada at the end of September 2000.
The Palestinian Authority’s Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage has pointed out that more than 500 archaeological sites and more than 1,500 landmarks have been stolen and destroyed by Israeli thieves and the occupation. It is a simple fact that, as the work of Salman Abu Sitta has demonstrated, more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages have been destroyed and wiped off the map by Israel since 1948. The Department also confirmed that the cultural and economic resources of Palestine continue to be depleted by Israel.
Palestinian studies indicate that the reason for this ongoing Nakba is the collapse of any system to protect Palestinian areas due to Israeli control. Such protection falls under the direct management of the occupation, which basically means that the Israeli army is free to destroy cultural heritage sites, as has happened in Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, and other Palestinian cities, towns and villages.
Archaeological theft and the violation of Palestinian heritage sites is one of the biggest challenges facing Palestinians as they seek to preserve their culture and physical presence in their homeland, which is threatened by Judaisation and targeted by systematic Israeli policies. We need to raise awareness in Palestinian society to confront this new-old challenge imposed by Israel.
We also need to boost our capacity to fight Israel’s theft of our history at the local, regional and international levels. This may be reinforced through Palestine’s full membership in relevant international organisations, including UNESCO.
Cultural diversity in Palestine dates back thousands of years. It is shameful that we are allowing this to be whitewashed out of history as Israel seeks to “prove” its fake narrative of the “Jewish state”, to the exclusion of the indigenous people.
Palestine is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of antiquities, competing with Egypt in the Arab world. At least 22 civilisations have left their mark on Palestine, the first of which were the Canaanites; their presence is still visible today.
Since 1948, successive Israeli governments have paid particular attention to the antiquities that have a distinct Arab and Palestinian identity. Committees of Israeli archaeologists were formed to research in every part of Palestine on which Israel was founded. The aim remains to create a fake historical narrative by Judaising Palestinian antiquities. Historical monuments in major Palestinian cities, such as Acre, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Tiberias, have not been spared from this process.
Moreover, Israel has used various institutions to Judaise Palestinian fashion through systematic cultural theft and forgery. Even local recipes are not spared. Israel has participated in international exhibitions to display Palestinian fashion and cuisine labelled as “Israeli”.
This is how Palestine’s heritage and history dating back thousands of years are being stolen by the Israeli occupation and the “mafias” selling invaluable antiquities. This is happening at a time when Palestinian parties are taking action and calling for the protection of their legacy, history and civilisation.
In this context, studies have indicated that there are over 3,300 archaeological sites in the occupied West Bank alone. A number of researchers confirm that, on average, there is an archaeological site every half a kilometre in Palestine which indicates the true identity and history of the land.
It is important here to mention the devastating effects of the Israeli separation wall on the future of Palestinian antiquities and monuments. The ongoing building of the wall on Palestinian land in the West Bank will ultimately lead to the annexation of over 50 per cent of the occupied territory. It will also include over 270 major archaeological sites, in addition to 2,000 archaeological and historical locations. Dozens of historically important sites and monuments have been destroyed in the course of the construction of the wall.
Specialised studies of Palestinian antiquities indicate that, since occupying the West Bank and Gaza Strip in June, 1967, Israel has been able to steal and sell even more Palestinian artefacts from the West Bank. This phenomenon was exacerbated by the outbreak of the Aqsa Intifada at the end of September 2000.
The Palestinian Authority’s Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage has pointed out that more than 500 archaeological sites and more than 1,500 landmarks have been stolen and destroyed by Israeli thieves and the occupation. It is a simple fact that, as the work of Salman Abu Sitta has demonstrated, more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages have been destroyed and wiped off the map by Israel since 1948. The Department also confirmed that the cultural and economic resources of Palestine continue to be depleted by Israel.
Palestinian studies indicate that the reason for this ongoing Nakba is the collapse of any system to protect Palestinian areas due to Israeli control. Such protection falls under the direct management of the occupation, which basically means that the Israeli army is free to destroy cultural heritage sites, as has happened in Jerusalem, Nablus, Hebron, Bethlehem, and other Palestinian cities, towns and villages.
