Palestinians reject Israeli ruling on Jewish prayer at Al-Aqsa
Al Jazeera
An Israeli court has given legal backing to Jews silently praying at Al-Aqsa, stoking Palestinian fears of a takeover.
A landmark ruling by an Israeli court in favour of Jews praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex has stoked Palestinian fears of Jewish encroachment over Jerusalem’s holiest site.
Palestinians denounced on Thursday a decision by an Israeli Magistrate Court not to regard prayer by Jewish worshippers as a “criminal act” if it remained silent, which upends a longstanding agreement whereby Muslims worship at Al-Aqsa while Jews worship at the nearby Western Wall.
The judicial decision came after an Israeli settler, Rabbi Aryeh Lippo, went to court to get a temporary ban order from entering Al-Aqsa lifted. The order was imposed on him by Israeli police after he performed prayers at the compound.