For the first time since 1967, Israel has installed barbed wire atop a Temple Mount wall near the Al Aqsa Mosque, close to the Lion’s Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem.
East #Jerusalem channels: "For the first time since 1967, #Israel today placed a barbed wire fence on the wall near Al-Aqsa in the area of the Lions' Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem." pic.twitter.com/nZcN7WEAUh
— AbuAliEnglish (@AbuAliEnglishB1) March 11, 2024
Muslim worshipers at the mosque have repeatedly hurled heavy rocks and other objects at Jewish worshipers praying below at the Western Wall, one of the holiest sites in the Jewish faith, particularly during Jewish holy days.
The barbed wire was installed Monday by members of the Israel Border Police, in the hours prior to the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which begins Monday night.
Israel security personnel have been preparing for weeks for the holiday, because Ramadan is seen by Arab terrorist organizations as a particularly auspicious time to carry out attacks on Israelis and Jews.
The Palestinian Authority said in a statement via its official WAFA news agency that the move constituted “a dangerous precedent” and claimed the Israeli government was installing the barbed wire “to prevent worshipers from entering Al Aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramadan.”
Here’s an additional blatant lie also claimed in the same statement by the Palestinian Authority government that the United States is pressuring Israel to accept as a new ruling government in Gaza when the war ends:
“The occupation forces have imposed a strict siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque for five months, preventing entry to it. They have issued dozens of deportation orders against Jerusalemites, in order to prevent them from praying during the month of Ramadan.”
Translation: Jews have been allowed to ascend the Temple Mount for the usual limited few hours daily, even after the start of the war launched against Israel on October 7, albeit with extra security in place.
As for deportations: residents of Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem who have documented ties to terrorist activity may indeed be “deported” from Israel to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with Israeli law. But such deportations have nothing whatsoever to do with a plan to “prevent them from praying during the month of Ramadan.”
Muslims are welcome to pray in any mosque anywhere around the world, including in the Palestinian Authority, should they desire to do so during Ramadan or at any other time. There is no requirement for those prayers to be recited in Jerusalem.
As for the barbed wire being used to prevent Muslim worshipers from entering the mosque: Unless Muslim worshipers are planning to use their SuperPower shoes to high-jump from the Western Wall Plaza over the wall above, it’s not clear how this security measure could possibly prevent anyone — Muslim or not — from entering the compound.
In other words, gimme a break.
