On Monday noon 08/10/1990 the Israeli police forces committed a terrible massacre in the courtyards of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in which the sound of the bullets was deafening and blood spilled profusely.
This massacre resulted in the death of 22 Palestinian worshipers and dozens of injuries when the Israeli policemen fired indiscriminately at the worshipers and innocent people in the courtyards of the holy Islamic site.
The heinous massacre was met with international condemnation in which the observers declared that the Israeli forces had violated taboos and their massacre exceeded all red lines.
On Monday October 8 1990 before the noon prayer settlers of the so-called “Temple Mount Faithful” group attempted to lay the foundation stone for the alleged Third Temple in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Thousands of worshipers confronted them and the occupation soldiers intervened and opened fire randomly towards the worshipers stationed in the Mosque which led to the death of 22 Palestinian citizens wounding more than 200 and arresting 270 others. Meanwhile the movement of ambulances was blocked by the Israeli occupation police.
The spark and the dark hatred
The danger was exacerbating in the usurped holy site Israel was not satisfied with its occupation of the Mosque in 1967 and it was not satisfied with burning large parts of the prayer hall -the main prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa Mosque- in 1969 and not even with the attack on the worshipers by Jewish extremists in 1982 or the excavations and tunnels weakening its foundations.
The Israeli occupation tried to control the holy site many times especially in 1986/1987 and organizations and groups supported by official Israeli institutions began to prepare the equipment draw up plans program stages and clearly announce that they have begun to prepare for the construction of the alleged temple at the expense of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On that day there were limited incursions into Al-Aqsa by Jewish settlers but calls for regular Jewish prayers in it began to increase and escalate. They have gone so far as to demand to lay the foundation stone for the Temple inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque and practice rituals toward that end to be the first step for the construction of the alleged Temple.
Gershon Salmon and his so-called group Temple Mount Faithful announced that they would lay the foundation stone for the Temple and organize rituals for that in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in conjunction with Jewish feasts and prepared for the event. The Israeli court initially had allowed the procedure. On Monday 08/10/1990 the atmosphere was tense and the Jerusalemites sensed the danger and they called for mobilizing before the aforementioned date to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and flocked to the Mosque since the early morning hours.
The day of the crime
On the evening of that same day the Israeli police had drawn up a plan to confront the worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and they decided to brutally attack anyone heading to the holy Islamic site on Monday morning.
Half an hour before the massacre the Israeli police forces set up military checkpoints on all roads leading to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to prevent Palestinians from reaching the place. Nevertheless the worshipers had gathered in the Mosque hours before that time in response to the calls launched from inside the Mosque.
The shooting of live bullets that had been preceded and accompanied by toxic bombs tear gas canisters and rubber bullets were directed at the worshipers without distinguishing between a child a woman and an elderly. This led to the death of 22 Palestinian citizens wounding more than 200 and 270 persons were arrested inside and outside the Mosque. The Israeli security forces attacked the wounded and detainees brutally. The pictures of the detainees in the courtyard of the Dome of the Rock and the Marwani area still bear witness to the ugliness of the Israeli occupation. The Israeli policemen threw the detainees to the ground handcuffed and humiliated them.
The Jerusalemite masses in particular and the Palestinians in general gathered on that day to defend their historic Islamic right in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It was a spontaneous gathering and a natural and spontaneous reaction to the plans of the Israeli occupation. The masses were mostly from Jerusalem also from the West Bank and from 1948 Occupied Palestine. The martyrs were from all areas and Palestinian blood was spilt in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli police forces remained in the Mosque’s courtyards and prevented the bodies of the martyrs and the wounded from being evacuated for six hours after the beginning of the massacre.
A few days before the massacre the Israeli authorities had distributed a statement calling on the Jews to participate in a march to the Al-Aqsa Mosque. This was followed by a statement by the Jewish extremist Gershon Salmon endorsing the authorities’ call.
