Calm returned, this Wednesday morning, on the esplanade of the Mosques, but the tension is still very present in Jerusalem. Last night, several hundred Palestinians were arrested after violent clashes with the Israeli police who came to dislodge Muslims on a spiritual retreat in the Al-Aqsa mosque. Many videos are already circulating on social networks, filmed on the spot during the fighting or testifying to the damage caused by tear gas canisters and fireworks.
“The Israeli police wanted to evacuate the esplanade, targeting the Muslim worshipers who had stayed all night but also the journalists. The faithful took refuge in the mosque, the police returned, ”recounts for 20 minutes Alice Froussard, corresponding journalist for RFI and French-speaking media in Israel. Faced with repression “some Palestinians responded with stones and fireworks”, she explains.
The Israeli police, forcibly invited
Why did the police intervene to the heart of a holy place? “There is a sort of status quo” in normal times, continues Alice Froussard. The esplanade of the Mosques, the third holiest site in Islam, is built on what the Jews call the Temple Mount, the holiest place in their religion. It is the only place where “Muslims can come and pray whenever they want”, and the Israeli police are not supposed to be able to enter it. Conversely, Jews “can visit it at specific times and do not have the right to pray there”, details the radio correspondent.
Except that the reality has been very different for several years. “More and more orthodox supremacist groups are calling for prayers there, and even for sacrifices” of lambs, notes Alice Froussard. A practice encouraged by members of the new government, the most right-wing in the history of Israel. “Normally, the holy places are administered by Jordan, but Israel feels master over the whole territory”, denounces to 20 minutes Inès Abdelrazek, director of the Palestine institute for public diplomacy. Hence the police intervention last night, officially for “disturbing public order”.
Increased “systemic violence” since 2021
The police denounced the action of “outlaws” and masked “rioters” in the Al-Aqsa mosque. According to Israeli Homeland Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the barricaded worshipers were trying to “injure and assassinate police officers and injure Israeli citizens”. About “400 to 500 Palestinians” were arrested, according to information from Alice Froussard, and taken by bus to Itarot, “an interrogation center”. “It’s the usual rhetoric of disinformation, which aims to show any Palestinian as a threat”, criticizes Inès Abdelrazek. However, “the source of violence is the occupying army which violates the rights of civilians”, she believes, denouncing the “systemic violence” of Israel.
The violent repression of the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, denounced by Egypt and Morocco, is indeed far from being isolated. Since the beginning of the year, 93 Palestinians have already been killed. And the religious calendar does not help matters. During Ramadan 2021, “there were hundreds of wounded in three days”, recalls Alice Froussard, leading to “11 days of deadly war”. A “trauma” which resurfaced in Ramadan 2022, even if the violence did not go that far. This year, the current Ramadan is combined with Jewish Passover, which begins this Wednesday evening, and Christian Easter on Sunday.
“Al-Aqsa represents a red line for all Palestinians”
“Nobody has an interest in an escalation”, wants to believe the journalist. But the dynamic is worrying. Since the coming to power of the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu, in which the extremist Orthodox have weight, there has been “a succession of raids, attacks, repression, discriminatory laws”. This weekend, Muslims received “text messages of intimidation from Israeli intelligence, advising them not to return to the esplanade”, she says. Attacks against Christians, “who are also Palestinians”, recalls Inès Abdelrazek, are also increasing: desecrated cemetery, degraded statue of Jesus…
After the night’s police crackdown, Hamas reacted immediately, firing several rockets from the Gaza Strip and calling on Palestinians “to go en masse to al-Aqsa Mosque to defend it.” “It’s a normal call, Hamas wants to show that it is a resistance movement” even if it has no living force in Jerusalem, justifies Inès Abdelrazek. The organization is in its political role, but anyway “Al-Aqsa represents a red line for all the Palestinians”, says Alice Froussard, “it is the only place in Jerusalem where they are at home”. Calm returned, this Wednesday, on the esplanade of the Mosques. But “everything can change from one hour to another”.