Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Freedom of Religion

Showing posts with label Freedom of Religion. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Latest Iranian claims of Zionist spies more absurd than the last one (update)

Last week I noted that Iran's claim that a Zionist spy ring that they supposedly caught had been in contact with the head of the Mossad was quite ridiculous, and it makes one think that many of their claims of catching spies are more for the sake of honor than the truth.

Their latest claim of catching "Zionist spies" is even more ridiculous.

Iran's Mehr News says:

The Ministry of Security said in a statement today, Monday: "The cadres of the Ministry of Security arrested a number of members of the central cell of the Baha'i Espionage Party," and added: "The arrested suspects were directly connected to the Zionist center called 'House of Justice', which is based in occupied Palestine." .

The statement continued: "The results of the intelligence documents indicate that the aforementioned center has conveyed to the detained network the strategy of reviving the deviant Baha'i sect organization in Iran ..."

He added: "They were also assigned the tasks of spreading the teachings of Bahai-made colonialism on a large scale and infiltrating educational environments at various levels, especially kindergartens throughout the country. In addition to that, the arrested cell members had several meetings with the central staff of the Zionist Party abroad and were presenting periodic reports on the above-mentioned missions, especially the organized promotion of the fight against the veil in Iran, to the conspiracy center in occupied Palestine."

The Baha'i are persecuted mercilessly in Iran.The Baha'i International Community website says:

Baha’is, who are Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, are routinely arrested, detained, and imprisoned. They are barred from holding government jobs, and their shops and other enterprises are routinely closed or discriminated against by officials at all levels. Young Baha’is are prevented from attending university, and those volunteer Baha’i educators who have sought to fill that gap have been arrested and imprisoned.

Israel provides refuge for the Baha'i, whose beautiful headquarters is in Haifa. But if someone wanted to spy against Iran, Baha'i would be the last people one would recruit! A good spy is invisible, not a member of a hated minority.

Iran's credibility has always hovered around zero. To use Israel as an excuse to persecute the Baha'i is pretty low, though.

UPDATE: Baha'i news sources are reporting that there is a huge escalation of persecution against them. The "Zionist spy" story seems to be an attempt to cover it up.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Abbas statement to Biden: Stop all Jews from visiting the Temple Mount, and keep the old city of Jerusalem Judenrein

At the end of President Biden's visit to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem, they both issued statements.

And Abbas' statement included explicit Jew-hatred.

According to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency:

President Abbas stressed that East Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, is the capital of the State of Palestine, stressing the need to stop the extremist groups’ incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and to preserve the historical situation in the Christian and Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem, in accordance with the Hashemite guardianship over them.

He told the American president that the holiest site in Judaism should be Judenfrei.

Slightly less explicitly but no less clearly, Abbas also insisted that all of the Old City be empty of Jews as well. When he refers to the "historical situation" of the holy sites in Jerusalem under Hashemite rule he means the situation between 1949 and 1967, when Jordan controlled the Old City - and not one Jew was allowed to visit.

Not Israelis, but Jews. Jordan banned Jews from any country to visit the Old City as well as the rest of Judea and Samaria.

Mahmoud Abbas publicly told the US President that the holiest city in Judaism should be off limits to Jews.

This pure antisemitism will be roundly ignored in the international media. Because the English version of the story in Wafa didn't include any of this part of his statement.

UPDATE: Abbas also said that all of Israel is "occupied Palestinian land." In his speech, according to YNet, he said, "After 74 years, isn't it time for occupation to end?"

The US should strongly condemn these words that insult not only Israel but the US itself.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

The other Abraham Accords benefit that the progressives won't talk about: Far less antisemitism in the Arab world

On Wednesday, Morocco's King Mohammed VI chaired a meeting of the Council of Ministers. A remarkable thing occurred:

At the end of the Council's proceedings, the Minister of Interior made before His Majesty the King, may God preserve Him, a presentation on the measures elaborated, pursuant to the High Royal Instructions on the organization of the Moroccan Jewish community.

These measures are based on the supreme responsibility of His Majesty the King as Commander of the Faithful and guarantor of the free exercise of worship for all Moroccans, all religious confessions included, and come to enshrine the Hebrew tributary as a component of the Moroccan culture rich of its multiple tributaries.

The scheme submitted to the High Appreciation of His Majesty the King, drawn up after extensive consultations with representatives of the Jewish community and personalities belonging to it, includes the following bodies:

1- The National Council of the Moroccan Jewish Community:

It is responsible for managing the affairs of the community and safeguarding the cultural and religious heritage and influence of Judaism and its authentic Moroccan values. Regional committees of the Council will be responsible for managing the day-to-day issues and affairs of the community's members.

