Occupied Jerusalem - By

closing the Mughrabi Gate today, Monday, the curtain has fallen on the last Jewish holidays associated with the rituals of extremist settler groups, seeking to Judaize Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem.

During the celebrations of the Festival of Lights - (Hanukkah in Hebrew) - that lasted for a week, 1,797 extremist settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and they were able to protect the occupation police from recording the following violations:

An extremist settler performs the ritual of "epic prostration" at the Chain Gate, one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque (communication sites)

  • Performing the ritual of "epic prostration" - (throwing down on the ground in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa) - collectively, for the second time since the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque (1967), and for the second time in 2022.

  • Performing collective biblical prayers at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

  • The occupation police used the Lions Gate - (one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque) - to expel extremists for the second time since the occupation of the mosque, after they performed public biblical dances and prayers, in an attempt to use this door in the movement of the intruders to and from Al-Aqsa, in addition to the Mughrabi and Chain Gates.

  • Performing dances, public prayers, and singing in the Northern Al-Aqsa Square, and dedicating the “epic prostration” ritual in the Eastern Square.

  • Extremist Temple groups distributed holiday sweets at the Mughrabi Gate, to encourage extremists to storm.

  • Performing dances, singing, and biblical rituals at the gates of Al-Aqsa from the outside every night, and lighting the menorah - (a Jewish religious symbol) - every evening under the auspices of the official rabbinate - (religious leaders) - in Al-Buraq Square, and under the supervision of extremist Temple groups in front of the Mughrabi Gate inside the wooden bridge.

  • One of the extremists stormed the mosque wearing a T-shirt with the Israeli flag printed on it.

Among the intruders during the Hanukkah days was Moshe Feiglin, one of the leaders of the extremist Temple groups, a member of Knesset for the "religious Zionism" bloc, Zviga Vogel, and a member of Knesset from the Likud party, Nissim Fatori, in addition to leaders of the "Women for the Temple" group.

Harassment of worshipers

In return for these violations, the occupation police harassed Muslim worshipers from the first day of the Jewish extremists' celebration inside the mosque, preventing them from entering, and many were forced to perform prayers outside the doors, specifically the Fajr prayer.

Women were also prevented from gathering on the terraces of Al-Aqsa and forced to leave it, and some of them were given orders to be removed from it for varying periods.

The worshipers were not spared from restrictive measures.

Such as: inspection and photographing at the doors, checking personal cards, and holding them until they leave the mosque. Even the students of the schools located within the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque were not spared from that.

On the fourth day of the Jewish holiday, the occupation police arrested the guard of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Mahmoud Abu Kharoub, after he objected to the settlers' biblical rituals, and then he was handed an order to deport him from the mosque.

According to the expert on Jerusalem affairs d.

Jamal Amr, the occupation authorities support the extremist Temple groups, with the aim of exploiting the festive seasons to achieve new gains in Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Amr indicated in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the Judaizing "Festival of Lights" is the first after Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in the recent Knesset elections, and it is no less extreme than Itamar Ben Gvir, and it is expected that they will contribute together to ignite this holy place.

to satisfy a wide range of extremist settlers.

A group of extremists during provocative dances in the Old City during the Festival of Lights (networking sites)

extremist statements

Amr touched on the storming of the extremist Israeli MP, Itamar Ben Gvir, to Al-Buraq Square during their feast days, and the lighting of candles in the menorah that was erected there.

Pointing out that he did not hesitate to make extremist statements.

Among them: Ben Gvir said, "I was excited to light the Hanukkah candle this evening in an exciting event in the Western Wall square near the Temple Mount, which is the place we returned to after two thousand years."

The Jewish celebrations of the Feast of Lights commemorate the so-called "victory of the Hasmoneans" in their revolution against the Greeks during the "Second Temple" period, according to the Jews who claimed that the Greeks persecuted rights and prevented Jewish worship, and their "revolution" resulted in the occupation of Jerusalem and the replacement of Jewish rule with the Greek.

One of the most important symbols of this feast is the menorah, from which a new flame is lit every day for 8 days.

Historically, the Jews claim that when they occupied Jerusalem and entered the "Temple" after the victory, they found a small jug of pure oil, which was supposed to be emptied after igniting the flame of the first night, but it continued to burn "miraculously" for eight days.