Archaeological theft and the violation of Palestinian heritage sites is one of the biggest challenges facing Palestinians as they seek to preserve their culture and physical presence in their homeland, which is threatened by Judaisation and targeted by systematic Israeli policies. We need to raise awareness in Palestinian society to confront this new-old challenge imposed by Israel.
We also need to boost our capacity to fight Israel’s theft of our history at the local, regional and international levels. This may be reinforced through Palestine’s full membership in relevant international organisations, including UNESCO.
Cultural diversity in Palestine dates back thousands of years. It is shameful that we are allowing this to be whitewashed out of history as Israel seeks to “prove” its fake narrative of the “Jewish state”, to the exclusion of the indigenous people.
Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said today that the Israeli cable car project is an obscene violation of the cultural, historical, spiritual, geographic & demographic character of Jerusalem.
It is also an illegal assault on the occupied Palestinian city and its people who have been living there for centuries.
It is also an illegal assault on the occupied Palestinian city and its people who have been living there for centuries.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin said, “This is a strategic project to promote tourism in the Old City. Step by step, we are transforming a vision into a new reality.”
The Housing Cabinet approved on Monday a controversial 1.4 km.-long cable car project for Jerusalem’s Old City that will help visitors access the Western Wall.
The move to ease traffic congestion to one of Israel’s most popular sites, both for citizens and tourists, has generated controversy at home and abroad.
Opponents fear the cable car will mar the Old City’s historic landscape. The Old City is also one of the flash-points for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and any building project is often routinely condemned by the international community and the Palestinians.
Once it is built, the cable cars will be able to transport some 3,000 people an hour in both directions from Jerusalem’s First Station to the Western Wall, which draws about 135,000 visitors a week.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said that the project goes far beyond transportation and tourism, and is a national initiative to make the area accessible to all. After waiting 2,000 years for the Western Wall, traffic jams shouldn’t prevent people from visiting it, Kahlon said.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin said, “This is a strategic project to promote tourism in the Old City. Step by step, we are transforming a vision into a new reality.”
The NGO Emek Shaveh, which works to preserve cultural heritage, has opposed the project. Its CEO, Jonathan Mizrahi, said that the group plans to appeal the decision to the High Court of Justice, noting that a project of this importance should not be approved by a transitional government.
“The appeal to the High Court is intended to prevent the destructive impact that a cable car will have on the Old City landscape and on the fragile political situation in Jerusalem,” Emek Shaveh said in a statement.
“The government has not been able to approve budgets for the disabled and for health, yet it manages to approve a budget of NIS 220 million for a tourism venture,” the NGO added. “This indeed summarizes the priorities of the outgoing government.”
The Housing Cabinet approved on Monday a controversial 1.4 km.-long cable car project for Jerusalem’s Old City that will help visitors access the Western Wall.
The move to ease traffic congestion to one of Israel’s most popular sites, both for citizens and tourists, has generated controversy at home and abroad.
Opponents fear the cable car will mar the Old City’s historic landscape. The Old City is also one of the flash-points for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and any building project is often routinely condemned by the international community and the Palestinians.
Once it is built, the cable cars will be able to transport some 3,000 people an hour in both directions from Jerusalem’s First Station to the Western Wall, which draws about 135,000 visitors a week.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said that the project goes far beyond transportation and tourism, and is a national initiative to make the area accessible to all. After waiting 2,000 years for the Western Wall, traffic jams shouldn’t prevent people from visiting it, Kahlon said.
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin said, “This is a strategic project to promote tourism in the Old City. Step by step, we are transforming a vision into a new reality.”
The NGO Emek Shaveh, which works to preserve cultural heritage, has opposed the project. Its CEO, Jonathan Mizrahi, said that the group plans to appeal the decision to the High Court of Justice, noting that a project of this importance should not be approved by a transitional government.
“The appeal to the High Court is intended to prevent the destructive impact that a cable car will have on the Old City landscape and on the fragile political situation in Jerusalem,” Emek Shaveh said in a statement.
