“Israeli police should give Jews who visit the Temple Mount a free hand, as they do with rioting Arabs.”
That is what the Temple Mount movement said Tuesday in a statement strongly condemning the morning’s visit to the site by Israeli Arab MKs.
The Arab lawmakers arrived at the site to protest Sunday’s visit by Jewish Agriculture Minister and MK Uriel Ariel, who ascended to the Mount in observance of Tisha B’Av.
“The Temple Mount movement strongly condemns the ascent to the site on Tuesday by Arab Knesset members,” the statement said. “It is inconceivable that Arab Mks were able to enter the Temple Mount without coordinating their visit with police ahead of time, while an Arab MK orders police to throw out a Jewish group that was present on the Mount at the time.
“All this takes place as Jewish Knesset members are forced to coordinate their ascent to the Mount ahead of time and with police escorts lest they dare violate the draconian police regulations for visitation on the Mount.
“In addition, it has also been reported by the Temple Movement that ‘police ignored an Arab mob on the Temple Mount, including their representatives in the Israeli Knesset, as they incited the crowd and endangered the citizens of Jerusalem. It is the obligation of the police to impose their thuggish rules on the Arabs, or alternatively, to allow a free hand to Jews as they do to Arab rioters.”
More than half of the total number of currently serving Israeli Knesset members ascended to the Mount, including List chairman MK Ayman Odeh and MKs Masoud Ganaim, Jamal Zahalka, Ahmed Tibi, Hanin Zoabi, Abd al-Hakim Hajj Yahya, Osama Sa’adi and Yousef Jabareen.
According to the Hebrew-language NRG news site, members of the Joint Arab List also met with members of the Waqf Islamic Authority along with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammed Hussein.
The delegation told the media they were protesting “police brutality” at the Mount – this, following Sunday’s vicious attack on Israeli and Waqf security personnel by rioting Arab “worshipers” from inside the Al Aqsa mosque.