Temple Mount: Jews restricted
Temple Mount: Jews restrictedIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Temple Mount activists are seeking police action on recent anti-Jewish protests by Muslim women on the Temple Mount, which Judaism teaches is the holiest place on earth.

During Passover a group of Muslim women attempted to physically block Jewish visitors from accessing the site.

In an appeal to police commander Avi Biton, Manhigut Yehudit activist Michael Puah described the incident, noting that the Muslim women had yelled “Allah is great,” “You stink,” and “With our blood and soul we will free Palestine” at a visiting Jewish group.

The women attempted to prevent Jews from accessing the holy site at all, but after speaking with police, agreed to move aside slightly so that Jews could pass through in a narrow chain, with the Muslim women yelling insults at them as they walked by.

“I don’t understand why the Israel Police allows the presence of a group whose sole aim is to provoke tension on the Mount,” he wrote. “These women have been filmed both by the Israel Police and by us, and they need to face criminal charges for harassment and disturbing the peace.”

“When it comes to Jews whose only crime was prayer, or giving a media interview, the Israel Police knows well how to bar them from entering the Mount for months or years without trial,” he added. “Why are the police powerless when it comes to Muslims?”

Puah ended his letter with a request to know “how the Israel Police plans to act in this matter to ensure these provocations will not be repeated.”

Police responded to the original incident by closing the Temple Mount to all visitors for the rest of the morning.