Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa

Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa

Topic: World History

Context: On Monday, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in East Jerusalem, leaving a reported 300 people injured.

The mosque & the Mount

• The Al-Aqsa is located on a plaza at Temple Mount, which is known in Islam as Haram-e-Sharif. The Mount is also Judaism’s holiest site. The most imposing structure on the compound is the Dome of the Rock, with its golden dome. The Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall sacred to Jews, is one side of the retaining wall of the Al-Aqsa compound.
• The walled plateau is also the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, because it was the location of biblical temples. Romans destroyed the Second Temple in 70 A.D., with only the Western Wall remaining. The mosques were built centuries later.

• Al-Aqsa is central to the rival claims over Jerusalem. Both Israel and Palestine have declared it their capital.
• Soon after the 1967 Six-Day War ended, Israel gave back to Jordan the administration and management of the Al-Aqsa compound. While non-Muslims have not been allowed to worship at Al-Aqsa, Jewish individuals and groups have made repeated attempts to gain entry to the Mount Temple plaza.
• It has led to repeated clashes and tensions at Al-Aqsa. Frequently, the Israeli police have backed such attempts.
• The upsurge in violence came as Israel celebrated “Jerusalem Day”, marking its capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

World Concerns

Jordan and other Arab nations that have friendly ties with Israel have condemned its crackdown on the protests, while Israel’s archenemy Iran has encouraged Palestinian attacks. The U.S. and the EU have condemned the violence and expressed concern about the evictions.