Jerusalem Governorate warns of Israeli push to impose new ‘religious reality’ around Al-Aqsa Mosque

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate warned Monday of Israeli efforts to impose “a new Jewish religious reality” around Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem through repeated Jewish rituals and prayers at Bab al-Rahma Cemetery located along the eastern wall of the mosque’s compound. “Rituals held in recent weeks go beyond seasonal rituals linked to Jewish holidays and pave the way for turning the site into a recurring Jewish prayer point,” the governorate said in a statement. It said it had monitored promotional posts by so-called “Temple groups” on social media as well as the creation of a WhatsApp group called “Gates of Mercy, open for us” promoting a Jewish religious narrative that gives special sanctity and importance to the eastern side of Al-Aqsa’s wall, particularly Bab al-Rahma. “Temple groups” refer to several Jewish nationalist and religious organizations and movements that target Jerusalem, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, and call for building an alleged Jewish temple on its ruins. “The narrative seeks to present Bab al-Rahma as a Jewish religious site that can be accessed and used for prayer,” the governorate said. It added that the promotion has moved into practical steps through calls for weekly prayers at the site, linking the moves to Uri Ohayon, a former officer in the Israeli army. According to the governorate’s monitoring, Ohayon began promoting the idea on Aug. 16 and organized the first gathering on Aug. 27, followed by two other gatherings on Sept. 3 and Sept. 10. The gatherings included group prayers and rituals next to Muslim graves, it said. “Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 35.6 acres (144 dunums), is an exclusively Islamic place of worship,” the Jerusalem Governorate stressed and said that its endowment status covers all its courtyards, prayer halls, walls, gates and landmarks. Bab al-Rahma is one of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and lies within its eastern wall, it said. Israeli authorities have no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its holy sites and no right to impose changes on the identity, nature, use or landmarks of the mosque, the governorate added. It warned that allowing such practices to become normalized or treating them as passing religious rituals would encourage so-called “Temple groups” to expand their activities and turn new points around Al-Aqsa into sites for gathering, rituals and prayer. “What is happening at Bab al-Rahma represents an organized path to impose a new Jewish religious reality around Al-Aqsa Mosque, beginning with the normalization and repetition of rituals and then turning them into a permanent presence and routine practice,” the governorate said. On Sunday, 593 Israeli occupiers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque, while Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on Palestinian worshippers’ access to the site during the Jewish New Year, according to earlier figures from the governorate. The Israeli measures coincided with calls by Israeli “Temple groups” to intensify incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish New Year, which began at sundown on Friday, Sept. 11 and concluded after nightfall on Sunday, Sept. 13 Since 2003, Israeli police have allowed occupiers to enter Al-Aqsa Mosque unilaterally, while the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem has repeatedly demanded an end to such incursions, without response from Israeli authorities. Palestinians say Israel has for decades intensified its efforts to Judaize occupied East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, and erase its Arab and Islamic identity. They insist on occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their hoped-for state, based on international legitimacy resolutions that do not recognize Israel’s occupation of the city in 1967 or its annexation in 1980.