Israeli Palestinians Protest to Remove Increased Surveillance Mechanisms in East Jerusalem, 2017

On 14 July 2017, three Israeli Palestinians from Umm al-Fahm killed two Israeli police officers in the sacred Temple Mount complex in East Jerusalem. Other surrounding officers immediately responded by fatally shooting the three Israeli Palestinian gunmen. After this incident, the Israeli government increased its security presence in the Old City. Israeli Palestinians protested for two weeks, and the Israeli government withdrew the extra security measures.

The complex within the Old City of Eastern Jerusalem, known as Temple Mount to Israeli Jews, and as The Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, or just as the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, is a historical and religious site for all of the Abrahamic religions. The site includes the Dome of the Rock, the holiest site in Judaism, as well as the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam, and is surrounded by a wall that has seven open gates on it. The Mosque is run by the Jerusalem Waqf, an Islamic body, but after the 1967 Six-Day War, the Israeli government controlled who is able to enter the complex. The Israeli government granted entry to people of any Abrahamic religion, but the Chief Rabbinate of Israel forbade Jews from praying at the Temple Mount in accordance with a religious law that does not permit contact with the dead. 

In the 1948 war of Israeli Independence, Jordan occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, along with the Old City of Jerusalem, while Israel occupied and annexed West Jerusalem. Later, during the Six-Day war of 1967, Israel occupied and annexed East Jerusalem as well, and the city has been under Israeli occupation ever since. To maintain occupation, Israel keeps many troops and over 400 cameras throughout the Old City. Up until 14 July 2017, the Israeli government never installed any cameras on or around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, although Israel discussed adding security cameras to the gates of Al-Aqsa, but the plans were always rejected by Palestinian leaders. 

Early in the morning of 14 July 2017, three Israeli Palestinian men from Umm al-Fahm ran out of the Al-Aqsa complex through the Gate of Tribes, which is near the Lions’ Gate, and shot at Israeli Border Police officers stationed on the street outside. The three men then fled back into the square outside one of the mosques of the complex, and Israeli police officers shot them. The shooting by the Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli border police officers and wounded two more, and the return fire by the Israeli police killed all three of the gunmen. Israeli authorities later identified the Palestinian gunmen as members of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, which the Israeli government banned in 2015 for alleged ties to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Immediately after the shooting, the Israeli police cleared the Al-Aqsa complex and closed it to the public, turning away Muslim worshippers and leaders from the Lions’ Gate as they attempted to enter for regular noon Friday prayers on 14 July. This marked the first time since the 1990s that the Israeli government closed the Al-Aqsa mosque over Friday prayers. Later that day, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the attack, but also expressed concerns about potential escalations if Israel did not maintain the status quo of access to the mosque complex. Abbas also announced that he rejected violence from any party, especially at holy sites. Netanyahu made an announcement condemning the attack, but also said that the status quo of the mosque would “be preserved,” referring to the ability of Muslims to worship there.The Jordanian government called for an immediate reopening of the mosque complex.

As the mosque was closed when Friday prayers were to be led, some Muslim leaders led prayers outside the mosque complex on 14 July. The Jerusalem police detained Sheikh Mohammad Ahmed Hussein, Jerusalem’s top Muslim leader, after he led prayers by the Lion’s gate, although the police later released him on $2,800 bail.

The Israeli government closed the Al-Aqsa complex for two days from Friday the 14th of July to Sunday the 16th of July, 2017, along with two Old City streets surrounding the complex, Sultan Suleiman and Salah al-Din. Within this time, Netanyahu announced that, after consulting with security officials but without the approval of any of the Waqf leaders of the mosque, he would reopen Al-Aqsa on Sunday, the 16th of July with increased security measures. According to reports by Haaretz, the placing of metal detectors breached a 2014 Israeli policy, and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan made the decision with a small security council that did not consult senior commanders on the force, which was the regular protocol for such changes. 

Early on the morning of 16 July, police conducted a security sweep of the complex, and workers installed metal detectors, CCTV cameras, and turnstiles at the entrance to the Al-Aqsa mosque. The Israeli government also announced a ban on men under 50 attending Friday prayers. Later that afternoon, the Israeli police reopened the Lions’ and Council Gates to the Old City, and they began to let people back into the Al-Aqsa complex, although the surrounding streets remained closed throughout the day. Israeli police also held extra checkpoints at the Gates and throughout the Old City. Despite the fact that the Israeli government allowed worshippers to enter the complex, Islamic authorities refused to hold prayer in Al-Aqsa because of the new security measures, and they called on worshippers to boycott the new security. Instead, around 300 people gathered and performed prayer outside of the Lions’ Gate. As they gathered, they also encouraged other worshippers not to enter the Al-Aqsa complex. 

