Israeli police silent amid Hamas' Temple Mount broadcasts
Pastor Dale Morgan
Israeli police silent amid Hamas' Temple Mount broadcasts*
But security forces impose week-long ban on Jews, Christians at holy site
Posted: December 21, 2007
News from Israel
JERUSALEM – The Hamas terror group continued exclusive broadcasts of
Muslim prayers yesterday from the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site
– while the Israeli police imposed a week-long ban on all Jews and
Christians from ascending the Mount.
Police here are responsible for security on the Mount and theoretically
must approve broadcasts from the site. Asked four times for comment,
National Police Spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday and again yesterday he would release his department's official
response to the Hamas broadcasts, but he did not return calls before
press time.
The story that Hamas Wednesday will exclusively broadcast Muslim prayers
from the Mount's Al Aqsa Mosque on the group's official radio station,
Al Aqsa Radio. The services are broadcast alongside anti-Semitic
commentary, including incitement against Jews.
The official Hamas radio network announced it would continue airing
exclusive daily streams of Muslim morning services from the Temple
Mount, and, indeed, the broadcasts continued yesterday as scheduled.
Hamas' radio is heard throughout Palestinian cities in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
Spokesmen for both the Jerusalem Police and Israel's National Police
said their respective departments were not aware of Hamas' planned
broadcast until the publication of the original story on the topic Monday.
A senior National Police source earlier this week, and again on
Wednesday, said that such a broadcast would be halted.
But Hamas for the second consecutive day broadcast yesterday's morning
services from 5:05 a.m. Jerusalem time until 5:50 a.m.
"Our broadcast is a victory for the Al Aqsa Mosque, which is suffering
from Judaization efforts imposed by the Zionist government. Broadcasting
daily radio is a way to bring Al Aqsa to the Gaza Strip and challenge
the siege imposed on us by the Zionist entity," said Rami Kaoud, a
manager at Al Aqsa Radio.
Hamas would not say how it coordinated yesterday's broadcast, but
Palestinian security sources said the stream was fully coordinated with
the Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Temple Mount.
All broadcasts from the Mount must be approved by the Waqf, which guard
the Muslim entrances to the Temple Mount along with the Israeli police.
Broadcasts in theory must also be approved by the Israeli police, but
cameramen and reporters routinely enter the site from Muslim gates to
broadcast without prior police approval as long as Waqf agents allow the
entry.
While Israel again did not act to halt Hamas broadcasts, it has barred
all non-Muslims from ascending the Mount for the rest of the week.
This week marked the start of Muslim holiday of Ein ul-Adhaa, which
commemorates the Islamic belief of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice
his son Ishmael for Allah. According to Jewish and Christian tradition,
Abraham nearly sacrificed his son Isaac, not Ishmael.
On Wednesday, Jews commemorated the Jewish fast day of the Tenth of
Tevet, mourning the First Temple's destruction and the siege placed on
Jerusalem leading up to Temple's destruction during the reign of the
Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar.
Jewish organizations and Temple Mount activist groups here were planning
visits to the Temple Mount in observance of Wednesday's Jewish day of
mourning. Rabbi Chaim Richman, director of the international department
at Israel's Temple Institute, a Mount activist group which planned to
lead a tour of the site this week, said Israeli police informed his
group earlier this week that they had decided the Mount would be closed
the rest of the week to non-Muslims for fear of offending Muslims on the
Islamic holiday.
Due to Israeli restrictions, the Temple Mount is open only to
non-Muslims Sundays through Thursdays, 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30
p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and not on any Christian, Jewish or Muslim holidays
or other days considered "sensitive" by the Waqf, the Mount's Islamic
custodians.
Jerusalem Police Spokesman Shmulik Ben Ruby confirmed that the Mount
would be completely closed to non-Muslims for the rest of the week due
to the Islamic holiday.
Rabbi Richman called Hamas broadcasts "astounding."
"The siege of Nebuchadnezzar is recurring again in our time, this time
through the Israeli government, which is banning Jews and Christians but
is allowing Hamas, who will defile God in our holiest place. There is no
greater demonstration of the total spiritual bankruptcy of the Israeli
government," he said.