One of the organizers of Sunday's “Revava l’Har HaBayit” – meaning “10,000 to the Temple Mount,” Yisrael Cohen, was interviewed on Israel National Radio’sEli Stutz and Yishai Fleisher Show.
Cohen says that organizers of the Temple Mount prayer were intent on cooperating fully with the police, but were mistreated from the very beginning: “We made clear from the outset that we would follow their rules, agreeing to bring up one small group after another. We were willing to work with the police and government on this but they were not willing to let this happen … We are talking about a non-violent, legitimate act.”
The mass ascent to Judaism's holiest site was scheduled months ago to take place this coming Sunday, the first day of the Jewish month of Nissan. Posters have been hung along Israel's major highways and in city centers throughout Israel, and organizers say they have been inundated with calls from people and groups interested in taking part in the event.
Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra (Likud) said today, however, that intelligence evaluations indicate that anti-disengagement activists could carry out some sort of an attack on the Temple Mount. He refrained from offering any concrete examples of what led to widely publicized “heightened security” in the area, but admitted that Sunday’s demonstrators were not to blame.
"The movements that are organizing this rally do not have any intentions to perpetrate such an attack," Ezra said. "Their goal is just to express the centrality of the site to the Jewish people. The Muslims are the ones who took it to an extreme, mistakenly thinking that these groups would want to stage an attack."
Thousands of security personnel are expected to be on hand Sunday to prevent Jews from getting anywhere near the entrances to the Temple Mount. Arabs, however, will be permitted to enter the Mount freely, despite the probability that rioting and stone-throwing will result. The Al-Aqsa Association of the Islamic Movement's radical northern branch has repeatedly called on its followers to remain at the mosque on the Temple Mount from Friday onward, and is sending tens of buses toward Jerusalem to “guard the mount from the Jews.”
“This is racist discrimination against Jews," said a statement from the Land of Israel Task Force, "and just as it would not stand anywhere in the world – it will not in Israel either. It cannot be that an Arab is granted entry but a Jew is barred.”
The chairman of the task force and one of the organizers of Sunday’s Temple Mount visit, Aviad Visouly, wrote to Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Franco saying that the announcement that Jews would be barred from the Temple Mount Sunday was unlawful. Visouly argued that although weeks have passed since the request was received by the police, the announcement was made at the last minute – in contravention of police orders obligating a response at least five days before the event.
According to Attorney-General orders, banning a demonstration or event must be a last resort in the event of an imminent danger, but, writes Visouly, “You used it as a first resort and with no effort to coordinate with the demonstrators (refusing to meet with us) or to find other, less extreme solutions – and in this, it appears that you have displayed negligence in carrying out your duties.”
Visouly added that, in an interview with Israel's state-run radio, Franco said the police had no specific knowledge of threats to security and order, rather “intelligence evaluations and public sentiments.” Considerations of this nature have been "clearly negated by both the Supreme Court and the Attorney-General as reasons to refuse to grant a license for a demonstration," Visouly wrote.
“We requested to hold a quiet religious event without provocations or disruptions,” he continued, adding that Franco should be sure to brief his officers and police before the event on the relevant laws. “Due to bitter past experiences with Jerusalem police, participants in the event will be sure to photograph the actions of the Jerusalem police in hidden and open ways alike.”
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar explained on Israel Radio today that the Chief Rabbinate has issued a blanket ban on Jewish entry to the Temple Mount, "because of the danger that someone would unknowingly set foot on an area that is forbidden by Torah law." He said that those who wish, individually, to take the proper purification precautions and rely on rabbis such as the late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who mapped out the area and say they know which places are permitted, "may do so - but we know that Jewish Law states that the law is decided in accordance with the majority."
David Ha'Ivri, one of the main organizers of the Revavah event, complimented Israel Radio on its interview with Rabbi Amar. "I hope that you will also present his views on the importance of keeping the Sabbath and the like," he said.
A former Jerusalem Police Chief, Aryeh Amit, told Army Radio this morning that he views the mere act of Jews demanding to be able to pray on the Temple Mount as a “provocation.” Amit said that while he supports the rights of Jews to visit the site, he does not feel they should be permitted to pray there, since the Islamic community deems it to be provocation and it would undoubtedly lead to violence and clashes.
Cohen called on the masses to come as near to the Old City as they could on Sunday, and not to be intimidated by Muslim groups and the police. “People need to show they care,” Cohen said. “Police told us that if we had 2,000 people a day who wanted to pray up there, things would be different, but now there are less religious Jews going up than tourists. When there will be more Jewish worshippers than tourists, things will be different.”
