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Worshipers at the AlAqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, located next to Judaism’s holiest temple
Item Information
- Author, Mark Shea
- Rolle, BBC World Service
7 hours ago
About 350 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli police after clashes broke out at Jerusalem’s AlAqsa Mosque.
They were there because the Islamist militant group Hamas had previously urged Palestinians to protect the mosque after reports that Jewish extremists intended to sacrifice a lamb in the area that Jews know as the Temple Mount the holiest site in Judaism .
Why sacrifice the animal?
The sacrificial ritual comes from the Jewish holy book, the Torah.
According to the Torah, the Jews were kept as slaves in Egypt, and in order to set them free, God went through the land to kill the firstborn son of every Egyptian family.
The Israelites (Jews) were instructed to kill the kid of a goat or lamb and to paint the entrance of their houses with the animal’s blood so that the angel of death would follow without stopping there.
This was the last of the “seven plagues of Egypt” and the final straw for the Egyptian pharaoh, allowing the Jewish people to leave the country in what is known as the Exodus.
After the Israelites arrived in the “promised land,” which is what is now Israel, a lamb sacrifice was to be offered every year to eternity to commemorate the Exodus.
Today, however, few religious groups still perform animal sacrifices.
Why there?
The area around the Temple Mount houses two biblical temples, and some Jewish groups want to build a third right where the golden dome of the mosque stands.
Some Jews insist that the Passover sacrifice (the Jewish Passover) can only take place there.
But the AlAqsa Mosque complex is also the third holiest site in Islam, believed to be the site of the ascension of the Prophet Muhammad.
Jews are allowed to visit, but nonMuslim prayers are forbidden there.
This part of Jerusalem was taken by the Israelis in the 1967 Six Day War, after which Israel and Jordan the guardian of AlAqsa Mosque agreed that Jews would be allowed access to the site but would not be allowed to enter it pray.
Many Palestinians resent the presence of visitors and Israeli security forces at the holy site, and several groups have pledged to protect the mosque.
What is happening now?
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The origin of the animal sacrifice ritual goes back to the biblical story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt.
Every year, extremist Jewish groups campaign for permission to sacrifice a lamb on the Temple Mount on the eve of Passover.
Israeli authorities have arrested some people on the eve of the date in recent years to prevent attempted sacrifices.
This year Passover begins on the evening of Wednesday April 5th and ends on the evening of Thursday April 13th.
The period coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which has heightened tensions.
Who is behind the conflicts?
One extremist Jewish group in particular has been linked to attempts to sacrifice a goat near the mosque: the “return to the mountain”.
One of the group’s leaders, Raphael Morris, was interviewed by the BBC in 2022 about his attempts to pray at AlAqsa Mosque disguised as a Muslim.
He describes himself as a Zionist Jew.
“I believe that the Temple Mount belongs to the Jewish people because of what God has promised us in the Bible,” Morris said.
“The mission is to take back the Temple Mount.”
Morris was arrested by Israeli police on Monday (3) on suspicion of planning public disturbances.
According to Israeli media reports, the Return to Mount group is offering cash rewards to people who manage to slaughter a lamb near the mosque or are arrested for doing so.