The Waqf announced that they would hold regular prayers outside of the compound until the Israeli government removed all of the newly-added security measures, with some even demanding a return to the condition before the 1967 Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the removal of any police presence in the area. News outlets also began to express concerns that these new security measures qualified as “collective punishment,” a violation of United Nations human rights law.

In the evening of Sunday, 16 July, violence between worshippers and police began when one of the protesters allegedly threw a water bottle at a passing Israeli woman. Police responded with more violence, and a few protesters and police officers injured each other, although reported estimates for these injuries vary greatly. Throughout the day, Palestinian President Abbas held many negotiations with Israeli officials over the heightened security measures.

Many Palestinians saw the protests as unifying, with the restrictions around the Al-Aqsa mosque described as a “red line.” News outlets, such as DailyMail and Al Jazeera, described the campaign as “grassroots” and “effectively leaderless.” The Waqf made announcements about when the worshippers would continue protesting or return to the mosque, although they maintained that they were just listening to what the protesters wanted, and not making any top-down decisions. Groups such as the Palestinian Prisoners Club, a non-governmental organization established to support Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons, and Grassroots Jerusalem, another non-governmental organization that organized Palestinian networking in Jerusalem also maintained their presences during the protests. Throughout the long days of protesting, local Palestinian community members supplied food and drink to the protesters. 

The Jerusalem Waqf continued to refuse to enter Al-Aqsa through the metal detectors, and worshippers continued prayer outside of Al-Aqsa on Monday and Tuesday 17 and 18 July. On Tuesday, 18 July, the Fatah party, Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad all called for a “day of rage” on the following. These groups, joined by Muslim leaders throughout the world, including the International Union of Muslim Scholars based in Doha, also declared Friday 21 July a “day of anger,” and called for Palestinians to hold their Friday prayers in public squares throughout the Palestinian territories. The Jerusalem Grand Mufti Mohammed Ahmed Hussein even called on mosques to close on Friday and encouraged everyone to go outside the gates of Al-Aqsa to pray instead. 

After evening prayers on 18 July, which protesters again held outside the Al-Aqsa complex near Lions’ Gate, Israeli police attempted to clear worshippers because they were blocking the street. They used sound bombs and rubber bullets to disperse protesters. By the end of the night, Israeli police injured at least fifty Palestinian protesters, including four paramedics and hit fifteen protesters with rubber bullets.

Earlier in the week, President Abbas was in China on a diplomatic trip, but he cut his trip short and returned to the West Bank on 18 July to manage the situation. As he returned, he called on the international community to intervene and told the Israeli government to remove the security measures. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then answered this call, and urged Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to remove the metal detectors and cameras.

On Thursday the 20th of July, calls escalated for Netanyahu to take down the extra security as protesters continued to pray outside the mosque, especially as Israeli officials anticipated large numbers of people at protests on Friday. Early on Friday the 21st of July, the Israeli government deployed 3,000 police into the area surrounding the Old City, including in many of Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods. During the day, Palestinian President Abbas announced that Palestine suspended all official contacts with Israel. Abbas even canceled a security meeting scheduled with Israeli officials, and called on the United States to intervene in the situation and get Israel to remove the security measures. At noon prayers on Friday, thousands of worshippers gathered outside of Al-Aqsa to pray. More worshippers showed up in buses trying to go to Lions’ Gate to join these demonstrations, but they were turned away by Israeli forces. In addition to these prayers of protest, Palestinians in cities throughout the West Bank and Gaza also took their prayers to public spaces in their cities, instead of in their mosques. In Hebron, people gathered in the Hussein Stadium for the Friday prayers. Protesters also prayed publicly in Amman, the capital of Jordan.

Demonstrators began to chant and rally after the conclusion of mid-day prayers on Friday, and Israeli forces responded harshly. Israeli police and patrol used rubber bullets, tear gas, and live ammunition to clear protesters. Yet, demonstrators returned for evening prayers, which concluded again with clashes with Israeli police. At night, police fired stun grenades into the crowds. By the end of the day, Israeli forces detained ten palestinian activists in Jerusalem, including a leader of Fatah, Hatem Abdel Khader, and injured 140 and killed 4 protesters throughout the protests at Lions’ Gate and the West Bank.