“The government has not been able to approve budgets for the disabled and for health, yet it manages to approve a budget of NIS 220 million for a tourism venture,” the NGO added. “This indeed summarizes the priorities of the outgoing government.”
Dozens of Israeli settlers on Wednesday stormed al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem while escorted by a large police force.
Eyewitnesses said that 57 Jewish settlers, led by Israel's former Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque in the morning. video
The settlers roamed al-Aqsa Mosque's courtyards and performed provocative rituals at the site before they left through al-Silsila Gate.
Eyewitnesses said that 57 Jewish settlers, led by Israel's former Minister of Agriculture Uri Ariel, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque in the morning. video
The settlers roamed al-Aqsa Mosque's courtyards and performed provocative rituals at the site before they left through al-Silsila Gate.
4 nov 2019
Scores of Israeli settlers on Monday forced their way into al-Aqsa Mosque through al-Maghareba Gate amid heavy police presence.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department said that 67 Jewish settlers broke into al-Aqsa Mosque in the early morning hours and toured its courtyards while receiving presentations on the alleged "Temple Mount".
The settlers further performed provocative rituals in the eastern prayer area of the mosque in an attempt to stir up clashes with Palestinian worshipers and Aqsa guards.
The Israeli occupation police impose tight restrictions on the Palestinian worshipers coming from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied territories to al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent many of them from entering the site for long periods.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department said that 67 Jewish settlers broke into al-Aqsa Mosque in the early morning hours and toured its courtyards while receiving presentations on the alleged "Temple Mount".
The settlers further performed provocative rituals in the eastern prayer area of the mosque in an attempt to stir up clashes with Palestinian worshipers and Aqsa guards.
The Israeli occupation police impose tight restrictions on the Palestinian worshipers coming from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied territories to al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent many of them from entering the site for long periods.
31 oct 2019
Photograph Source: View of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem. Berthold Werner – CC BY-SA 3.0
by Ramzy Baroud
Palestine’s Christian population is dwindling at an alarming rate. The world’s most ancient Christian community is moving elsewhere. And the reason for this is Israel.
Christian leaders from Palestine and South Africa sounded the alarm at a conference in Johannesburg on October 15. Their gathering was titled: “The Holy Land: A Palestinian Christian Perspective”.
One major issue that highlighted itself at the meetings is the rapidly declining number of Palestinian Christians in Palestine.
There are varied estimates on how many Palestinian Christians are still living in Palestine today, compared with the period before 1948 when the state of Israel was established atop Palestinian towns and villages. Regardless of the source of the various studies, there is near consensus that the number of Christian inhabitants of Palestine has dropped by nearly ten-fold in the last 70 years.
A population census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 concluded that there are 47,000 Palestinian Christians living in Palestine – with reference to the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. 98 percent of Palestine’s Christians live in the West Bank – concentrated mostly in the cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem – while the remainder, a tiny Christian community of merely 1,100 people, lives in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The demographic crisis that had afflicted the Christian community decades ago is now brewing.
For example, 70 years ago, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, was 86 percent Christian. The demographics of the city, however, have fundamentally shifted, especially after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in June 1967, and the construction of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall, starting in 2002. Parts of the wall were meant to cut off Bethlehem from Jerusalem and to isolate the former from the rest of the West Bank.
“The Wall encircles Bethlehem by continuing south of East Jerusalem in both the east and west,” the ‘Open Bethlehem’ organization said, describing the devastating impact of the wall on the Palestinian city. “With the land isolated by the Wall, annexed for settlements, and closed under various pretexts, only 13% of the Bethlehem district is available for Palestinian use.”
Increasingly beleaguered, Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem have been driven out from their historic city in large numbers. According to the city’s mayor, Vera Baboun, as of 2016, the Christian population of Bethlehem has dropped to 12 percent, merely 11,000 people.
The most optimistic estimates place the overall number of Palestinian Christians in the whole of Occupied Palestine at less than two percent.
