Middle East Monitor / October 4, 2022
Palestinian activists in occupied Jerusalem have called on their fellow citizens across the occupied West Bank to mobilize and guard Al-Aqsa Mosque today and tomorrow against planned incursions by Jewish settlers. The activists warned that the illegal settlers are preparing to storm Al-Aqsa in large numbers to celebrate the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday on 4 and 5 October.
On Sunday, more than 200 settlers and dozens of Israeli soldiers stormed the mosque, the third holiest site in the Islamic world. The mosque witnessed a new violation by an extremist female settler who danced and sang in front of the Dome of the Rock Mosque in a provocation that caused outrage among Palestinian worshippers.
In another provocative incident, Israeli Knesset Member Simcha Rotman blew the ceremonial trumpet at the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Settlers have recently blown the trumpet in the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery several times and launched calls to blow them collectively at Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Rosh Hashanah celebrations. Some did so over their telephones and said that they look forward to being able to blow traditional trumpets in the mosque in person.
More than 4,800 illegal settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque last month; the peak of the incursions was on 26 and 27 September. The dates coincided with the Rosh Hashanah celebrations. Settlers’ groups aim for 50,000 to have stormed into Al-Aqsa by the end of this year.