2- The Committee of Moroccan Jews living abroad:

It works to consolidate the ties of Moroccan Jews living abroad with their country of origin, to strengthen their cultural and religious influence and to defend the supreme interests of the Kingdom.

3- The Foundation of Moroccan Judaism:

Its mission is to promote and watch over the Jewish-Moroccan intangible heritage, to safeguard its traditions and to preserve its specificities.

King Mohammed VI was always sympathetic towards his Jewish subjects, but until the Abraham Accords he couldn't have allowed an organization for Moroccan Jews abroad - for the simple reason that most of them live in Israel.

This brings up an additional benefit of the Abraham Accords: it has significantly reduced the amount of antisemitism in the media of Gulf countries and Morocco.

The ADL's polls from 2014 in the states most affected by the Abraham Accords indicated that in Morocco, 80% of the citizens held antisemitic attitudes; UAE 80%, Bahrain 81%, Saudi Arabia 74%, Oman 76%.. The Palestinian territories was 93%.

Until there is a new survey, we won't know how much the Accords have reduced Arab antisemitism, but it is a fair bet that with fewer antisemitic articles and stories in the media - and far more stories sympathetic to Jews - the attitudes of the citizens will be positively impacted towards Jews.

The progressives who never admitted that there was an Arab antisemitism problem likewise will not admit that reducing Arab antisemitism is a clear win from a human rights perspective. They try to spin the agreements as if they are somehow making human rights worse for the Arab signatories, when in fact when they are more favorably disposed towards Jews they are also more open to all non-Muslims.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Israel allowing hundreds of Gazans to visit Al Aqsa and elsewhere for Eid al Adha

Gaza media is announcing the times for buses to transport people to Jerusalem for Eid al Adha:

They will start at Rafah at 4:30 AM and take more passengers as they move northward through Gaza.

There are strict rules that the pilgrims must be over 50 for women, 55 for men, and they cannot take electronic devices and a list of other things. They must return to Gaza the same day.

Israel provided 400 permits to visit Al Aqsa, and 500 permits to visit family members in the West Bank and Israel.

Israel made the decision based on things being currently calm in Gaza. It wants to reward ordinary Gazans when things are quiet - and when Hamas or Islamic Jihad shoots rockets, these benefits are taken away.

This is part of the reason Israel has been allowing workers' permits from Gaza as well.

Giving rewards for acting like normal human beings. What a concept!

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

People who shoot at Jewish worshippers say that Israel practices religious discrimination

Some accusations against Israel are so ridiculous, they can only be made at the UN Human Rights Council.

Al Awda, the "Palestinian Return Center," said at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council that Israel was discriminating against Palestinians on religious grounds

Speaking with the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, under the ninth item on the agenda of the 50th session of the Human Rights Council, they mentioned that Israel prevented those under the age of 50 from praying at Al Aqsa.

Israel sometimes does this to minimize the chance of terror attacks, but there are plenty of men under 50 who visit al-Aqsa, like this very devout worshiper.

Temple Mount Circus pic.twitter.com/ENQSFGovuq
— Imshin (@imshin) July 4, 2022

"On the other hand, it allows Jewish settlers of all ages to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid provocative and racist expressions and insults against the Palestinians." The "racist expressions" are usually Biblical quotes.

They also claimed that Palestinian Christians were subjected to religious discrimination too, as the Israeli forces recently prevented large numbers of them from celebrating Christmas in the city of Bethlehem. They didn't mention that this was in response to the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Al-Awda said that restricting worshipers' access to Islamic and Christian holy sites is a flagrant violation of human rights, especially Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It called on members of the Human Rights Council to publicly condemn deliberate religious discrimination by Israel, and to take the necessary measures to protect places of worship in Jerusalem, and support freedom of worship for all worshipers.

Meanwhile, Palestinians are literally shooting at real worshipers attempting to visit Joseph's Tomb. And you can bet that no one said a word about this at the UNHRC (unless Hillel Neuer from UN Watch managed to.)

A pro-terror organization whose entire purpose is to destroy a UN member state is not only allowed to attend UNHRC sessions, but it can promote lies without anyone in those hallowed chambers even considering that they are making things up.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

A stadium full of people that visit Al Aqsa every Friday - with claims that Israel makes it so hard for them

Every Friday, one sees two contradictory narratives in Palestinian media.

