2 Muslim Temple Mount Officials Arrested for Attack on Jews
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM — Two members of the Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian body that oversees the Temple Mount, were arrested after allegedly attacking a group of Israeli archaeologists visiting the site.
On Thursday, a day after the arrests by Israeli police, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court extended their custody while the incident is investigated.
A group of six archaeologists were touring the Temple Mount on Wednesday. The group included Zachi Dvira, who heads a Temple Mount project in which volunteers sift through hundreds of tons of earth moved from the site by the Waqf and dumped without trying to salvage artifacts.
The group reportedly was asked to leave after Dvira bent down to retrieve a stone that Waqf officials said was an olive and asserted he was not allowed to pick up. Eight Waqf members reportedly surrounded the group and verbally and physically attacked the archaeologists.
Dvira said in a post on Facebook that he filmed part of the attack on his cellphone, but Waqf officials took the phone and deleted the video. He said they backed off when he threatened to complain to the head of the Waqf. No one was injured.
The officials were arrested following the incident.
Jewish visitors can only ascend the Temple Mount during limited visiting hours and are forbidden from doing anything resembling worship such as kneeling, singing, dancing or rending their clothes.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
