Jerusalem: Muslims have the sole right to pray at Al-Aqsa and Jews at the nearby Western Wall, as a delicate status quo was agreed in 1967 with Jordan – the custodian of Islamic sites in the city, following Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem.
The Al-Aqsa compound which encompasses the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock is Islam’s third-holiest site, after Kaba in Makkah and Masjid-e-Nabawi in Madinah.
According to the Jewish belief, the Biblical Jewish temples once stood at the Noble Sanctuary, which they call Temple Mount. An organisation named Returning to the Mount, set up by an Israeli Jewish activist Raphael Morris and his wife nine years ago, encourages Jews to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by sneaking in among Muslim worshippers.
They are doing so to pave the way for “full Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount and building a Jewish temple over the Dome of the Rock.” Meanwhile, they also try to keep the Israeli public engaged with the issue by holding demonstrations and working to influence parliament and the media.
Al Jazeera with reference to Morris, reported that tens of Israeli Jews circumvent the ban on a daily basis at times. Morris also informed that the number of people contacting his organisation to seek guidance on entering and praying at the site continues to rise.
In an effort to sneak in among Muslim worshipers, the members of the organisation take Arabic classes, learning enough of the language and verses from the Quran to talk their way through security checkpoints without getting caught by Israeli police or Palestinian security guards at the compound gates.
Morris disclosed, “There are tens of thousands of Muslims who pass through these gates every day. Our target is to blend in and not get caught.” He also showed some of the “costumes” he wears to enter the site.
Some have become “professionals” who can stand side-by-side with Muslim worshippers by mimicking their movements, while “the less experienced enter when it’s emptier”.
For his unauthorised visit to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, 26-year-old Morris swaps his orthodox Jewish clothes with a thobe – a traditional garment, worn by many Palestinian men, and his black kippa for a white prayer skullcap. He slicks his long, dark side locks back with hair gel to hide them under the cap and mumbles a few Arabic words to refresh his memory.
Morris’ organisation is one among the many small groups of right-wing Israeli Jews who try to circumvent a ban on non-Muslims praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by disguising themselves as Muslims and joining rows of worshippers during communal prayers.