One says how Israel limits the number of people visiting Al Aqsa Mosque. The other says how many people went there to pray.

Today some 55,000 Muslims visited the site to worship there (and probably play some soccer.) That's a sold out football stadium of people. And just like at sports and concert venues, Israeli police check the crowds for weapons.

But no one writes articles after every sporting event and major concert about how intrusive the guards were.

Only on the Temple Mount.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Is shooting religious Jewish worshipers at Joseph's Tomb just "anti-Zionism," too?

From Times of Israel:

Palestinian gunmen opened fire during clashes with IDF troops guarding worshipers at a Jewish shrine in West Bank early Thursday, lightly wounding three Israelis.

The clashes erupted as hundreds of Jewish worshipers under military escort arrived to pray at Joseph’s Tomb on the outskirts of Nablus. According to the Israel Defense Forces, armed Palestinians directed “massive gunfire” at the compound.

Here is video from the attackers' side:

And here's what it looked like inside the compound:

The comments on the video praises the people shooting at religious Jews, and takes pride in the "cowardice" of Jewish worshipers taking cover from bullets and firebombs.

Islamic Jihad is taking credit for the attack, couching it in religious terms as they praise their "blessed fire."

And yet the one phrase one hardly hears when the media talks about Palestinians is "antisemitism." No matter how blatant the attacks are against Jews, no matter how much Palestinians cheer attacking recognizable Jews, no matter how explicit their Jew-hating rhetoric is on their own media - Western reporters stay far away from mentioning what is obvious to all.

These attacks aren't against "Zionists." They aren't targeting "Israelis." They are targeting Jews. Everyone knows this. Yet no one wants to say it out loud.

The "pro-Palestinian" crowd that claims to be against antisemitism will be silent about this. So called "experts" on antisemitism like Marc Lamont Hill and Linda Sarsour and Peter Beinart will not say a word of condemnation. "Human rights" organizations will likewise stay silent because Palestinian Jew-hatred contradicts their carefully constructed narrative of Jewish culpability for all problems in the region.

Meanwhile, Palestinians themselves openly celebrate the blatant attack on a Jewish holy site and the people who want to pray there.

Jews should be allowed to freely worship in their holy spaces. Under the Oslo accords, Jews visiting Joseph's Tomb should be protected by Palestinians, not attacked by them.

The insistence that Palestinians only hate "Zionists" or "settlers" is, to put it simply, a lie. It is a lie that the Arab world made up a century ago and one that the West has embraced, because hate is so distasteful. Accusing people of hate for no reason is seen as Islamophobic or Arabophobic; much better to pretend that it is a political issue and that the bigots are really just fighting for their rights. This, in turn, encourages the modern antisemites to increase their efforts to ethnically cleanse the region of Jews, knowing that the West is fully embracing their narrative.

The Western world's refusal to face the truth doesn't make things more peaceful. On the contrary, it prolongs the conflict.

Call this incident what it is: a Palestinian attack on Jews because they are Jews.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Al Jazeera catalogs every single "Talmudic ritual" attempted on the Temple Mount

Al Jazeera asked an "expert" to describe out every single "Talmudic ritual" that "extremist Jewish settlers" are attempting on the Temple Mount.

Morning prayer (Shaharit)

Afternoon prayer (Minha)

Minyan

Nanua Ritual: Shaking and swaying movements performed by settlers and shown during their prayers in Al-Aqsa.

Wedding blessing: a remarkably common custom in the last two years, as the newlyweds storm Al-Aqsa before their wedding and pray there with the blessing of one of the rabbis, then take memorial photos and dance at the door of the chain, “asking for blessing from the place of the temple,” according to their claim.

Prayer (Al-Shma): It is the recitation of the first paragraphs of “Deuteronomy” and says “Hear, O Israel, that Adonai our God is one God.” This ritual has been repeated in Al-Aqsa a lot, and has increased since 2014 until today, as the intruder puts his hand on his face with his eyes closed, and shouts in the name of God and his unification.

Blessings of the Priests: A special biblical ritual during which the rabbi (a religious leader) accompanies his students and raises their hands and spreads them over their heads, with the recitation of passages from the “Book of Numbers” in the Torah, and is usually performed by students of the school called “Har Habayit or the Temple Mount” east of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The prayer of penance It is performed before the great Jewish holidays, especially Yom Kippur, and is accompanied by wearing the white robes of penitence, in addition to the dress of serving the temple and its priests.

