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How did the Jewish "Sukkot" holiday pass at Al-Aqsa Mosque?
October 23, 2024

The Jewish "Sukkot" passed heavily and difficultly at Al-Aqsa Mosque; the raids were extensive and the violations were serious, all of which portend danger to the first of the two Qiblahs.

Over the days of the Sukkot, which began last Thursday, hundreds of thousands of settlers carried out extensive raids on the Old City of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Al-Buraq Wall, the Umayyad palaces, and the Jaffa Gate area, and held prayers, marches, and various celebrations specific to this holiday.

The Old City was more like a military barracks, with the occupation authorities deploying their forces and various elements at the gates of Al-Aqsa and the streets and alleys of the Old City. Outside the city walls, "the areas leading to the Al-Buraq Wall and the Dung Gate," the streets were closed, "Lions Gate Street, Al-Turba, Wadi Hilweh, and Dung Gate," and only buses and vehicles carrying settlers were allowed to pass through them to reach the Al-Buraq Wall. Some of the main intersections in the town of Silwan, "the town closest to Al-Aqsa from the southern side," were also closed.

During the period of storming Al-Aqsa Mosque during Sukkot (from last Thursday until Wednesday), 5977 extremists stormed the mosque through the Dung Gate, whose keys have been controlled by the occupation authorities since the occupation of Jerusalem, and through which daily storming of the mosque takes place except for Fridays and Saturdays. The police provided full protection for the settlers to storm Al-Aqsa and pray inside it, and forces were deployed in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa during the incursions.

The center noted that last year, 5,739 extremists stormed Al-Aqsa during "Sukkot".

The storming of Al-Aqsa during the week of the Sukkot holiday occurred as follows:

o Thursday: 374 settlers

o Sunday: 1,783 settlers

o Monday: 1,461 settlers

o Tuesday: 1,424 settlers

o Wednesday: 935 settlers

The chief rabbis and officials of the "alleged Temple organizations" participated in the storming during the week of Sukkot.

The most prominent violations in Al-Aqsa during the Sukkot holiday were:

• Blowing the trumpet inside Al-Aqsa

• Raising the Israeli flag

• Special prayers for Israeli prisoners and soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

• Collective and public prayers, collective prostration, singing, and clapping. Prayers were particularly concentrated in the eastern area near the Bab al-Rahma prayer hall, in addition to prayers in the corridors and at the various courtyards overlooking the Dome of the Rock.

• Performing the “Mussaf” prayer for Sukkot in the Bab al-Rahma prayer area for the first time in Al-Aqsa, and the “morning” prayer.

• Presenting plant offerings in Al-Aqsa, which are the four plants “citron, myrtle, willow, and palm frond bud” and praying in them several times, and these offerings are specific for Sukkot holiday.

As for the prayers and collective marches of the settlers, they would start in the early morning hours from the direction of Al-Qattaneen Gate - one of the gates of Al-Aqsa - and proceed along Al-Wad Street towards Lions Gate, passing by Al-Ghawanmeh, King Faisal and Hutta gates. In addition, the settlers held individual prayers around the clock at the gates of Al-Aqsa.

The Al-Buraq Wall witnessed daily prayers during the days of the Sukkot holiday, and during the prayers they raised plant offerings. This year, prayers were also dedicated to prisoners and soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

The occupation authorities imposed restrictions on the entry of Muslims to Al-Aqsa Mosque, by preventing young men and women in particular from entering and demanding that they return after three o'clock in the afternoon "after the end of the two periods of incursions", seizing IDs, and imposing restrictions on the elderly "by seizing IDs at the gates and subjecting them to inspection".

 

With the end of the "Sukkot" week, the alleged Temple organizations and groups called for carrying out extensive raids on Thursday, on the anniversary of the so-called the "Joy of the Torah", noting that the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle had begun at dawn the day after the "Joy of the Torah" holiday - according to the Hebrew calendar.