On Sunday, 23 July, the Israeli Cabinet met, and a representative announced that they would not remove the metal detectors. The same day, Israel deployed thousands more troops and put five battalions on standby in the West Bank. Muslim authorities in Al-Aqsa continued to say they did not want any more security measures.

The United Nations (U.N.) Security Council met on Monday, 24 July, to discuss what to do about the violence surrounding the heightened security. The U.N. Middle East Envoy, in one briefing made to the U.N. Security Council, said that a solution was needed by Friday, 28 July, to avoid further large clashes on a prayer day. The same day, the Middle East Quartet of the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations made a joint statement encouraging Israel and Jordan to work together to deescalate the situation. After these meetings, King Abdullah II of Jordan talked with Netanyahu about the need to remove the security measures. 

While these conversations were happening, the Israeli security Cabinet was also meeting on Monday evening. The cabinet, based on recommendations from many Israeli security bodies, voted on and approved a new $28 million plan to remove the metal detectors but install high-technology surveillance tools, such as thermal cameras to recognize weapons and high-quality facial recognition cameras, over six months. 

Netanyahu made an announcement that the metal detectors would be removed late on Monday night, but Muslim leaders said they would wait until Al-Aqsa leaders reviewed the compound on Tuesday to see if worshippers were truly safe to reenter. Netanyahu then announced that workers began the installation of this “advanced technology” in the early hours of the morning on Tuesday, the 25th of July. 

When worshippers finished their evening prayers late on Tuesday night, police responded again with violence, firing stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets into crowds to disperse the unarmed protesters. Al-Aqsa Mosque authorities and protesters all continued to maintain that they would hold prayers outside the mosque and keep protesting until the Israeli government removed all new surveillance measures added after 14 July. Palestinian Prime Minister Hamdallah said that the Israeli government remained fully responsible for these clashes after changing the status quo at Al-Aqsa, and that Palestians had historical and religious rights to pray there without surveillance. After these Tuesday evening clashes, the U.N. Security Council called another meeting to address the situation.

After another day of prayer held outside the mosque compound on Wednesday, 26 July, Israeli workers fully removed all of the barriers, gates, scaffolding, and infrastructure for cameras at 1am on Thursday, the 27th of July, before the deadline set by the United Nations. Palestinians celebrated later in the morning with car honking and whistling, and people handed out sweets in the streets surrounding the complex. The Jerusalem Waqf did not immediately call off protests, but first wanted a trusted person to check the complex to ensure Israeli authorities had fully removed all of the security devices.

After Waqf officials confirmed that workers had removed all recent Israeli security measures, they called on worshippers to go to the mosque in mass numbers to celebrate. Hundreds of Palestinians rushed to the Lions’ Gate entrance to get into the complex. Protesters then noticed that Israeli border police still blocked the Huta Gate, so they rushed to that gate as well. The border police let the protesters in at the last second, then closed and reopened the gate multiple times before dispersing the crowd inside the mosque compound with stun grenades and rubber bullets. On Thursday night, protesters threw stones at the officers guarding the gates of the site, and Israeli police continued to shoot stun grenades into the groups of protesters. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that Israeli rubber bullets and beatings injured 100 Palestinian protesters, some with broken bones. 

On Friday, the 28th of July, thousands of Palestinians returned to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque. By Saturday, the 29th of July, people began to visit the compound and attend prayer regularly again. By the end of the protests, police had arrested thirty-three protesters, including seven minors from ages thirteen to seventeen, killed at least three protesters, and injured at least 500 from the demonstrations in the Old City alone. The Red Crescent reported that, from all the West Bank in these weeks, Israeli forces injured 1,300, and arrested over 300 Palestinians and banned them from Jerusalem, the Old City, or Al-Aqsa.

Many conservative Israelis, even those of Netanyahu’s own Likud party, remained upset with him for his handling of the protests. They said he bent to the demands of protesters in his removal of the new security measures, and they criticised him for not being harsh enough on the protesters for their actions around the mosque. In response, Netenyahu publicly called for the death penalty for a Palestinian who, as the protests were happening, killed a family of three Israeli settlers in the West Bank.