The correlation between the shrinking Christian population in Palestine, and the Israeli occupation and apartheid should be unmistakable, as it is obvious to Palestine’s Christian and Muslim population alike.
A study conducted by Dar al-Kalima University in the West Bank town of Beit Jala and published in December 2017, interviewed nearly 1,000 Palestinians, half of them Christian and the other half Muslim. One of the main goals of the research was to understand the reason behind the depleting Christian population in Palestine.
The study concluded that “the pressure of Israeli occupation, ongoing constraints, discriminatory policies, arbitrary arrests, confiscation of lands added to the general sense of hopelessness among Palestinian Christians,” who are finding themselves in “a despairing situation where they can no longer perceive a future for their offspring or for themselves”.
Unfounded claims that Palestinian Christians are leaving because of religious tensions between them and their Muslim brethren are, therefore, irrelevant.
Gaza is another case in point. Only 2 percent of Palestine’s Christians live in the impoverished and besieged Gaza Strip. When Israel occupied Gaza along with the rest of historic Palestine in 1967, an estimated 2,300 Christians lived in the Strip. However, merely 1,100 Christians still live in Gaza today. Years of occupation, horrific wars and an unforgiving siege can do that to a community, whose historic roots date back to two millennia.
Like Gaza’s Muslims, these Christians are cut off from the rest of the world, including the holy sites in the West Bank. Every year, Gaza’s Christians apply for permits from the Israeli military to join Easter services in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Last April, only 200 Christians were granted permits, but on the condition that they must be 55 years of age or older and that they are not allowed to visit Jerusalem.
The Israeli rights group, Gisha, described the Israeli army decision as “a further violation of Palestinians’ fundamental rights to freedom of movement, religious freedom and family life”, and, rightly, accused Israel of attempting to “deepen the separation” between Gaza and the West Bank.
In fact, Israel aims at doing more than that. Separating Palestinian Christians from one another, and from their holy sites (as is the case for Muslims, as well), the Israeli government hopes to weaken the socio-cultural and spiritual connections that give Palestinians their collective identity.
Israel’s strategy is predicated on the idea that a combination of factors – immense economic hardships, permanent siege and apartheid, the severing of communal and spiritual bonds – will eventually drive all Christians out of their Palestinian homeland.
Israel is keen to present the ‘conflict’ in Palestine as a religious one so that it could, in turn, brand itself as a beleaguered Jewish state in the midst of a massive Muslim population in the Middle East. The continued existence of Palestinian Christians does not factor nicely into this Israeli agenda.
Sadly, however, Israel has succeeded in misrepresenting the struggle in Palestine – from that of political and human rights struggle against settler colonialism – into a religious one. Equally disturbing, Israel’s most ardent supporters in the United States and elsewhere are religious Christians.
It must be understood that Palestinian Christians are neither aliens nor bystanders in Palestine. They have been victimized equally as their Muslim brethren, and have also played a major role in defining the modern Palestinian identity, through their resistance, spirituality, deep connection to the land, artistic contributions and burgeoning scholarship.
Israel must not be allowed to ostracize the world’s most ancient Christian community from their ancestral land so that it may score a few points in its deeply disturbing drive for racial supremacy.
Equally important, our understanding of the legendary Palestinian ‘soumoud’ – steadfastness – and of solidarity cannot be complete without fully appreciating the centrality of Palestinian Christians to the modern Palestinian narrative and identity.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB.
by Ramzy Baroud
Palestine’s Christian population is dwindling at an alarming rate. The world’s most ancient Christian community is moving elsewhere. And the reason for this is Israel.
Christian leaders from Palestine and South Africa sounded the alarm at a conference in Johannesburg on October 15. Their gathering was titled: “The Holy Land: A Palestinian Christian Perspective”.
One major issue that highlighted itself at the meetings is the rapidly declining number of Palestinian Christians in Palestine.
There are varied estimates on how many Palestinian Christians are still living in Palestine today, compared with the period before 1948 when the state of Israel was established atop Palestinian towns and villages. Regardless of the source of the various studies, there is near consensus that the number of Christian inhabitants of Palestine has dropped by nearly ten-fold in the last 70 years.