Raising the Israeli flag: The intruders deliberately raised the flag at Al-Aqsa during the so-called "Unification of Jerusalem" day, which precedes the Judaization dance and march. The latest scenes of raising the flag was on May 29, when settlers raised it collectively inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque between the Mughrabi Gates and Al-Silsila, in an unprecedented scene since the occupation of East Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967.

Plant offerings: During the last Jewish Throne Day[Sukkot], settlers tried to introduce what they call “vegetable offerings,” such as basil and willow branches, and they succeeded in secretly bringing palm fronds to Al-Aqsa in September 2021.

Animal sacrifices: Since 2014, settlers have slaughtered animal sacrifices (sheep, goats, lambs) around the wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, in celebration of the Hebrew Passover. The past years have witnessed the thwarting of several attempts to slaughter sacrifices in Al-Aqsa, the last of which was after intense calls for slaughter or bloodshed in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa in mid-April, coinciding with the month of Ramadan.

Puberty ceremonies (bar / bat mitzvah): at the age of 13 for males and 12 for females, the adult reads the memorized passages of the Torah, then the rabbi recites to him the “blessing” prayers, and the settlers deliberately establish them in Al-Aqsa to bind their children to it.

Daily lessons from the rabbis: They are given by rabbis dedicated to this task from the so-called "Temple Mount School", when they accompany the intrusive groups on tours and dedicated paragraphs inside the mosque.

The epic prostration (Barkhout): It means the complete prostration, and the flattening of the body on the ground by extending the hands, feet and face completely, and this represents the utmost degree of submission.

The blowing of the trumpet (the shofar): ...In the contemporary application the occupation army used it as a method of “declaring sovereignty” over Al-Aqsa, as the Rabbi of the Israeli army (Shlomo Goren) blew it on the day of the occupation of Al-Aqsa Mosque on June 7, 1967, And it continued during the biblical occasions until it stopped after the burning of the Al-Qibli prayer hall in 1969 for fear of a confrontation with the Islamic world. The trumpet was blown again inside Al-Aqsa on the Hebrew New Year in early September 2021.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

US State Department Religious Freedom Report seems to OPPOSE religious freedom for Jews on the Temple Mount

The US State Department's 2021 Report on International Religious Freedom was recently released. It has quite a large section on Israel, much of it about religious coercion by Orthodox in Israel towards other denominations.

But one theme on that and the West Bank/Gaza page was seemingly against religious freedom.

When it discusses Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, the tone of the report is decidedly negative, which is quite strange for a report that is supposed to support freedom and rights for religion:

According to local media, some Jewish groups performed religious acts such as prayers and prostration on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount despite the ban on non-Islamic prayer. The Israeli government reiterated that overt non-Islamic prayer was not allowed on the grounds of the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount. NGOs, media, and Jewish Temple Mount advocacy groups continued to report that in practice, police generally allowed discreet non-Muslim prayer on the site. The news website Al-Monitor reported in October that although the country’s two chief rabbis repeatedly said Jews were not to set foot in the Temple Mount out of concern they could inadvertently step into an area which, in Jewish law, it was forbidden to enter unless one was ritually pure. In recent years, some Jews had entered the mosque and tried to offer prayers.

No Jews entered the mosque. The State Department is adopting the absurd recent Palestinian claim that the entire Temple Mount is a mosque. (If it was, then no Muslim would be allowed to wear shoes on the entire complex!)

In August, the New York Times reported that Rabbi Yehuda Glick, whom the newspaper described as a “right-wing former lawmaker,” led “efforts to change the status quo for years” and said that Glick livestreamed his prayers from the site. The report said that although the government officially allowed non-Muslims to visit the site each morning on the condition that they did not pray there, “In reality, dozens of Jews now openly pray every day [at the site]… and their Israeli police escorts no longer attempt stop them.” The New York Times reported that Glick and activists ultimately sought to build a third Jewish Temple on the site of the Dome of the Rock, an idea that Azzam Khatib, the deputy chairman of the Waqf council, said “will lead to a civil war.”

The same article said that Glick only wanted to build the Third Temple in dialogue with Muslims, not above their objections, and it would be open to all religions. Both of those facts should be relevant but the report seems to want to paint the Jews as extremists who want to forcibly take over the Mount.

