Beyadenu – Returning to the Temple Mount, on Tuesday issued a call for a “mass gathering of Jews to ascend to the Temple Mount to assert Jewish sovereignty over the site and a silent protest of the policies in place enacted by police and government that restrict Jewish rights.” The group added that its goal is “to reach 5,000 ascenders in one day.”
That one day is Jerusalem Liberation Day, this coming Thursday, and as things are looking on Wednesday morning, not only are the Beyadenu folks going to get 5,000 Jews to the most sacred place on earth, on Tuesday, Homefront Commander Chief, Raphi Milo issued a restraining order against Tom Nisani, the CEO of Beyadenu, for one month.
In a letter he sent Nissani by Homefront Command legal counselor Lt. Gil Bar-Lev, he was told, “You are threatening the safety of the state.”
The letter continued: “We would like to bring to your attention that the Homefront Command Chief is considering restricting you from entering the Temple Mount and the Old City of Jerusalem for one month in accordance with the Emergency Law, and due to sensitive information received from security sources that indicate your intent to act in ways that can endanger the state and public.”
Said sensitive information suggests Nisani “will commit acts of provocation which can endanger the security of the Temple Mount and the Old City,” and recalls that he “took part in several provocative acts on the Temple Mount, for example, violating the visiting terms of the Temple Mount.”
Beyadenu is planning a march to the Temple Mount on Thursday at noon, starting at Jaffa gate. This is where Nissani will likely be arrested unless he is removed from the city altogether earlier.
The Homefront Command restraining order coincides with a restraining order issued by the district police commander of Jerusalem last week after Nisani had been arrested on the Temple Mount and was brought in handcuffs to the police station because he argued with police officers who yanked him from a tour he was guiding on the Temple Mount.
Both restraining orders are being handled by Honenu attorneys Nathan Ram and Menashe Yadu.
Tom Nisani responded to the allegations and the letter saying, “I, who gave 10 sleepless years of my life to the 8200 unit, am endangering the state while the Palestinian Authority and Hamas are given free rein? It pains me to see again and again how important organizations like the Israel police and the IDF are being twisted enough to prevent me from acting in a legal and just manner on behalf of the Temple Mount and the nation of Israel. It’s easy to see through the legal claptrap how the truth is very much on my side. The Homefront Command chief and the police chief of Jerusalem have lost their moral compasses.”
Nisani’s attorneys are planning to appeal both restraining orders to the High Court of Justice, claiming neither order was accompanied by any documentation, which is against the law. They also plan to argue that Nissan operates openly and maintains a legitimate activity within the framework of the freedom of expression, a violation of which is a serious affront to his basic democratic rights, because “the administrative act requires justification by absolute facts regarding the security grounds of the decision, which does not exist under these circumstances.”
They also responded to the Jerusalem chief of police’s decision to ban Nisani over his argument with Temple Mount police officers that an argument with a cop does not constitute “severe harm to the public order,” as Jerusalem District Police Commander Doron Turgeman suggested.
