For the first time in at least a decade, the IDF will let Palestinian buses bring West Bank worshipers into Israel during the month of Ramadan, which begins Wednesday, a senior officer said.But Mahmoud Abbas knows this this is just another example of Israel's Ramadan-washing. And he will not allow his people to have any part of it!
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai announced a series of measures aimed at easing movement for Palestinians during the Muslim holy month.
In recent years, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been granted permits to enter Israel for prayer and vacation during the month-long holiday, a trend which was scaled back last year after the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers by Hamas during Ramadan.
Palestinian buses are usually stopped at Israeli checkpoints and not allowed to enter Israel proper. Permit-carrying Palestinians entering Israel typically need to board Israeli buses or taxis to reach their destination.
Mordechai said that Palestinian men over the age of 40 will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount this year without need for an Israeli permit. Women of all ages will also be permitted entry. The IDF will allow Palestinians to enter Israel freely for family visits, setting an initial quota of 100,000 believed to be the capacity of checkpoints to process the entering civilians.
Six hundred Palestinians will also be allowed to leave the country through Ben Gurion International Airport; they are usually required to travel abroad through Amman, Jordan.
Palestine Press Agency reports that, according to multiple sources, president Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree banning the delivery or receipt of requests for the issuance of permits to enter Israel.
A spokesman complained that Israel was only allowing men to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque if they were over 40. Without any trace of irony, he added, "The right of freedom of worship is guaranteed by international law, and Israel must adhere to it. We will not allow buses from the Palestinian Authority to go to areas of Jerusalem as Israel wants."
We may want to remember that quote about freedom of worship the next time we read about "storming" of Al Aqsa by Jews who want to pray there.
Khalil Rizk, Head of the Chamber of Commerce in Ramallah, said that local merchants have been demanding from Abbas for two days to stop the permits within the Green Line, because Palestinians were spending money in Israel instead of locally, hurting merchants who prefer a captive audience.
If this is true, Mahmoud Abbas has yet again decided that his anti-Israel political objectives are more important than the human rights of the people he supposedly leads.
I think what made Abbas decide on this move was the fact that AFP was reporting the story of Israel loosening restrictions as positive. The idea that mainstream media praises Israel is too much for the man of peace to stomach.