By Gil Ronen
Police have reportedly issued new draconian instructions for non-Muslims who ascend to the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, which has been under Muslim occupation for centuries. According to a report in the daily newspaper Ma'ariv, non-Muslims are now not even permitted to close their eyes while on the Mount, or do anything that could be interpreted as praying.
While Jews have not been allowed to pray on the Mount since the Muslim riots of the year 2000, and their entry has been restricted to specific hours and days, the new instructions take the restrictions to an even greater extreme.
A delegation of 30 public figures and rabbis headed by Rav Dov Lior and MK Uri Ariel arrived at the Temple Mount last week and encountered the new restrictions. When they reached the entrance area at the Mughrabim Gate, a police officer showed up and presented the instructions.
"The officer said that closing eyes and rocking the body back and forth constitute prayer, and therefore anyone who does any of these things will be immediately removed from the Mount," MK Ariel recounted. Taking a note out of one's pocket was also listed as a no-no.
According to the report, the Jerusalem District Police responded to the story by saying only, "This was a statement by an officer who explained to the visitors to the Temple Mount about the characteristics of prayer that are forbidden during the visit there."
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Source: Arutz Sheva
By Elad Benari
The statement, released on Tuesday by the spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, criticized Israel for convicting PA Arab Bassem Tamimi of dispatching stone-throwers and protesting illegally.
An Israeli court convicted Tamimi on Sunday, according to an AFP report. The 45-year-old was charged with soliciting stone-throwing based on evidence that he directed such incidents from the roof-tops.
He was arrested on March 24, 2011, AFP reported, and accused of organizing illegal gatherings and incitement in connection with a series of weekly demonstrations in the Arab village of Nabi Saleh.
Nabi Saleh is a regular hotspot where Arabs, radical leftists and anarchists engage the IDF and Border Police in clashes every Friday, for the purpose of disseminating propaganda footage to the world. Much violence occurs there regularly and is initiated by the demonstrators, who injure soldiers who attempt to use non-violent means such as water and tear gas to disperse them.
Tamimi's arrest sparked international condemnation, AFP noted, with the EU recognizing him as a human rights defender, and Amnesty International declaring him a prisoner of conscience.
Tuesday’s statement by Ashton’s spokesperson said that “The High Representative is very concerned by the conviction of Bassem Tamimi in an Israeli military court on 20 May 2012 on charges of taking part in illegal demonstrations and of soliciting protesters to throw stones.”
“The EU considers Bassem Tamimi to be a 'human rights defender' committed to non-violent protest against the expansion of an Israeli settlement on lands belonging to his West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. The EU attended all court hearings in his case and is concerned at the use of evidence based on the testimony of a minor who was interrogated in violation of his rights,” the statement continued.
“The EU believes that everyone should be able to exercise their legitimate right to protest in a nonviolent manner,” it concluded.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, director of IMRA, the Independent Media Review and Analysis, pointed out the problem in the EU’s statement.
“The EU doesn't deny that Bassem Tamimi engaged in soliciting protesters to throw stones. And the EU doesn't take a stand against stone throwing,” he wrote, adding that the question is “Does the EU consider stone throwing to fall within the classification of ‘non-violent protest’?”
Last week, as part of EU’s assessment of its partnership with 12 neighboring countries, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton listed a set of characteristically harsh ‘recommendations’ regarding relations with Israel.
The recommendations include a call on Israel “to continue to step up its efforts to minimize settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and to bring all perpetrators to justice” and “address the excessive use of administrative detention.”
Ashton previously made a skewed comparison between the lethal, unprovoked shooting attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse and the unintended deaths of children in Gaza when Israel attempts to stop missile launchings and apprehend terrorists. She later categorically denied making that comparison.