A population census carried out by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics in 2017 concluded that there are 47,000 Palestinian Christians living in Palestine – with reference to the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. 98 percent of Palestine’s Christians live in the West Bank – concentrated mostly in the cities of Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jerusalem – while the remainder, a tiny Christian community of merely 1,100 people, lives in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The demographic crisis that had afflicted the Christian community decades ago is now brewing.
For example, 70 years ago, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, was 86 percent Christian. The demographics of the city, however, have fundamentally shifted, especially after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank in June 1967, and the construction of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall, starting in 2002. Parts of the wall were meant to cut off Bethlehem from Jerusalem and to isolate the former from the rest of the West Bank.
“The Wall encircles Bethlehem by continuing south of East Jerusalem in both the east and west,” the ‘Open Bethlehem’ organization said, describing the devastating impact of the wall on the Palestinian city. “With the land isolated by the Wall, annexed for settlements, and closed under various pretexts, only 13% of the Bethlehem district is available for Palestinian use.”
Increasingly beleaguered, Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem have been driven out from their historic city in large numbers. According to the city’s mayor, Vera Baboun, as of 2016, the Christian population of Bethlehem has dropped to 12 percent, merely 11,000 people.
The most optimistic estimates place the overall number of Palestinian Christians in the whole of Occupied Palestine at less than two percent.
The correlation between the shrinking Christian population in Palestine, and the Israeli occupation and apartheid should be unmistakable, as it is obvious to Palestine’s Christian and Muslim population alike.
A study conducted by Dar al-Kalima University in the West Bank town of Beit Jala and published in December 2017, interviewed nearly 1,000 Palestinians, half of them Christian and the other half Muslim. One of the main goals of the research was to understand the reason behind the depleting Christian population in Palestine.
The study concluded that “the pressure of Israeli occupation, ongoing constraints, discriminatory policies, arbitrary arrests, confiscation of lands added to the general sense of hopelessness among Palestinian Christians,” who are finding themselves in “a despairing situation where they can no longer perceive a future for their offspring or for themselves”.
Unfounded claims that Palestinian Christians are leaving because of religious tensions between them and their Muslim brethren are, therefore, irrelevant.
Gaza is another case in point. Only 2 percent of Palestine’s Christians live in the impoverished and besieged Gaza Strip. When Israel occupied Gaza along with the rest of historic Palestine in 1967, an estimated 2,300 Christians lived in the Strip. However, merely 1,100 Christians still live in Gaza today. Years of occupation, horrific wars and an unforgiving siege can do that to a community, whose historic roots date back to two millennia.
Like Gaza’s Muslims, these Christians are cut off from the rest of the world, including the holy sites in the West Bank. Every year, Gaza’s Christians apply for permits from the Israeli military to join Easter services in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Last April, only 200 Christians were granted permits, but on the condition that they must be 55 years of age or older and that they are not allowed to visit Jerusalem.
The Israeli rights group, Gisha, described the Israeli army decision as “a further violation of Palestinians’ fundamental rights to freedom of movement, religious freedom and family life”, and, rightly, accused Israel of attempting to “deepen the separation” between Gaza and the West Bank.
In fact, Israel aims at doing more than that. Separating Palestinian Christians from one another, and from their holy sites (as is the case for Muslims, as well), the Israeli government hopes to weaken the socio-cultural and spiritual connections that give Palestinians their collective identity.
Israel’s strategy is predicated on the idea that a combination of factors – immense economic hardships, permanent siege and apartheid, the severing of communal and spiritual bonds – will eventually drive all Christians out of their Palestinian homeland.
Israel is keen to present the ‘conflict’ in Palestine as a religious one so that it could, in turn, brand itself as a beleaguered Jewish state in the midst of a massive Muslim population in the Middle East. The continued existence of Palestinian Christians does not factor nicely into this Israeli agenda.