According to the Religion News Service, one group known as the Temple Institute hoped to build a third temple where one of the al-Aqsa complex’s three mosques now stands and to reinstate ritual animal sacrifices. The group’s website reported that it was working with an architect on a design. In September, al-Monitor reported, “In the past, doing so [praying out loud or making movements of genuflection], could lead to the person being detained and ejected from the site, as Jews are not allowed to pray there. But more recently, a warning is reportedly more common. Last July Israel’s Channel 12 filmed Jews praying silently at the site while police officers watched.” Police continued to screen non-Muslims for religious articles. Police allowed Jewish male visitors who were visibly wearing a kippah and tzitzit (fringes), and those who wished to enter the site barefoot (in accordance with interpretations of halacha, Jewish religious law) to enter with a police escort.

On October 5, the Jerusalem Magistrate Court ruled that “silent Jewish prayer” on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount did not violate existing police rules on the site. The ruling was in response to a case involving a 15-day administrative restraining order against a man whom police had removed from the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount on September 29 on grounds that he disturbed public order by engaging in Jewish prayer. The judge ruled that silent prayer “does not in itself violate police instructions” that prohibit “external and overt” non-Muslim prayer on the site. Al-Monitor said the Magistrate’s Court’s ruling was “unprecedented” and “seem[ed] to question the status quo that has prevailed over the site.” The Jerusalem District Court overturned the lower court’s ruling on October 8, ruling that the INP had acted “within reason,” and “the fact that there was someone who observed [him] pray is evidence that his prayer was overt.” Minister of Public Security Bar-Lev supported the appeal, saying “a change in the status quo will endanger public security and could cause a flare-up.” The Waqf said the lower court’s ruling was “a flagrant violation” of the complex’s sanctity and a “clear provocation” for Muslims.

This report is framing the Jews who want true religious freedom as fanatics who are somehow limiting Muslim religious freedom. The supposed "status quo," which was by definition antisemitic in that it forbade Jews from prayer, is held up as an ideal.

(h/t Irene)

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

Abbas spokesman: Jews visiting the Temple Mount are "invasions, not visits"

From the official Palestinian Wafa news agency:

The daily storming by Jewish extremists into the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards, which are rejected and condemned, has become an invasion and not simply a visit, today said the spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

He stressed the importance of preserving the legal and historical status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning that the continuation of this invasion would turn the conflict into a religious war with serious repercussions.

He called on the US administration to assume its responsibilities and compel Israel to stop its escalation and storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque before it is too late.

He pointed out that the continuation of double international standards and ignoring United Nations resolutions have become a cover and protection for incursions and blatant Israeli violations of international law, which encourages the occupying power to persist in its crimes.

So Jews peacefully visiting the Temple Mount, walking around its perimeter, not bothering any of the Muslims there, not interfering with any Muslim religious rites, are characterized as "invading."

And the only people who keep warning about a religious war are the Palestinians who insist on using war terminology like "invasion" to characterize quiet and peaceful visits.

The people who want a religious war are the ones who say Jews walking and quietly praying is an unacceptable event - while hurling rocks and firecrackers, playing soccer and volleyball, and waving the Hamas flag are the proper ways to honor the holiness of the site.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

A Muslim storms the Kotel and joins in Talmudic prayers

Arabic media is upset at this tweet from Mohammed al-Dhirabi, a trainer in the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, who is visiting Israel.

Watanserb reported it this way:

Bragging about his Zionization, the Bahraini coach accredited to the Council of Arab Economic Unity of the League of Arab States, Muhammad Al Dhirabi, published a picture of him performing a Talmudic prayer next to a number of Jewish extremists at the Al-Buraq Wall, which the Zionists call “the Western Wall.”

Al-Dhirabi appeared in the photo, wearing a white cloak and a red shemagh, next to the wall, accompanied by a group of extremist Jews, performing their prayers.

The tweet is a greeting of Shabbat Shalom to all Jews.

Notice that the Jews have no problem with a Muslim praying at the Kotel with them. The contrast with the Muslim insistence that no Jews pray (or even visit) the Temple Mount could not be more striking.

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

When an elevator to help the disabled is a “racist Judaization crime"

Today, construction started on an elevator at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron.

It took years any many court cases. The Jewish community offered to work with the Hebron municipality on the design, only to be refused. The elevator will be available to Jews and Muslims. Up until today, people who are wheelchair bound had to be literally carried up in order to see the holy site.

In other words, this is a no-brainer.

Except - anything Jews do is automatically awful.

Palestine Today describes it this way:

The attempts of the “ Israeli ” occupation to Judaize in the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Khalil al-Rahman never stops. The installation of the metal structure of the electric elevator comes within the framework of strengthening the comprehensive Jewish grip on the city, including the Ibrahimi Mosque , and transforming the Islamic aspect into a Jewish one.

