The alleged “Temple groups” are preparing to commemorate the so-called “memorial of the destruction of the Temple,” which falls on Sunday, July 18, by carrying out massive incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, performing public rituals in its courtyards, and organizing a provocative march in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.

Coinciding with the Jewish preparations, the organizations “Students for the Temple” and “Temple Heritage” announced their merging together in a new movement called “The Temple Mount is in Our Hands.”

This organization derives its name from the calls of the Israeli occupation army in 1967 when the Al-Aqsa Mosque was occupied, “The Temple Mount is in our hands.”

This merger was prompted by the extremist Tommy Nisani, founder of Students for the Temple and Executive Director of the Temple Heritage Organization, as well as after successive retreats imposed on the Israeli entity and its extreme right in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa during the gifts of the blessed month of Ramadan, and the Battle of the Sword of Jerusalem.

Prior to this anniversary, extremist Jewish organizations work annually to mobilize Israeli public opinion to participate in the massive storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Extremist organizations, which adopt the idea of ​​demolishing Al-Aqsa and erecting the “temple” over its ruins, take advantage of the festive season and occasions to incite the implementation of more incursions into Al-Aqsa, impose a new reality in it and achieve qualitative leaps in the spatio-temporal division scheme of the mosque.

These preparations come amid Palestinian calls to intensify the pilgrimage to Al-Aqsa Mosque and to observe seclusion on the Day of Arafa to confront the settlers who continue their incursions into the mosque.

The Israeli attacks and violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque have not stopped since the beginning of this year, but have escalated dramatically, whether by desecrating and storming it and turning it into a confrontation arena during the month of Ramadan, and brutally attacking worshipers, or interfering in and obstructing the restoration work, and trying to impose control over the mosque and others.

Invitations to confrontation

The specialist in Jerusalem affairs, Ziad Ibhis, says that the declared goals of the new organization “The Temple Mount is in Our Hands” lie first in working in all directions to fully impose Jewish sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque, expel the Islamic endowments from the mosque and work to freeze all its activities inside Al-Aqsa.

He added that it also aims to open all the doors of Al-Aqsa to the Jews, without any restrictions on times or days, and to allow freedom of worship for them, and to raise the occupation flag inside the mosque and in a clear place.

The third goal – according to Ibhis – is to cancel all control policies practiced by the occupation police against the activists of extremist “temple groups”, and to allow them to act freely in the mosque.

He explains that the Jewish extremists are planning to compensate for what they failed to do by storming the 28th of Ramadan, by “storming al-Aqsa in large numbers, performing public mass rituals, and displaying their sovereignty over it by raising flags and performing the Israeli anthem in it.”

He stresses the need to prepare to confront this intrusion and to think about options to thwart it, stressing that experience has proven that i’tikaf is the most effective way to confront and thwart intrusions.

He added, “It is necessary to think that the seclusion on the night of Sunday, the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah, is one of the most prominent possible options, and that all elements of deterrence in Jerusalem should be attended in defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

settlers’ march

In the context of preparations to commemorate the “destruction of the Temple,” the so-called “Sovereignty Movement in Israel” is preparing to organize a march for settlers around the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem on July 17.

The head of the Israeli movement said that “organizing the march this year is more important than it was in the past, in light of those who seek to undermine our sovereignty in Jerusalem,” according to him.

In this context, the Hebrew Channel 7 reported that “the march is attended annually by thousands of Jews from all over the country and even from the world, and it is expected that public figures, intellectuals and a large audience will attend, and that it will acquire additional importance this year in the face of Palestinian confrontations.”

And she indicated that the march will begin with “reading a joint scroll from the Torah in the Independence Park in central Jerusalem, after which the participants will walk around the walls of the Old City under the guidance of a historian who tells the story of Jerusalem and its struggles through different generations.”

The Sovereignty Movement called on all Knesset members to participate in the march, believing that “there is no dispute between Jerusalem, the right and the left, the coalition and the opposition, claiming that they understand the importance and centrality of Jerusalem.”