Sadly, however, Israel has succeeded in misrepresenting the struggle in Palestine – from that of political and human rights struggle against settler colonialism – into a religious one. Equally disturbing, Israel’s most ardent supporters in the United States and elsewhere are religious Christians.
It must be understood that Palestinian Christians are neither aliens nor bystanders in Palestine. They have been victimized equally as their Muslim brethren, and have also played a major role in defining the modern Palestinian identity, through their resistance, spirituality, deep connection to the land, artistic contributions and burgeoning scholarship.
Israel must not be allowed to ostracize the world’s most ancient Christian community from their ancestral land so that it may score a few points in its deeply disturbing drive for racial supremacy.
Equally important, our understanding of the legendary Palestinian ‘soumoud’ – steadfastness – and of solidarity cannot be complete without fully appreciating the centrality of Palestinian Christians to the modern Palestinian narrative and identity.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB.
30 oct 2019
Tension flared up at al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday morning after scores of Israeli settlers stormed Bab al-Rahma prayer area.
Eyewitnesses said that groups of Israeli settlers broke into Bab al-Rahma prayer area in al-Aqsa Mosque while chanting racist slogans under police guard.
Meanwhile, the Israeli police ordered al-Aqsa guard Ehab Abu Ghazala to stay away from al-Aqsa Mosque for one day as a punishment for filming a settler break-in into the site.
Earlier on the day, Israeli forces raided Silwan town in Jerusalem and kidnapped three Palestinians from their homes.
Eyewitnesses said that groups of Israeli settlers broke into Bab al-Rahma prayer area in al-Aqsa Mosque while chanting racist slogans under police guard.
Meanwhile, the Israeli police ordered al-Aqsa guard Ehab Abu Ghazala to stay away from al-Aqsa Mosque for one day as a punishment for filming a settler break-in into the site.
Earlier on the day, Israeli forces raided Silwan town in Jerusalem and kidnapped three Palestinians from their homes.
29 oct 2019
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In the latest in a series of recent provocations against the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Israeli forces on Tuesday morning invaded the Mosque compound and assaulted Palestinian guards.
Local sources reported that the troops invaded one of the mosques located inside the al-Aqsa compound, known as the Bab Al-Rahma mosque. Eyewitnesses told reporters with the Ma’an News Agency that the troops assaulted one of the guards, named Ehab Abu Ghazala. The soldiers maltreated him, abducted him and took him for interrogation. This invasion follows a recent spate of invasions of the mosque by Israeli soldiers and settlers. |
Hundreds of illegal settlers stormed the town of Kifl Haris north of the central West bank city of Salfit, Monday morning, PNN reported.
Under strict Israeli military protection, the colonists performed Talmudic rituals near a historical shrine.
“0404” Hebrew website stated that the settlers broke into the town after the deployment of large forces of the occupation army in its neighborhoods, and took over the rooftops of a number of houses and closing entrances to homes, and erecting military checkpoints.
According to 0404 website, the Israeli army secured the storming of 600 settlers into the village of Kifl Haris, in the district of Salfit, to perform Jewish rituals.
Under strict Israeli military protection, the colonists performed Talmudic rituals near a historical shrine.
“0404” Hebrew website stated that the settlers broke into the town after the deployment of large forces of the occupation army in its neighborhoods, and took over the rooftops of a number of houses and closing entrances to homes, and erecting military checkpoints.
According to 0404 website, the Israeli army secured the storming of 600 settlers into the village of Kifl Haris, in the district of Salfit, to perform Jewish rituals.
28 oct 2019
Dozens of Jewish settlers on Monday morning defiled al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem under heavy police guard.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department said that 62 Israeli settlers roamed al-Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in the early morning hours while receiving presentations on the alleged Temple Mount.
The settlers further performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern area of the Mosque, while tight restrictions were imposed on the Palestinian worshipers entering the site.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department said that 62 Israeli settlers roamed al-Aqsa Mosque's courtyards in the early morning hours while receiving presentations on the alleged Temple Mount.
The settlers further performed Talmudic rituals in the eastern area of the Mosque, while tight restrictions were imposed on the Palestinian worshipers entering the site.
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