Hands off Al-Aqsa, and Hands off Palestine.

On Tuesday the 4th and Wednesday the 5th of April, the world watched idly as videos and reports emerged across the internet of Palestinians being beaten, brutalised and forcibly raided inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the middle of their prayers firing rubber bullets, stun grenades, and tear gas at Palestinian worshippers. These events left at least 12 Palestinians injured, and over 400 were arrested on the first night. Following the raid, Israeli violence spread across the west bank. Dozens have been hurt by inhaling poisonous gas fired by Israeli forces, and a settler in occupied East Jerusalem shot a Palestinian child. .

To commit such an unlawful and inhumane act is vile any day of the year, but to repeatedly do so during the holy month of Ramadan, a month that is bestowed upon Muslims to commit to good deeds and reconnect with God, is utterly shocking.In the 24 hours preceding this, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians across the occupied West Bank. This took the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in 2022 to 47.

Occupation and injustice is something Palestinians have faced everyday since 1948, but it becomes especially unbearable to watch  when Palestinians face brutality inside a place of worship. Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site to Muslims around the globe,after the two holy mosques in Makkah and Madinah in Saudi Arabia.
Not only are the Palestinian people forbidden from entering their holy mosque but fanatic Jews also routinely violate the sanctity of the place under protection of the Israeli police. Since annexing the holy city more than half a century ago, Israel did whatever it could to prove that Al-Aqsa Mosque stood on remains of the so-called Temple. But Israel failed to discover anything that could prove this assumption. Failing in this attempt, the Israeli government began executing an old scheme to divide the place among Jews and Muslims as it did with the other holy mosque in Hebron.
Noticeably, the Israeli government has recently escalated its provocations.
Sensing that these Israeli measures will further aggravate the current situation in the Middle East, many countries have urged Israel to restrain its settlers and allow the Palestinians free access to the Noble Sanctuary. Despite international calls, Israel is not doing anything to calm the situation.

As some Palestinians fought back, news reports from outlets such as the BBC described the events as “clashes” resulting from “tensions” between Muslims and Jews wishing to pray at the same sites during Ramadan and Passover.

In fact, it’s about much more than religion.It’s about Palestinians’ right to live and worship freely in their own city.

Al-Aqsa Mosque and the surrounding Old City are centres of Palestinian life in Jerusalem, especially during Ramadan. They are not actually in Israel but  the state of Israel has kept this area under military occupation since 1967 and wants to claim it for its own, pushing Palestinians out.

The state uses apartheid laws to evict Palestinians, demolish their homes and remove their residency rights constantly. And its police clear the way for Israeli settler activists who seek the destruction of the mosque to stage provocative acts of worship there.

Following the raid on Al-Aqsa on Wednesday night, Israeli settlers were escorted to Al-Aqsa by Israeli forces on Thursday morning. Prior to their arrival, Palestinian worshippers were forced out so that it could be secured for the settlers for the first day of the Jewish Passover holiday. This double standard is not uncommon for Israel as it is inherent to the structure of the settler-colonial state. Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem (80% of the Palestinian population) under Israeli control are not citizens and cannot become citizens of the state in which they live, nor can they vote for the government which controls their lives. The other 20% of Palestinians, who have Israeli citizenship, have a 2nd class status. 

In June 1967, Israel occupied what is usually referred to as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem where Al-Aqsa Mosque is situated. In fact, these territories were under Jordan’s administrative control since 1951. Originally, they were given to the Palestinians, the indigenous inhabitants of the land, in accordance with the UN partition plan that divided historic Palestine between immigrant Jews and the Palestinian people who refused to accept this plan and continued resisting it by all means.
According to the Geneva Convention and UN Security Council’s resolutions, these territories are occupied territories that should be returned back to their lawful owners.
But Israel has never acceded to any international resolution because it enjoys protection from punishment by the US and British. Availing itself of the present chaos in the Middle East, the Israeli government has recently increased its provocations against the Palestinian people — Christians and Muslims — and their holy places

Since January 7, over 100,000 Israeli settlers have been protesting every Saturday in response to a judicial overhaul that was proposed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The protestors say the reform plan that has now been suspended, is a threat to democracy.   The idea that Israeli “democracy” can be protected by blocking the judicial overhaul is a myth. Any plans Israel had for democracy were destroyed when they began the Nakba in 1948. In fact, the reform plan is a product of the settler colonial state, as it would allow the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes even more efficiently than before, a fundamental goal of the Zionist movement.   We must ask: What are these protestors really fighting to maintain? How can there be democracy in an apartheid state? Whose democracy is this?  

This is a fight to maintain and protect the status quo for Israelis, not Palestinians who have been denied all basic democratic rights under Israel since 1948. For Palestinians, there is no democracy.  Despite these blatant acts of unjustified violence committed by Israel, there is no outrage among Israelis. The tens of thousands of people who showed up just last week to protect democracy are suddenly silent. Moreover, Palestinian worshippers are beaten by Israel all the time, this violence is routine during Ramadan.

In 2021, Israel unleashed an 11-day bombardment on Gaza during Ramadan and there has been no outcry by Israelis to prevent that from happening. This is evidence that the movement for democracy in Israel is not about democracy at all, but about maintaining the apartheid state of Israel as it has existed for the past 75 years - at the expense of Palestinians. It is insulting for Israelis to launch this “democracy” movement when Palestinians have been ignored for decades.

Last night Israeli forces  bombed Gaza. causing further destruction to an area that is still struggling to rebuild from Israel's previous assaults. The Israeli apartheid government's escalating attacks show that decades of indifference to Palestinian human rights have emboldened Israel's oppression,Whilst Palestinians are risking their lives everyday to protect a historical landmark that is considered sacred to these two billion Muslims, the world stays silent. And if history has taught us anything, it is that silence is as harmful as complicity, it is time for the international community to take concrete actions in opposition to Israel's racist actions and policies.

Friends and supporters of Palestine in the UK are called to take part in a mass protest in front of the Israeli Embassy in Central London (2 Palace Green, London W8 4QB), today Friday, April 7, 2023, at  3.30pm. The protest will end at 5:30pm, to give those who need to go home for Iftar time to do so.

The demonstration condemns the repeated Israeli attacks on worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan, as well as the recent inhumane strikes in Gaza.

Organized by the Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA), Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Stop War coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB),the parties calling for the protest are demanding the occupational forces to respect the historical and religious value of the Holy Mosque and stop the provocations of the Zionists which, from the parties’ point of view, will only lead to an escalation of violence and tension on the ground.Hands off Al-Aqsa, and hands off Palestine.