Temple Mount In Focus With New Court Ruling - Will This Ignite The Powder-Keg?

Jordan fumes after court allows Jews to pray on Temple Mount

Yehonatan Gottlieb

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned a ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrates Court allowing, for the first time, Jews to pray silently on the Temple Mount.

"The Jordanian Foreign Ministry condemns the decision by the Israeli court allowing extremists to pray in the plazas of Al Aqsa Mosque," the Ministry said in a statement.

Haitham Abu Al Foul, the Ministry's official spokesperson, said, "This decision is worthless, and it has no legal standing under international law, which does not recognize the legal jurisdiction of Israel in territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem."

According to him, "This decision constitutes dangerous damage to the historical and legal status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque, and to the UNESCO decisions."

"The Kingdom does not recognize Israel's legal jurisdiction over occupied Jerusalem. The Al Aqsa plaza, 144 dunam, is an area of worship only for Muslims, and the Jordanian Waqf management is the only body responsible for handling all of the issues pertaining to the holy site, including entry to it and exit from it."

On Tuesday, Justice Bilhha Yahalom of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that silent prayers on the Temple Mount cannot be construed as a criminal act, and ordered police to drop a restraining order imposed on Rabbi Aryeh Lippo, who had been barred from the Mount over his silent prayers.

“His daily visits to the Temple Mount indicate how important this is for him,” Justice Yahalom wrote in her decision.

Fatah calls for an 'uprising' against Israel

Dalit Halevi

The Fatah movement, headed by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, is warning Israel against what it calls "its insistence on setting the fire of a religious war."

In a statement issued on Thursday, Fatah said that "the decision of the court in Jerusalem to allow silent prayer of Jews on the Temple Mount is a spark that will drag the area into a religious war."

The organization called on the Palestinian Arab public to support the Al-Aqsa Mosque through an "organized popular uprising" and to show a presence in the plaza of the mosque in order to "block the plans of the occupation" to take over the place and Judaize it. "

The Fatah movement also pledged to the Palestinian Arab people and Muslim believers around the world that "its fighters will continue to guard the holy places," and that "the Palestinian people will sacrifice their lives for them without regard to the victims."