Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Anti-Semitic Graffiti Sprayed On Temple Mount

Graffiti equating the Star of David with a swastika was found painted on the Temple Mount.

The graffiti in blue paint was found in at least three places on the Temple Mount on Sunday, according to reports.

Israel Police have opened an investigation into the incident.

The graffiti was painted less than two days after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a speech in Ramallah that Jews should be prevented from entering the Temple Mount and that Palestinians should protect the site, home to the Al-Aksa Mosque.

“It is our sacred place, al-Aksa is ours, this Noble Sanctuary is ours. They have no right to go there and desecrate it,” Abbas said Friday.

On Saturday, Abbas called Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount “a herd of cattle.” He also said that he would take legal action to prevent Jews from ascending to the site that is holy to both Jews and Muslims.

“The Palestinian leadership will be taking the necessary legal measures, at the international level, regarding the aggression of settlers on the Al-Aksa mosque,” Abbas reportedly told the Revolutionary Council of his Fatah party on Saturday, according to the Palestinian Maan news agency.

The Temple Mount has been the site of tension over the recent Jewish holiday period, as well as conflicts between Palestinians and the Israel Police.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.