Numerous videos are appearing on the internet showing garbage trucks operated by the Islamic Waqf collecting garbage from around the Temple Mount and dumping it in a spot which, according to Jewish tradition, is considered the holiest within the  Mount. Templeץ

תיעוד מרתיח: משאית של הווקף שופכת זבל בתוככי הר הבית >>
צילום: @Beyadenu pic.twitter.com/6zvEOrdaZr

— ישראל היום (@IsraelHayomHeb) August 24, 2022

The illegal activity was documented by Beyadenu, a Temple Mount activist organization. According to the organization, the dumping began just a few days after Tisha B’Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the two Jewish Temple which once stood at the site. This activity is carried out without any oversight by the Israeli authorities. 

Beyadenu’s activists appealed to the Director-General of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Eli Eskosido, who turned to the Israeli police, demanding it protects the antiquities in the compound. This request has yet to receive a response. 

Tom Nisani, CEO of Beyadenu, released a statement about the incidents: 

“Following the documented football games around the Temple Mount and the desecration of its antiquities, now comes another stage in turning the compound into the Arabs’ playground. After we understood the Temple Mount isn’t as valuable to them, it’s time that the State of Israel starts enforcing its sovereignty in the holiest place in the world and decides if it wants to control it. It is another devastating and absurd sight of waste disposal in the holiest place in the world. A shame on the Jewish people.”

As Nisani noted, despite claiming the site is holy to Islam, the Palestinians routinely act in a disrespectful manner to the site. The Palestinians frequently turn the sacred site into a battleground, storing rocks and fireworks in the mosque to use against the police. On Jerusalem Day, May 29, during violent riots, a Muslim suspect was documented urinating on the roof of the Al Aqsa mosque and desecrating the sanctity of the place.

At the same time, Palestinians were filmed playing soccer inside the mosque. Significantly, they wore shoes strictly prohibited in mosques according to Muslim tradition.

The Palestinians claim that the Temple Mount is holy because it is the site of Mohammad’s nighttime journey to the “Aqsa Mosque” (the further mosque) to pray. This claim is problematic as there was no mosque at the site during Mohammad’s lifetime, and the Mosque on the Temple Mount was built 70 years after Mohammad died. Most Sunni believe the location of this “further mosque” is in Al Juraana, Saudi Arabia.