{"id":17010,"date":"2024-03-15T12:46:54","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T12:46:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/15\/israeli-police-prepare-for-first-friday-of-ramadan-amid-online-incitement-calls-for-violence\/"},"modified":"2024-03-15T12:46:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T12:46:54","slug":"israeli-police-prepare-for-first-friday-of-ramadan-amid-online-incitement-calls-for-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/15\/israeli-police-prepare-for-first-friday-of-ramadan-amid-online-incitement-calls-for-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"Israeli police prepare for first Friday of Ramadan amid online incitement, calls for violence"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

JERUSALEM \u2013 Despite heightened security concerns in and around Jerusalem due to the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli officials said this week that there would be no additional restrictions to freedom of worship for Muslims during the holy month of\u00a0Ramadan.\u00a0However, they warned, of an increase in incitement online, along with\u00a0fake news reports,\u00a0contradicting what is really happening on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u2018Most of the people coming to pray, want to come and pray quietly,\u2019 Mirit Ben Mayor, head of communications in the Israel Police told reporters in a briefing this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, she added, there was always a small number of people \u2013 usually youngsters \u2013 trying to destabilize the area and \u2018get our attention.\u2019 Ben Mayor emphasized that like in previous years \u2013 and during all other religious holidays in the holy city \u2013 the Israeli police was beefing up its forces to maintain order and reduce the chances of terror.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tal Heinrich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Prime Minister\u2019s Office, told Fox News Digital that Israel was a nation \u2018that takes great pride in welcoming all faiths and protects freedom of religion and worship.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said it was important to note \u2018that the only time, in hundreds of years,\u00a0when there has been freedom of religion and access to holy sites across our lands has been since 1948 \u2013 with the establishment of the State of Israel.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018In the coming weeks we\u2019ll see three celebrations of the world\u2019s major religions when Muslims mark Ramadan, Christians celebrate Easter and the holiday of Purim celebrated by the Jews,\u2019 Heinrich said.<\/p>\n

The holy month of Ramadan, where Muslims are required to fast from dawn till dusk and attend additional prayer services, traditionally draws hundreds of thousands of worshippers to the Old City of Jerusalem, the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque \u2013 Islam\u2019s third-holiest site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sensitive site, known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, or holy sanctuary, and which also contains the Dome of the Rock, sits on top of an area Jews refer to as the Temple Mount \u2013 a raised esplanade where the first and second Jewish temples once stood. It is considered the holiest site for Jews.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Every year on Ramadan, tensions in Jerusalem reach their peak and police officers flood the 0.35-square-mile Old City in order to maintain calm. Restrictions are placed on certain individuals who are deemed a security risk by Israel and some are prevented from entering the holy compound out of a fear they will launch violent attacks against Jews, who continue to pray at the Western Wall just below it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7 terror attack in which 1,200 people were brutally killed and a further 240 taken hostages, has served to only increase tensions \u2013 as have efforts by radical Jewish groups who are pushing Israeli authorities to increase their access to the sacred compound.<\/p>\n

\u2018As we do every year, the Israeli police have\u00a0made a lot of arrangements and are very ready to enable\u00a0this holiday and to enable our Muslim friends to practice freedom of religion on\u00a0their holiday,\u2019 Ben Mayor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Hundreds of police officers are right now spread over in the Old City in order to enable the thousands of worshipers to\u00a0safely arrive at the compound and practice the prayers,\u2019 she said, adding that the level of readiness was even higher for Friday prayers and describing the police\u2019s role as ensuring freedom of worship for all religions that view Jerusalem as holy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018During this month of a Muslim\u00a0holiday, there are also holidays of the Jewish people and of Christians and in this respect, we are preparing ourselves to enable the practice of these holidays to take place\u00a0as well,\u2019 Ben Mayor said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to official Israeli sources, there are currently no restrictions on Israel\u2019s Muslim population who want to enter the al-Aqsa compound, although for Palestinians \u2013 who must cross through a checkpoint from the West Bank into Jerusalem \u2013 only men over 55, women over 50 and boys below the age of 10 are permitted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Heinrich, from the prime minister\u2019s office, said hundreds of thousands of Muslims were expected to arrive in Jerusalem\u2019s Old City for Ramadan\u2019s Friday prayer service and that while the \u2018overwhelming majority will come to pray and to practice holiday traditions peacefully,\u2019 there were attempts by terror organizations such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad to \u2018inflame the region.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018They\u2019ve already called for attacks on Israelis and Jews during Ramadan, and they\u00a0already have plans to attack us,\u2019 she said, pointing out that over the past week, Israeli forces had succeeded in preventing a suicide bombing.<\/p>\n

The Israeli police spokeswoman also commented on the sharp increase in incitement online and the fake news reports shared in the Arabic language media since Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a part of what we believe Hamas is doing in order to broaden the war and draw in Israeli Arabs and others who are not taking any part in this war,\u2019 she said. \u2018They are working tirelessly to incite, and we are working tirelessly to find these people who are inciting.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JERUSALEM \u2013 Despite heightened security concerns in and around Jerusalem due to the ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli officials said this week that there would be no additional restrictions to freedom of worship for Muslims during the holy month of\u00a0Ramadan.\u00a0However, they warned, of an increase in incitement online, along with\u00a0fake news reports,\u00a0contradicting what is really <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17011,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}