The Mufti of Jerusalem also says this is a Judaization crime:

The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories and the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, affirmed that the occupation authorities yesterday removed parts of the Ibrahimi Mosque, the “White Staircase”, as a “racist Judaization crime.”

In a press statement, Sheikh Hussein said: "What is happening comes within the framework of the occupation authorities' plans to change the landmarks of the archaeological site and complete the "electric elevator" project, which it intends to build to serve the settlers' incursions."

He explained that these measures of the occupation authorities lead to depriving Palestinian citizens of performing their religious rites in their mosques....

The funny thing is that the exact types of people who support disability rights will be the ones who are the most adamantly against this.

In the hierarchy of social justice issues, Jew-hate is at the top.

UN Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!

Or order from your favorite bookseller, using ISBN 9798985708424.

Read all about it here!

More Muslims are visiting Al Aqsa on a typical Friday under Jewish rule than ever visited under Muslim rule in history

It's Friday, which means that tens of thousands of Muslims will be visiting the Temple Mount as they do every Friday.

Here is what it looked like one Friday in October, when 50,000 Muslims visited to pray.

Muslim media typically reports 40,000-50,000 visiting every Friday. Even during COVID there were tens of thousands visiting every week when it was open.

As far as I can tell, more Muslims visit Judaism's holiest site, under Jewish rule, on a typical Friday than ever visited even on Muslim holidays under Muslim rule, in history.

I have looked for any photo or description estimating the number of Muslims that visited the holy site even during Muslim holidays, and while some descriptions mention "thousands" of worshippers, never have I seen anyone report "tens of of thousands" as the site sees every single week nowadays.

A letter from a British resident of Jerusalem in the November 23, 1937 Manchester Guardian disputes the claim that 10,000 Muslims carried the Mufti around the Temple Mount by pointing out that only perhaps once a year does the Haram esh Sharif attract that many Muslims:

Only 13,000 Muslims lived in Jerusalem in 1922 and 40,000 in 1948 (compared to over 300,000 today) so 40,000 visitors would have been an astronomical figure to visit at any time under Muslim rule.

Now, during Fridays in Ramadan, Israel allows some 200,000 Muslims to visit Judaism's most sacred spot.

I am confident in my claim that more Muslims will visit the site today, on a typical Friday, walking past Israeli guards, than had ever visited at one time in the entire 1200 years of Muslim control of Jerusalem.

The contrast to how Muslims didn't allow Jews to visit the Temple Mount or the Cave of the Patriarchs at all under their rule couldn't be more striking.

Never in history has there been as free access to holy sites for all religions than under Jewish rule, yet earlier this week the UN again accused Israel of "racial and ethnic discrimination."

We are truly living in 1984 where ignorance is strength.

"Human Rights organization" founder decries "herds of colonists performing Talmudic rituals" at Cave of the Patriarchs (update)

This video of Jews celebrating Simchat Torah in Hebron on Wednesday is causing a great deal of angst from bigoted Arabs who believe that Jews should be banned from Judaism's second holiest site.

Al Jazeera catalogued some of the reactions to this video.

This tweeter that they highlighted said, "The sons of Khazar are dancing around the Ibrahimi mosque burial site of Ibrahim(pbuh) patriach of the Arabs. These European Jews who have no connection to our father Ibrahim(pbuh) are testing the limits of the Arabs."

The Khazar myth is an antisemitic theory that says most Jews aren't really Jews.

The Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs condemned the celebration, claiming that "extremist groups used the Jewish holidays to desecrate the mosque through massive incursions, wearing religious clothes, in an attempt to perform Talmudic prayer and lying on the ground, deliberately provoking the feelings of Muslims."

Because why would Jews want to celebrate a holiday without deliberately provoking the feelings of Muslims?

But perhaps the most telling comment came from Ramy Abdu, the founder and chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, who has given statements to the UN. We've shown the anti-Israel bias of the organization, but his comment leaves no doubt that the human rights of Jews are of no concern to him.

Abdu tweeted, "At dawn today, with the support of the occupation forces, herds of colonists storm the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil al-Rahman and perform Talmudic prayers!"

To this "human rights expert," Jews in groups are not human, but "herds" of animals. Performing Jewish prayers (which are virtually all "Talmudic") is a disgrace. Jews do not have any rights to their own holy places.

