In a dangerous religious and political precedent... Introducing the Torah to Al-Aqsa for recitation from it

Occupied Jerusalem -

In a new violation, an extremist Israeli settler who stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque this morning performed public prayers directly from the Torah, in a dangerous precedent, after the extremists used to perform the prayers orally or by reading them from their own phones in the past.

It is customary to categorically prevent the entry of Jewish holy books into the mosque, and if this happened, the Al-Aqsa guards had the power to expel the extremists who committed this violation, but the Israeli police threatened the guards who objected to this violation today with arrest and deportation.

The director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar Al-Kiswani, said that he views this behavior and the violation of Al-Aqsa with seriousness.

Al-Kiswani held the occupation authorities "fully responsible for the reactions to the abnormal behavior in the mosque," as he put it.

The director of Al-Aqsa Mosque added in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net that the violations against Al-Aqsa are taking place gradually, and that in addition to the introduction of the Torah today, one of the extremists performed the ritual of prostration, or what is known as "epic prostration."

Al-Kiswani: The settlers’ violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque are taking place gradually (Al-Jazeera)

ignite a religious war

According to the director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the recent incursions have taken a different turn, as extremists perform daily public biblical rituals under the protection of the police, describing this as "provocative scenes that provoke Muslims' feelings and ignite a religious war in Al-Aqsa, which is rejected by all Muslims in the world."

Al-Kiswani stressed that the incursions carried out by the force of the occupation and weapons did not and will not give them any legitimacy, and said that the Awqaf Department is following up on this serious violation, and instructed the guards to object as soon as it is repeated, regardless of the penalty ensuing.

On the other hand, Sheikh Al-Kiswani commented that extremist Rabbi Yehuda Glick - for the second time within days - toured the Al-Aqsa Mosque alone without the escort of the Israeli police, and said that it was "an unusual thing in the incursions."

According to Al-Kiswani, the Jerusalem Endowments have contacted the Jordanian Endowments (which has religious jurisdiction over Al-Aqsa Mosque) "in order to stop the violation and new behaviors, through which the occupation seeks to impose a new fait accompli."

Rabat in the face of intrusions

The extremist "temple groups" have 4 major seasons to storm Al-Aqsa during the year, as explained by Ziad Abhis, a researcher in Jerusalem affairs.

The first season is the "Hebrew Passover", the second commemorates the "Unification of Jerusalem", the third commemorates the "destroying of the Temple" in the coming days, and the fourth is the long festive season, which begins with the Hebrew New Year through the Day of Atonement and ends with the Throne.

According to Abhis, these groups use religious holidays as seasons to escalate the aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Those who call themselves the "temple groups" relied on their ability in the previous season, represented by the "unification of Jerusalem", to impose the performance of the Jewish rituals in Al-Aqsa in public, collectively, to establish their narrative that it is a "Jewish holy place", but according to the researcher Abhis, "this did not happen to them in Ramadan 28, and the war started at that time.”

Today, the groups are looking to compensate - albeit in a relative way - in the so-called "memorial of the destruction of the Temple", which will come on July 18.

The researcher explained that the period preceding this anniversary in the Jewish religion is called “fasting weeks”, and its duration is 3 weeks, and it is the days in which the extremists prepare for the biggest incursion on the anniversary that will precede this year’s Day of Arafa by only one day.

Abhis says, "There is an attempt to achieve any achievement to compensate for the failure of the 28th of Ramadan to storm Al-Aqsa on the "memorial of the unification of Jerusalem" according to the Hebrew calendar. Therefore, preparations begin with a new violation today, with non-stop calls for central incursions and the performance of daily collective rituals in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The researcher considers it important not to separate what happened today from the formations that take place within the “Temple Groups”, through which the “Students for the Temple” and “Temple Heritage” groups were united, with the aim of improving and mobilizing the capabilities that extremists seek to use, to impose the performance of collective rituals. public at Al Aqsa.

The researcher concluded his talk to Al-Jazeera Net by saying that what happened today is a gradual preparation for the third season of the storming of Al-Aqsa season, which is supposed to be implemented after less than two weeks.

He said that confronting and returning to the "rabat versus aggression" equation by issuing calls for i'tikaaf in the mosque on the night of July 18th is the solution, because "only Rabat will be the key to thwarting the next aggression as well as the previous one."