File photo: Salat al Eid prayer at Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
Israel’s Supreme Court has asked the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “justify” a longstanding ban on Jewish prayer inside East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
Israeli daily Maariv reported on Friday that the court -- Israel’s highest judicial authority -- had given the government 60 days to provide a reason why Jews were forbidden from praying at the flashpoint holy site.
The move reportedly comes in response to a petition lodged with the court by the Israeli Center for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, an NGO that objects to what it describes as “government restrictions on non-Muslims” at the mosque complex.
“Israeli police… use their authority to apply explicitly discriminatory policies [against Jewish worshippers] that violate the freedom of worship,” the petition reads.
“The ban on non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount [i.e., the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex]… has remained in place for decades,” the NGO adds.
It remains unclear whether the court’s request will pave the way for a legal decision allowing Jews to pray at the mosque complex.
Since 2003, the Israeli authorities have allowed Jewish settlers to enter Al-Aqsa in increasing numbers while forbidding them from praying inside the site.
For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem -- in which the Al-Aqsa is located -- during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, annexing the entire city 13 years later in a move never recognized by the international community.
In late 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked a years-long popular uprising against Israel’s decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians lost their lives.
Tens of thousands of Muslims, mostly Palestinians, performed Eid al-Adha prayers Tuesday at East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque amid a heavy Israeli security presence in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, witnesses said.Muslims around the world on Tuesday marked the first day of the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday, during which animals are generally sacrificed, the meat from which is distributed to the poor.Firas al-Dibs, a spokesman for Jerusalem’s Jordan-run Religious Endowments Authority, estimated the number of worshippers at 100,000, many of whom, he said, had come from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and from elsewhere in the Arab/Muslim world.In a sermon delivered before Eid al-Adha prayers, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, grand mufti of Jerusalem, reiterated the Palestinians’ determination to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque “in the face of the [Israeli] occupation’s efforts to Judaize it”.Following prayers, several activities for children were organized in the Al-Aqsa courtyards.
100,000 Muslims perform Eid prayers at J'lem's Al-Aqsa
Israeli authorities early Saturday reopened East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al Aqsa mosque compound after a one-day closure.In a statement, Jerusalem’s Jordan-run religious endowment authority said the dawn prayer was held on time inside the mosque after Israeli authorities closed the site for several hours.The compound was shut down Friday evening after Israeli forces shot dead an Israeli-Arab suspected of attempting to stab a police officer at a mosque gate in Jerusalem.Israeli police close all gates of Al-Aqsa MosqueSpeaking to Anadolu Agency on Friday, Al Aqsa Mosque director Sheik Omar Kiswani said Israel has made the closure of the holy site a regular occurrence.Israeli police have shut down the Al Aqsa compound twice in the past month.For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world's third-holiest site. Jews refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the self-proclaimed Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.Video: Israeli forces murder unarmed Palestinian near Al-Aqsa MosquePLO asks world to intervene in defense of Al-Aqsa
Israel reopens Al Aqsa mosque after closure