Dozens of responses curse the Jews for having the audacity of dancing - which is how Simchat Torah is celebrated.

A human rights leader is inciting violence against Jews. And no one says a word about it.

UPDATE: This news site says that the Jews converted the shrine into a "discotheque."

Should Jews stay away from the Cave of the Patriarchs to avoid "conflict"?

Media outlets like Haaretz and the New York Times warn about how dangerous it is for Jews to pray in the holist Jewish site, the Temple Mount, that was claimed as an Islamic holy sites over a millennium later. Their argument is that such prayer is lighting a fuse for a global jihad by Muslims. Jewish religious rights, according to these "experts," are not nearly as important as appeasing Muslims who usurped the site.

By that logic, Jews should not be allowed to pray in the second holiest Jewish site either - the Ma'arat HaMachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, from which Jews were banned for centuries by intolerant Muslims.

Just like the Temple Mount.

From reading the NYT and Haaretz, one would think that Muslims have accepted Jews worshipping in the Hebron site so it is not an issue any more. After all, there was a signed agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority dividing up the site into sections where Jews and Muslims can worship, and on ten days a year Jews can use the whole site while on ten other days Muslims take over the whole site.

But while the PA may have accepted this agreement, the Muslims have not.

Just this morning, Shehab News tweeted the scandalous video of Jews praying in the holy site - something done every day but the video is still meant to incite hate and violence.

The caption says "Settlers perform Talmudic prayers inside the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron."

مستوطنون يؤدون صلوات تلمودية داخل المسجد الإبراهيمي في الخليل pic.twitter.com/rdRDMdwMNi
— وكالة شهاب للأنباء (@ShehabAgency) September 17, 2021

Yom Kippur is one of the ten annual days Jews can pray unimpeded in their holy site, and Palestinian media are calling this a "desecration," claiming that the Jews rolled up the Muslim prayer rugs for the services.

Hundreds of citizens performed dawn prayers today, Friday, at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, despite the restrictions of the occupation, and hours after it was stormed and desecrated by dozens of settlers.

Citizens from all parts of Hebron arrived at the mosque to perform prayers and participate in its reconstruction, in light of the dangerous Judaization operations it is being exposed to.

The freed prisoner Issa Al-Jabari said, "The settlers removed the carpets from the Ishaqi Hall, where the citizens prayed on the tiles on which light, worn mats were spread."

The settlers posted on their sites scenes of their performance of Talmudic rituals inside the Ishaqi hall in the Ibrahimi Mosque after removing the prayer rugs and storming it with their shoes.

The settlers deliberately photographed the mosque and its pulpit during the performance of rituals and chanting Talmudic heresies.

Dozens of Jewish women also participated in the desecration of the Ibrahimi Mosque to celebrate the so-called Jewish Day of Atonement, which the occupation takes as a pretext to close the mosque and allow settlers to storm it.

Here's a photo of the rolled up prayer rugs. Awful, isn't it?

Except that these rugs aren't removed by the Jews and left there in a mess for the Muslims to clean up. The Muslims roll up the rugs to avoid the dirty Jews from walking on them! As this 2015 article notes:

Before relinquishing their side, Abufilat and his attendants rolled up the wall-to-wall prayer mats.
“We remove our carpets because we don’t want them to get dirty. The Jews come here, they conduct their dances, their celebrations, and also their drinking,” Abufilat says. It’s a reference to Jews drinking wine during holiday rituals.

Muslims know that the secular Jews who write these articles about Jewish "provocative" prayer at the Temple Mount are cowed by Arab threats. Every single time an Isabel Kershner or Eric Yoffie writes about how Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is bad because it upsets Muslims, the Muslims have more incentive to incite more anger and violence.

The articles about the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Arab media are intended to roll back the gains that Jews achieved in being able to return there after being banned for centuries. And the Jewish useful idiots happily will agree that the right of Jews to their own holy places is less important than appeasing Arab Muslims - who will never be appeased until every Jew has been pushed out of the region.

(h/t Yoel)

Palestinians think Jewish holidays are just an excuse for Jews to make their lives difficult for no reason

There is a phrase that is seen often in Palestinian Arabic media, especially around this time of year: "Under the pretext of Jewish holidays."

Ma'an wrote on Monday, "The Israeli occupation forces, on Monday evening, restricted Jerusalemites, especially those residing in and around the Old City, under the pretext of the Jewish holidays and to facilitate the settlers' storming of the Old City and the Al-Buraq Wall [Kotel]."

