Palestinian media has always decried Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, labeling any Jew at the site as a “settler storming al Aqsa”. But this week, Palestinian media reported several incidents involving Christians at the site, in the same manner, labeling conspicuously Christian visitors as “settlers”.
OnThursday the Palestinian news site,Ma’an , published a story claiming that Waqf guards on the Temple Mount confiscated “Biblical artifacts” from a “settler”.
“The guards of Al-Aqsa Mosque confronted today, Thursday, a settler who stormed Al-Aqsa, along with a candlestick and biblical artifacts,” the article wrote. “The settler stormed Al-Aqsa, among a group of tourists who stormed the mosque through the Mughrabi Gate, and the guards were able to seize him and prevent him from taking pictures in Al-Aqsa.”
It should be noted that the article inaccurately identifies the Temple Mount as “Al Aqsa Mosque” which is the grey-domed structure at the southern end of the Temple Mount. Non-Muslims may only enter the compound via the Mughrabi Gate and are prohibited from entering the Aqsa Mosque. The article implies that the “settler” wanted to photograph the images on the Temple Mount as a form of incitement.
The article in Ma’an was first reported by the pro-Israel blogger, Elder of Ziyon.
Ma’an posted images of a guard holding the ‘Biblical artifacts.’ The picture is a customary decoration common among Sephardi Jews featuring Kabbalistic writing and the name of God. This particular example features a seven-branched menorah. The Waqf guard also holds a seven-branched menorah that was confiscated from the “settler”.
Akiva Yoel Ariel, the Director of Community Relations for Beyadenu, a Temple Mount activist group, noted that it was unlikely that the “settler” confronted by the Waqf guards was Jewish.
“The Israeli police search Jews before they enter the Temple Mount,” Ariel told Israel365 News. “We are prohibited from carrying any religious objects or books onto the site and are prohibited from taking any packs. A Jew who is caught violating these rules is arrested. It is far more likely that the Waqf guards confiscated the Menorah from a Christian tourist. They are given instructions not to bring such religious objects or Christian holy books into the Temple Mount but they aren’t searched. Also, the seven-branched menorah based on the original Temple Menorah is popular among Christian tourists but Jews are forbidden from having a seven-branched menorah.”
Ariel emphasized that the Palestinian media’s portrayal of Christians as ‘settlers’ was intentional.
“The Waqf knows that these people were Christian but for the Palestinians, everyone who is not a Muslim who goes up to the Temple Mount is a settler,” Ariel said.
Also this week, Hamas, the terrorist organization elected by the Palestinians to run Gaza, went on a campaign condemning a female Spanish tourist who posted photos of herself in front of the Dome of the Rock.,
“A Zionist extremist desecrated the blessed Al-Aqsa compound and published revealing photos on it — something that constitutes an unprecedented provocation against the feelings of the Palestinian people and a continuation of the defilement of the purity of Al-Aqsa, as well as Zionist contempt for the entire Arab people,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Kassam tweeted.
مستوطنة صهيونية تلتقط صوراً أمام قبة الصخرة بلباس عاري خلال اقتحامها باحات الأقصى مع مجموعة من المستوطنين !! pic.twitter.com/dKmKwCFaqI
— محمد عبد (@Qreaqa2M) August 24, 2022
Despite Hamas labeling her as a “Zionist extremist”, Israeli Kan Broadcasting identified her as Ana Ramos Gutiérrez , a Christian from Spain. The hashtag circulating on Arab social media states: “#Jewish_prostitute_desecrates_Al-Aqsa,” with dozens of angry users outraged by her actions.
كنس الأقصى من هذه الحشرات واجب و ضرورة #عاهرة_يهودية_تدنس_الاقصى pic.twitter.com/YbAiOoPF44
— somaia.ali #gaza (@lifetune1) August 25, 2022
Zach Waller is the executive director of Hayovel, an organization that brings Christians to Israel to volunteer in the vineyards of Samaria. As part of their program, his organization emphasizes the Christian connection to the Temple Mount and organizes regular visits to the site. He noted that normally, Christians and Jews are separated but his group is now required to undergo the same security checks as the Jewish visitors and is also restricted to the limited path as Jews.
“Christians are given instruction not to act in a manner that would incite the Muslims,” Waller said. “That means no t-shirts with ‘Jesus’ on them. We aren’t allowed to pray or carry Christian books. A small necklace might pass but anything blatantly Christian would get a reaction.”
“As long as Christians don’t ascribe any holiness or Biblical significance to the Temple Mount, we are tolerated by the Palestinians. But even if you are a Christian, if you ascribe any significance to the Temple Mount, if you understand that this was where Jesus walked and where he, and the Prophet Isaiah, prophesied that a future House of Prayer for all Nations will stand, the Waqf lumps you in with the Zionists. This isn’t just a Jew-hatred thing. This is across the board, anyone who recognizes the Temples in the Bible. The Waqf guards treat us at least as badly as they treat the Jews, even when we go up alone. I guess it is a big threat to the Palestinians because this is something the Jews and Christians can get together on.”
Waller noted that the waqf guards are even more aggressive when his group enters the compound.
“They are targeting us as Christians because our belief that this is a Biblical holy site challenges them, challenges their narrative that Jesus was a Palestinian and there never were Temples in Jerusalem and that Jerusalem is exclusively holy to the Muslims. Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are okay with that and don’t understand that Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, the actual places, are relevant to them.”
