Can the Clashes Between Muslims and Jews at Temple Mount be Considered as "Normal"?

• 09.14.2015, 20:40
•  Near East,  World

The Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah – has started with clashes between Muslims and the Israeli Police. However, this is not of any surprise, as almost all Jewish holidays are being accompanied with such clashes. This time the clashes took place in the Temple Mount, when on Sunday Israeli police officers entered Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque, as they had information that Muslim youth have closed the mosque for preventing Jews to visit it on the eve of their New Year, The New York Times reports.

The Israeli media did not report about any injuries, but the Palestinian media wrote that as a result of clashes, several Palestinians were injured. The clashes, however, did not end with only one day. Today, on September 14, clashes in Temple Mount resumed, as the Israeli police, according to The Times of Israel reports, entered the Mosque to ensure that those Muslims massing do not harass Jews or Tourists visiting the Mosque. During the second day clashes, according to Israeli media, a policeman and a Jew were hurt and nine people arrested.

The President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, called these clashes an "attack" on the Mosque, claiming that "the Palestinians will not allow attacks against our holy places".

"The presidency strongly condemns the attack by the occupier’s military and police against the al-Aqsa Mosque and the aggression against the faithful who were there," The Times of Israel quotes a statement from Abbas’ office.

In his turn the Secretary of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Saeb Erekat said that Israel is carrying out its "old plan" to divide the compound. "An act of aggression on the part of the Israeli army," this is how, as Al Jazeera writes, Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative described the clashes in the Temple Mount.

Temple Mount has been and is one of the most important religious sites in Jerusalem. In 1967, after the six-day war, Temple Mount was granted a special status. According to it Jews are given the right to visit Temple Mount, but not pray there. Jews are also expected to respect Muslims praying there. As the New York Times writes, the compound is administered by the Islamic Waqf trust, under Jordanian custodianship, but Israel controls security. 

Despite the clashes at the Temple Mount, Israel seems not to be prone to changing the status quo. After the clashes on Sunday, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu said: "Israel will act with all means to preserve the status quo and law and order at the Temple Mount."

On the background of the recent tensions between Israel and Palestine, these clashes can be seen as something "normal," especially when this happens on the eve of a holiday. Another question is, whether this incident will become another "reason" for even more tensions between Israel and Palestine, taking into consideration the fact that Abbas intends to nullify the Oslo Accords and other agreement signed between the PLO and Israel.