Al Wafd, Wafa and many others headlined, "On the pretext of Jewish holidays, Israel closes the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to [Muslim] worshipers."

Al Quds, last week: "Gaza: Israel's closure of commercial crossings under the pretext of Jewish holidays worsens economic conditions."

El Balad: "On the pretext of days of repentance, settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque, instigated by 'temple groups.'"

They don't mention that Egypt and Jordan close crossings on holidays. They don't mention that for every day the Cave of the Patriarchs is closed to Muslims, there is one day it is closed to Jews for Muslim holidays.

The wording makes it appear that they think that Israel uses the holidays as an excuse to make Palestinians suffer.

Indeed, that is exactly what they think.

An Al Jazeera reporter interviewed Palestinians and "experts" about the fact that there are so many Jewish holidays during the week this month.

The specialist in Israeli affairs, Ismat Mansour, describes the closures, which are carried out under the pretext of Jewish holidays, as a ritual of restricting the Palestinians and disturbing their lives on security grounds, although the situation today is closer to calm. There are no commando operations and no security tension, according to what the occupation describes. Despite this, the closure has become a reality, according to Mansour.

The problem with the Jewish holidays - according to Mansour - is that they are many, and the closures may extend for long days, as happens on the Passover holiday, in which the closure extends for a week, as well as the way the celebrations become against the Palestinians and their sanctities.

In addition to this, the national holidays, especially the Independence Day, are considered a history of the catastrophe for the Palestinian people.

Mansour believes that the Jewish holidays for the Palestinians are occasions of restrictions, closures, sieges and incursions by settlers, which are often reinforced by the occupation police and army, and these incursions may be a spark for confrontations and arrest.

Latest Israeli human rights violation: Jewish holidays

Al Jazeera (Arabic) writes about the hardship of Palestinian Arabs who work in Israel who are forced to not work during the upcoming Jewish holidays this month.

Israel closes the crossings to the territories during Israeli holidays.

Of course, Egypt closes its crossing to Gaza on Egyptian holidays, but no one seems overly concerned about that.

That isn't the only horrific human rights violation that Palestinians complain about for Jewish holidays. They are also upset that Jews visit Jewish shrines on Jewish holidays, including Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem, Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, and many others.

Specialist in Israeli affairs, Ismat Mansour, describes the closures, which are carried out under the pretext of Jewish holidays, as a ritual of restricting Palestinians and disturbing their lives on security grounds, although the situation today is closer to calm....The problem with the Jewish holidays - according to Mansour - is that there are many of them, and the closures may extend for long days, as happens on the Passover holiday, in which the closure extends for a week

In addition to this, the national holidays, especially the Independence Day, are considered a history of the catastrophe for the Palestinian people

There you have it. Jewish holidays are a violation of Palestinian rights, and Israeli holidays are designed to humiliate Palestinians.

The funny thing is, when they make this stuff up it is to make themselves feel important. Because the truth that Jewish holidays and Israeli special days have nothing to do with Palestinians offends those who insist they are the center of the universe.

Muslims upgrade Hebron site to "fourth holiest mosque in Islam" to keep Jews away

The director of the mosque at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Sheikh Hefzy Abu Sneina, now claims that his mosque is the fourth holiest mosque in Islam after the Al-Haram in Mecca, the Al-Nabawi mosque in Medina and the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. He says that it contains Islamic sanctities and the tombs of their prophets, "which proves the right of Palestinians and Muslims to it and denies any Israeli claims of their rights in it. "

Even though the prophets buried there have nothing to do with Islam, with the exception of Abraham, but everything to do with Judaism.

The Jewish ties to Hebron have given the Ibrahimi Mosque some holiness inflation, it seems.

I have not seen the Hebron mosque listed as the fourth holiest in any other source.

This article in The Guardian says that #4 is Imam Ali in Iraq, #5 is the Dome of the Rock, #6 is Great Mosque of Djenne in Mali and #7 is the Quba Mosque in Medina. Hebron isn't mentioned.

This site lists the Quba mosque as #4.

Wikipedia gives three sources saying that the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is the fourth holiest site in Islam.

So how did the mosque in Hebron rocket to the top of the charts? (No one will argue about 1,2 or 3, although Shiite Muslims used to rate Al Aqsa as #5, behind Najaf and Karbala.)

It seems that the holier Jews consider a site, the more Muslims want to take it away from Jews. It happens in Jerusalem, in Hebron, in Bethlehem, in Shechem (Nablus.)

It is pure antisemitism, and something that no one is willing to talk about.