12 September 2017
The Israeli police have taken an exceptional step and asked the Zionist-led Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court to permanently close a building at Masjid al Aqsa they claim is linked to Hamas. The Muslim religious trust (Waqf) that administers al Aqsa refused to appear in court on the matter, following instructions from the Jordanian government.
Leading Jerusalem Muslims last week published a letter harshly condemning the police’s actions.
The building is located near the Old City’s Golden Gate, on the eastern side of Masjid al Aqsa. An organization named the Heritage Committee operated in the building until 2003. It said its activities were of a social, cultural and religious nature, but Israeli security forces claimed the group had very strong ties to Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement.
In 2003, Israel closed the building using a closure order that was renewed periodically. The organization’s leaders were arrested, the organization ceased to exist and the building belongs to the Waqf, sources told Haaretz.
Judge Miriam Lifshits issued a temporary injunction last week ordering the building to remain closed until a further decision is made. The State Prosecutor’s Office (Jerusalem District) had filed the request in the name of Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich.
Last year, the Israeli Knesset passed the so-called anti-terrorism law. One of its clauses allows the police chief to ask a magistrate’s court to issue a closure order for a building that is suspected of being used for terrorist activities. This appears to be the first time the police have used this authority.
The Waqf filed an objection to the police request, saying the Heritage Committee had been disbanded and the building belongs to the Waqf, intended to be used by Muslims visiting al-Aqsa. Alsheich rejected its objection.
The closure order request was purportedly based on intelligence information. The request said there was a reasonable basis to believe the building would continue to be used for such activities if it is not closed down, and would be used by Hamas for its activities.
The Jordanian government, which controls the Waqf at al Aqsa, instructed the religious trust not to attend the court sessions or defend its position concerning the closure order. This is a continuation of the Waqf’s long-standing policy not to recognize the authority of the Israeli authorities and courts over al-Aqsa.
“The Waqf Department is the sole official and religious party,” said an official statement from the organisation. “It is part of the Jordanian government and supervises the Islamic sanctities and their endowments, including the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Officials pointed out that successive Israeli governments have recognised this fact since the occupation of Jerusalem started in 1967 and accepted that the Jordanian Waqf has exclusive authority in managing, supervising and reconstructing these sanctities and their endowments, including Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Noble Sanctuary and all of its buildings and compound, which cover 35.5 acres over and below ground. All of this is under the patronage of King Abdullah II, a fact recognised by Israel and confirmed by the Jordan-Israel peace agreement in 1994.
“Bab Al-Rahmah is an integral part of Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the department added. “There have been false claims that a committee known as the Heritage Committee, which is classified as a terrorist organisation, is operating from the offices in Bab Al-Rahmah.”
The statement affirmed the department’s rejection of the closure of Bab Al-Rahmah on an order of the police renewed annually since 2003 without any legal or legitimate grounds. “They have claimed that a terrorist organisation, known as the Heritage Committee, which does not exist, is operating in the area. Despite several demands to cancel this decision, the police refuse to do so.”
Criticism
The leaders of the Muslim community in Jerusalem harshly criticized the closure order request in their letter on Thursday. Such an order would change the status quo at al-Aqsa and harm the standing of the Waqf, as well as being a violation of the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan, the letter stated.
The signatories – including the director of the Waqf, the grand mufti of Jerusalem and his predecessor – were among the leaders of the protests against installing metal detectors at the entrances to the Masjid in July, following an attack that killed two Israeli policemen. The metal detectors were removed after a period of spirited protests by Palestinians in the Old City, after they refused to enter the holy site.
In an interview with the Al-Resalah website, Khateeb at the Masjid, Mufti Ikrimah Sabri said that Israel was adopting these steps as a way to seize control of part of the Al-Aqsa compound.
Sabri said that the office slated for closure was actually a large hall near the Golden Gate on the eastern side of the Masjid which is used for religious events and festivities.
Separately, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs condemned on Sunday the decision of the Israeli public prosecutor.
The ministry said Israeli authorities were gradually altering the historical status quo at al-Aqsa Mosque so that “they could absorb any potential response [from the Palestinians and Muslims]”.
It said the decision to shut down the gate could lead to disastrous consequences in the region, a matter which requires a “strong reaction from the Islamic Cooperation Organization”.
Warnings
In July, Dr. Najah Bakirat, director of the Quran Academy at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, called on Muslims to save the northern and eastern parts of Masjid al Aqsa from Jewish settlers and to prevent the ‘occupation from implementing its ‘destructive’ plans.
In an interview with the Palestinian newspaper Felesteen, he said that the Waqf must take immediate action to rehabilitate the eastern part of the Masjid. He said that Israel was trying to prove that the area was abandoned and unused and that only piles of earth and stones could be found there.
According to Bakirat, there is an Israeli plan to build a synagogue and to open the ‘Gate of Mercy’ on the eastern side of the Masjid, which has been closed since the days of Salahudeen in 1187 CE. He called for the exertion of pressure on the Israeli authorities to open the area for Muslim prayer and to build a Mosque next to the Gate of Mercy.
SOURCES: Ha’aretz, Wafa, Arutz Sheva, Middle East Monitor
