Palestinian official laments Israeli ‘violation’ of Temple Mount

PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said that Israel, in planning to open a second entrance to the Temple Mount enclosure for use by Jewish visitors, was “violating the sanctity of religious sites,” ending the possibilities for peace and provoking “disastrous” regional conflict.

“Israel is creating a new reality at the expense of Palestinians, their religious rights, sites, and historical identity,” Ashrawi said in a statement reported by the Ma’an News Agency.

“They are violating the sanctity of religious sites without consequences, which completely terminates possibilities for peace and will ultimately drag the whole region into disastrous clashes,” she said.

Ashrawi, a Palestinian Christian, accused Israel of using religion as a pretext to wrest control of holy sites that were not its property, and called on the international community to hold Israel to task for what she termed “violations” of Muslim and Christian sites in East Jerusalem and Palestinian areas.

Currently 10 out of the 11 entrances to the Temple Mount site are for Muslims, while non-Muslim visitors — Israeli Jews and tourists — are only granted access to the complex through the Mughrabi Gate, reached via a wooden bridge that rises above the Western Wall plaza.

Israel’s Tourism Ministry cited a heavy influx of visitors as the reason for potentially opening a second entryway for non-Muslims, the Cotton Merchant’s Gate, Army Radio reported on Monday.

The Temple Mount, which holds the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, is considered the third-holiest site in Islam and the holiest site for Jews, as it was the location of the two ancient Jewish temples.

The Mughrabi Gate has been the site of frequent clashes between Israeli security forces and Muslim worshipers, due to a commonly perceived belief among the local Islamic community of Jewish attempts to encroach on the Temple Mount as part of a larger campaign to “Judaize” West Jerusalem.

Last month, following violent clashes in and around the Temple Mount compound ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch called for Jewish worshipers to have full access to the site. Jews are currently forbidden from praying there, so as not to breach the status quo with the Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian trust that administers the site.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.