Israel is reconfiguring itself, a blow for the various religious communities

Disinfection of Judaism's holiest prayer site ahead of the Jewish New Year, September 16, 2020, in Jerusalem.

REUTERS / Ronen Zvulun

Text by: RFI Follow

7 min

It is at 2 p.m. this Friday, September 18 that the re-containment will begin in Israel.

The Esplanade des Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, will be closed for three weeks.

A confinement also just a few hours from the feast of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to avoid gatherings in places of prayer and during family meals.

A hard blow for the different communities.

Reports from Jerusalem.

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In an alley in Jerusalem the ringing of the shofar, the traditional ram's horn, announces the new year.

One of the highlights of the festival of Rosh Hashanah.

This year it is in the street that the rehearsals take place,

reports our correspondent in Jerusalem,

Michel Paul.

For the first time in its history, the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem, like other major prayer centers in Israel, will not host the Jewish New Year celebrations.

To limit the spread of the virus, authorities have however put in place a plan allowing worshipers to pray in synagogues depending on the size of the building.

But in many oratories, the faithful prefer to limit the risks.

Prayers will be held outdoors despite the heat.

 First of all, I think it's a tragic event,”

comments MP Yossi Tayeb of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardic Shass party.

It is a good thing that part of the synagogues will be able to remain open in a restricted way of course.

Today we are not asked to come and transgress but quite simply to stay within the instructions in a restricted manner.

 "

And in several cities with an

ultra-Orthodox

majority

, where the Covid-19 contamination rates have skyrocketed in recent days, the faithful are determined to welcome the New Year as in previous years without really taking into account the barrier measures and the re-containment. .

Listen to the report

Michel paul

► Read also: Coronavirus: Israel is re-fining for at least three weeks

"Jerusalem is dying"

In the Old City of Jerusalem, the atmosphere is gloomy, the calm is striking, says

our correspondent on site,

Alice Froussard.

There are already no more tourists, nor will there be any more faithful if the Esplanade des Mosques is closed, deplores Bilal, a textile merchant: “ 

Even if we had intifadas, even if we had political problems, all that had never happened.

Jerusalem is dying and she's crying, and we're tired of the coronavirus now.

We can't take it anymore. 

"

Because the Esplanade des Mosques had already closed two months at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

A first since the occupation in 1967 and the annexation by Israel of East Jerusalem.

But the number of cases is seriously increasing.

And even if the devotees bring their own prayer mat, keep the mask on, that is not enough, believes Fathi, a shopkeeper near the Lions Gate.

 Because you are never sure who comes in with a virus or without a virus.

He will be infected, his family will too and the problems will get bigger and bigger.

So I think it's a wise move so that no one is in contact with others and in the end everything will reopen again. 

"

The call to prayer will now be for the next three weeks.

Listen to the report

Alice Coward

It was the WAQF, the religious authority in charge of the esplanade and which reports to the Jordanian Ministry of Religious Affairs, which announced on Wednesday the closure of the Mosques esplanade.

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