Facts on the ground at Al Aqsa – Breaking through Israeli propaganda and media bias

The Al Aqsa mosque sanctuary is a large area that contains the Dome of the Rock and Al Aqsa mosques, as well as several other Islamic structures.

It is the third-holiest site in Islam. Muslims believe the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) led all the prophets in prayer and ascended into the heavens from the sanctuary.

Al Aqsa has been under Muslim control since the 7th century.

It is a World Heritage site, protected by UNESCO.

As an occupying power, Israel is obligated by The Hague Regulations and UNESCO to protect Palestinian religious and cultural heritage sites. 1

The Israeli military routinely prohibits Palestinians from Jerusalem and the Al Aqsa mosque sanctuary.

Incursions by extremist, messianic Jews who are part of the Temple Movements and who call for the destruction of the Al Aqsa sanctuary, have increased significantly in the past year.

Though Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he supports the status quo for Al Aqsa, it is an insincere gesture. Several agencies within the Israeli government fund Temple Movement groups and the militant settlers are protected by Israeli police and military.

The Al Aqsa mosque sanctuary is wholly an Islamic site with great religious, historical and cultural heritage.

Palestinians, even those performing peaceful acts of civil disobedience within the mosques to protect the site from Jewish settlers, are within their rights to be in their own houses of worship.

The most recent violence, which began on Sept. 12, 2015, occurred when Israeli military forces fired tear gas and rubber-tipped bullets at young Palestinians worshipers, who were attempting to protect the mosque from violent extremist settlers. Israeli forces locked Palestinians inside the mosque and prohibited others – including women -- from the site to make way for Jews on the eve of the Jewish New Year celebrations.2

Officially Israeli and Jewish rabbinical law prohibit Jews from praying and performing religious ceremonies at the Al Aqsa sanctuary but in reality daily incursions by Jewish groups are protected by the Israeli police and military.3

In November 2014, Israeli authorities closed Al Aqsa for the first time since then Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon visited Al Aqsa, claimed it for Israel and sparked the second intifada in 2000. 4

International law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Fourth Geneva Conventions, guarantee the freedom of worship for all people.

But, the conflict on Al Aqsa is not a religious dispute between Muslims and Jews. It is not about access to prayer, as settler groups say. It is directly related to Israeli policies that support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, which includes erasing Palestinians’ religious and cultural history in Jerusalem.

Israel is the largest recipient of US Foreign Military Assistance. As such, it is obligated under American law to protect religious freedom.

The US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report documents cases of Israeli authorities violating Palestinian Muslim and Christians’ right to worship in peace and security. 5

In 2013, Israeli authorities banned Palestinian Christians from attending Easter Sunday services at Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem.6

Palestinians are enduring increased settler violence in East Jerusalem, on Al Aqsa and throughout the West Bank, which includes the firebombing of the Dawabsheh family, which killed Saad Dawabsheh and his wife Riham, and their 18-month old son Ali; and the firebombing of the Church of the Loaves, known to Christians as the spot where Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 with two loaves of bread and fish.

Palestinians just want to worship in peace and security.
#Free2Pray #SaveAlAqsa

NOTES:
1. http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/8F8CBDCA74D7D20385257721007157CF
2. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34237219
3. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/furor-temple-mount
4. http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/furor-temple-mount
5. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper
6. http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm#wrapper