Following criticism that police were not allowing Jewish worshipers donning a prayer shawl to enter the Temple Mount compound and threw out a man who had prostrated himself, INN spoke to Honenu attorney Nati Rom about the practical meaning of a court decision to allow the Shema prayer and prostrating oneself on the site this past Sunday.
Rom said that while police behavior was still not completely on par with the court’s decision, “there were a number of cases of Jewish worshippers were not remove or detained for bowing at the site.”
“We hope this positive trend continues,” he said.
“A democracy allows for the freedom of worship and it is time for the court to make the obvious decision,” says Rom.
We asked whether repercussions [such as Arab rioting] should be taken into account when discussing Jewish prayer at the site, despite the fact that any other location would not demand such rigid considerations.
Rom says that a fundamental principle of any democracy is to ensure basic human rights even at the risk of violence. “Violent attacks should be treated accordingly and anyone trying to deprive others of their religious freedoms should be prosecuted. There should certainly be no place for taking worshippers to court to prove non-existent laws against imaginary crimes. Bowing one’s head is allowed under the law, as is prayer for individuals of any religious denomination anywhere in the world.”
Asked whether he would agree to Muslims praying at the Western Wall, by many considered as the holiest site in Judaism, Rom says that, “Muslims come to the Western Wall and no one prevents them from praying. What do you think would happen if Jews or Muslims were not be allowed to pass through a given gate in Rome?,” he asks.
Regarding police removing a groom on his wedding day after he attempted to prostrate himself, Rom says that according to the law, every citizen must be provided full access to holy sites. “No indictments [in the case] have been filed because there is no law forbidding it. The opposite is true. Hopefully Israeli police will also start abiding by this law. We showed the court pictures of thousands of Muslims praying on the Temple Mount and asked if any of them was ever arrested. Of course, the answer was ‘No.’ Discrimination and racism have no place anywhere in the world – especially not Jerusalem,'” he points out.
Rom notes that the appellants he represented told the court that they were convinced that measures passed by the Commissioner of Police and Minister of Internal Security would allow freedom of religious expression at the site. “Only allowing Muslims to pray on the site is a racist practice that has no place anywhere in the world,” he states.
On Sunday, the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that Jews are permitted to recite the “Shema” prayer and prostrate themselves during visits to the Mount.
The unusual ruling by the Court was made following an appeal against the arrest of three teenagers who bowed and recited the “Shema” while visiting the site.
The teens were arrested by police last week and given a 15-day restraining order from the Old City, on charges that they bowed and prayed on a visit to the facility. The police’s claim in the application for the restrictive conditions said that their conduct could lead to a violation of public order.
The teens filed an appeal against the order and Jerusalem Magistrates Judge Zion Saharai ordered the end of restrictive conditions imposed by the police.
In his ruling, Saharai wrote that, “In my opinion, it is not possible to say that bowing and reciting the Shema holds a reasonable suspicion of conduct that may lead to a breach of peace, as required by law. It is difficult to imagine a situation in which shouting ‘Shema Yisrael’ on the Temple Mount would constitute a criminal offense of an act that could lead to a breach of the peace.”
The judge quoted the words of Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai during the month of Ramadan, in which he said, “The Temple Mount is open. The Israel Police allows all residents of the country and the territories who come to pray on the Temple Mount to ascend and observe the worship of religion.”
From Arutz Sheva, here.
