In an action pregnant with danger far-right racist Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir provocatively invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque mere hours after taking his new post in the new Israeli government amid local outrage and anger and international denunciation of this act.
Ben Gvir had previously invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque repeatedly but this was the first time that his invasion came backed with his ministerial powers and national platform in the new right-wing Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu which won the confidence of the Knesset on December 29 and is described as “the most right-wing government in the history of Israel.”
In a statement issued by the Al-Quds International Foundation they describe Ben Gvir’s inflammatory incursion as unprecedented provocation intending to inaugurate what it called “the era of religious Zionism” in Al-Aqsa. The Foundation stated that the incursion which came on the same day that Ben Gvir received a letter from the extremist “Temple Mount Group” detailing 11 demands against Al-Aqsa including the allocation of a synagogue inside it permission of Jewish rituals and extension of the hours of access for settler incursions confirms the complementarity of roles between him and these groups to which he belongs and which formed his electoral base that propelled him to victory in the recent election.
The Israeli settlers’ incursions are no longer quite so out of the ordinary becoming daily occurrences since 2017 under the protection the Israeli occupation police. These incursions are in flagrant breach of the status quo and may lead to explosive consequences in the area.
This rare move by an Israeli politician differs from another invasions as it is as a declaration of political sovereignty and domination over Al-Aqsa a message declaring the commencement of a new era in which religious Zionism controls the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque unleashing the hand of extremist Israelis in Al-Aqsa.
Palestinians fear the increased presence of extremists with provocative goals may lead to a repeat of the historic scenario at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil (Hebron) in the occupied West Bank when 29 Palestinians were murdered while praying in it in 1994 at the hands of Israeli Jewish extremist Baruch Goldstein. Following the massacre multiple settler violations also took place under the lead of the occupation forces which led to the partition of the mosque allocating a larger space to the Jewish settlers while restricting access to Palestinian Muslims. A portrait of the criminal Baruch Goldstein was seen in Ben Gvir’s living room a few years ago.
But the goals of the settler movement at Al-Aqua extend far beyond simply dividing the mosque seeking to destroy it entirely to build a Jewish temple in its place. Ben Gvir and his group have declared this on multiple occasions. Through his inflammatory visit he is not only signaling that he has the whip hand as his power now over that the occupation police but is also issuing a declaration indicating more provocations up his sleeve. When he visited Al-Aqsa complex last May he said and posted a picture calling for the eradication of the mosque to “establish a synagogue on the mount.”
Ben Gvir’s provocative visit not only angered Palestinians and Muslims but even Jews and Israelis. The former Prime Minister of the occupation Yair Lapid posted on Twitter that Ben Gvir’s 13-minute storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque “caused Tel Aviv to quarrel with half of the countries of the world.” He called Ben Gvir’s act “political irresponsibility and an incredible weakness for Netanyahu in front of his ministers.”
The biggest ally of Israel the US also criticized the incursion as the US embassy in Israel said that Ambassador Thomas Nides “has made it very clear in discussions with the Israeli government that the status quo must be maintained at Jerusalem’s holy sites. Moves that go against this are unacceptable.” Ben-Gvir’s incursion was also massively condemned by several Arab countries.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is holy to Muslims everywhere not only Palestinians and there are no justifications that allow non-Muslims or Israelis to be in it. They only depend on allegations and imaginations they have about a temple mount. It is located in East Jerusalem among areas Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and its occupation is illegal under international law.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has always been managed by a Waqf (religious Muslim endowment) funded by Jordan for years. It has continued to administer the site since 1967 while Israel has security control. Under a longstanding agreement the status quo of the site only allows Muslim praying and allow non-Muslims to visit in specific times. Now little of the status quo agreement survives. Israeli occupation forces exclusively control the access to Al-Aqsa the occupation army exclusively determines the entry of the Palestinians from the 1948 territories and West Bank. While Palestinians from Gaza are trapped under the Israeli siege and are excluded from exiting Gaza to Jerusalem except for extremely rare and difficult occasions.
Ben Gvir is the second politician to jeopardize the status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. The first incursion was in 2000 by the then opposition leader Ariel Sharon guarded by 2000 Israeli soldiers. The move was one of the main triggers for the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) which lasted until 2005 during which Israeli occupation army killed 4412 Palestinian while 1100 Israelis were killed by the Palestinian resistance.