Cohen says that organizers of the Temple Mount prayer were intent on cooperating fully with the police, but were mistreated from the very beginning: “We made clear from the outset that we would follow their rules, agreeing to bring up one small group after another. We were willing to work with the police and government on this but they were not willing to let this happen … We are talking about a non-violent, legitimate act.”
The mass ascent to Judaism's holiest site was scheduled months ago to take place this coming Sunday, the first day of the Jewish month of Nissan. Posters have been hung along Israel's major highways and in city centers throughout Israel, and organizers say they have been inundated with calls from people and groups interested in taking part in the event.
Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra (Likud) said today, however, that intelligence evaluations indicate that anti-disengagement activists could carry out some sort of an attack on the Temple Mount. He refrained from offering any concrete examples of what led to widely publicized “heightened security” in the area, but admitted that Sunday’s demonstrators were not to blame.
"The movements that are organizing this rally do not have any intentions to perpetrate such an attack," Ezra said. "Their goal is just to express the centrality of the site to the Jewish people. The Muslims are the ones who took it to an extreme, mistakenly thinking that these groups would want to stage an attack."
Thousands of security personnel are expected to be on hand Sunday to prevent Jews from getting anywhere near the entrances to the Temple Mount. Arabs, however, will be permitted to enter the Mount freely, despite the probability that rioting and stone-throwing will result. The Al-Aqsa Association of the Islamic Movement's radical northern branch has repeatedly called on its followers to remain at the mosque on the Temple Mount from Friday onward, and is sending tens of buses toward Jerusalem to “guard the mount from the Jews.”
“This is racist discrimination against Jews," said a statement from the Land of Israel Task Force, "and just as it would not stand anywhere in the world – it will not in Israel either. It cannot be that an Arab is granted entry but a Jew is barred.”
The chairman of the task force and one of the organizers of Sunday’s Temple Mount visit, Aviad Visouly, wrote to Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Franco saying that the announcement that Jews would be barred from the Temple Mount Sunday was unlawful. Visouly argued that although weeks have passed since the request was received by the police, the announcement was made at the last minute – in contravention of police orders obligating a response at least five days before the event.
According to Attorney-General orders, banning a demonstration or event must be a last resort in the event of an imminent danger, but, writes Visouly, “You used it as a first resort and with no effort to coordinate with the demonstrators (refusing to meet with us) or to find other, less extreme solutions – and in this, it appears that you have displayed negligence in carrying out your duties.”
Visouly added that, in an interview with Israel's state-run radio, Franco said the police had no specific knowledge of threats to security and order, rather “intelligence evaluations and public sentiments.” Considerations of this nature have been "clearly negated by both the Supreme Court and the Attorney-General as reasons to refuse to grant a license for a demonstration," Visouly wrote.
“We requested to hold a quiet religious event without provocations or disruptions,” he continued, adding that Franco should be sure to brief his officers and police before the event on the relevant laws. “Due to bitter past experiences with Jerusalem police, participants in the event will be sure to photograph the actions of the Jerusalem police in hidden and open ways alike.”
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visiting the Temple Mount on the 28th of September, 2001 where he declared that every Jew has the right to visit Judaism's holiest site.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar explained on Israel Radio today that the Chief Rabbinate has issued a blanket ban on Jewish entry to the Temple Mount, "because of the danger that someone would unknowingly set foot on an area that is forbidden by Torah law." He said that those who wish, individually, to take the proper purification precautions and rely on rabbis such as the late Rabbi Shlomo Goren, who mapped out the area and say they know which places are permitted, "may do so - but we know that Jewish Law states that the law is decided in accordance with the majority."
David Ha'Ivri, one of the main organizers of the Revavah event, complimented Israel Radio on its interview with Rabbi Amar. "I hope that you will also present his views on the importance of keeping the Sabbath and the like," he said.
A former Jerusalem Police Chief, Aryeh Amit, told Army Radio this morning that he views the mere act of Jews demanding to be able to pray on the Temple Mount as a “provocation.” Amit said that while he supports the rights of Jews to visit the site, he does not feel they should be permitted to pray there, since the Islamic community deems it to be provocation and it would undoubtedly lead to violence and clashes.
Cohen called on the masses to come as near to the Old City as they could on Sunday, and not to be intimidated by Muslim groups and the police. “People need to show they care,” Cohen said. “Police told us that if we had 2,000 people a day who wanted to pray up there, things would be different, but now there are less religious Jews going up than tourists. When there will be more Jewish worshippers than tourists, things will be different.”