Jerusalem, 9 Apr. Hundreds of Palestinians barricaded themselves this morning in the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem after the midnight prayer in the middle of Ramadan, while thousands of Jews flocked to the nearby Wailing Wall this morning to participate in the traditional Birkat Kohanim, a massive priestly blessing that It occurs in the middle of Pesaj or Jewish Passover.
Although in the early hours of the morning the Israeli Police prepared to go in to evict Al Aqsa, in the end they did not do so to avoid new clashes with Muslim faithful such as those experienced on Wednesday and Thursday, which left 350 detainees and 30 injured, and which caused Palestinian militias fired rockets from Gaza and southern Lebanon.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for firing rockets from Syria last night, although the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen pointed to the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad.
Parallel to the Birkat Kohanim at the Wailing Wall, dozens of Jews, organized in groups of twenty by twenty and escorted by the Israeli police, entered the Esplanade of the Mosques, causing the anger of Palestinians and Muslim faithful, who shouted at them and rebuked from within Al Aqsa.
According to their religious norms, Jews cannot pray inside the Esplanade of the Mosques, or the Temple Mount for them because it is believed that the Second Temple was built right there, the holiest place for Judaism where they can only pray some rabbis. For this reason, the Jews pray from the nearby Wailing Wall, looking towards where the temple was located.
However, in recent decades, parallel to the rise of religious Zionism, more and more rabbis are urging people to enter the Esplanade to pray, violating the status quo agreed by Israel with Jordan in 1967, according to which only Muslims can pray in the area. enclosure -the third holiest for Islam-, where Jews can only enter as visitors.
In fact, to avoid tensions, Israel usually prohibits the entry of Jews to the Esplanade of the Mosques during Ramadan, but religious Zionist groups -in general aligned with the settler movement- have pressured to be able to enter that week of Pesaj, one of the major Jewish holidays.
The prayers of Ramadan and Pesaj that week also coincide with the Catholic Holy Week, which today is also celebrated in the Old City of Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, with masses and processions around the Holy Sepulchre. EFE
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