Temple Mount activists have warned of discrimination against Jews at the site, after a Jew who regularly ascends the Mount was detained and removed from the area, allegedly after sitting on a chair that had been brought into the compound by Arabs and placed along the eastern path.
The chair was placed in an area where Jews regularly study and pray each day.
According to the activists, the man arrived Wednesday at the Temple Mount carrying a folding chair and asked to bring it into the compound so he could sit during his time there. Police officers at the entrance did not allow him to bring the chair up.
When he asked to use chairs already located in the compound, he said he was told that this was forbidden because they were “Waqf property." Following this, Temple Mount activists renewed their claims of unequal treatment of Jews and Arabs at the site.
Akiva Yoel Ariel, acting CEO of the Beyadenu organization, criticized the conduct and said, "The treatment of Jews on the Temple Mount is the closest thing to apartheid in Israel. It is unacceptable that a Jew is not allowed to sit on a chair while an Arab is allowed to. Where are we?"
"The time has come for Minister Ben Gvir and Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop this shameful discrimination. We will not agree to be second-class citizens at the holiest site for the Jewish people," they concluded.