Occupied Jerusalem- Immediately after the extremist Temple groups ended their program full of violations carried out by settlers inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem during Easter last April, a petition was launched to collect signatures in support and demand that 500 Israeli flags be raised in the Blessed Mosque on the so-called Israeli “Independence Day” on the 14th. May of every year.
In addition to the efforts to collect signatures, the pages of the temple groups and the leaders of these groups were full of special designs, some of which had artificial intelligence technology added to encourage their supporters to take this step in the first two qiblahs and the third of the Two Holy Mosques.
On April 24, extremist groups began preparing to erect a huge banner on the Ayalon Highway, which connects several cities together. At the beginning of this May, a sign was erected that read in Hebrew, “On Independence Day, the flag will be raised on the Temple Mount.”
Leaders of the Temple groups rushed to publish this sign on their pages on social media platforms, including journalist Arnon Segal, who wrote, “We have not occupied the Temple Mount yet, but here is the sign in the corridors of Ayalon.”
Competition and incitement
While the occupying state commemorates “Independence Day” on May 14, the Palestinians commemorate on May 15 the anniversary of the Nakba and the establishment of Israel on their skulls and the ruins of their cities and villages.
As for the CEO of the “Temple Mount in Our Hands” organization, Tom Nissany, he wrote, “Now the next task is to fill the Temple Mount with flags of Israel in the face of Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran.”
On the page of the organization he runs, various advertisements and designs were published with a link to sign the petition, and to mobilize settlers to carry out this violation in Al-Aqsa Mosque. The advertisements included several phrases, most notably, “It is time to show true sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Next week is the 76th Independence Day of the State of Israel.” We raise the flag on the Temple Mount, the holiest place for the nation of Israel.”
This is the second time that extremist groups have sought to raise the Israeli flag collectively at Al-Aqsa, since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, as it was preceded by similar calls at the beginning of the aggression, in addition to several attempts to raise it, especially during the mass raid that takes place on the same day. “Unification of Jerusalem”, which includes a march of huge flags.
Press coverage: Settlement groups call for raising the flags of the Israeli occupation state in Al-Aqsa Mosque next Tuesday on the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. pic.twitter.com/PWqU8SgjdX
– Quds News Network (@qudsn) May 12, 2024
One flag in Jerusalem
On this occasion in 2022, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the leader of the opposition at the time – stormed Al-Buraq Square, and said while waving the Israeli flag, “Today we celebrate the day of the unification of Jerusalem. Only one flag…the blue and white flag will be raised in Jerusalem.”
The academic and expert on Israeli affairs, Muhammad Halsa, told Tel Aviv Tribune Net that Netanyahu, as part of an attempt to barter the right, which he relies on with his government coalition, especially the national religious side, sees in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the West Bank a space in which the right compensates for the blockage of the horizon in Gaza, and he is betting that in a moment At some point, political arrangements may be made inside Gaza that will lead to the end of this war, and thus it will enter into a conflict with the right, which wants the aggression not to end.
“If there is a political and military blockage on the horizon in Gaza, the compensation for this right is the West Bank and Al-Aqsa fronts. It clearly tells them, ‘Do not worry. We have other arenas in which we will compensate you to vent your desires and goals,’” according to Halsa.
The agenda of Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir cannot be separated from the unprecedented mobilization campaign to raise the Israeli flag at Al-Aqsa. Halsa pointed out that “this extremist minister made this holy site a rich material for his electoral propaganda and it was one of the levers that contributed to his rise to power.”
The so-called “Temple Mount Religious School” joins extremist groups calling for raising the occupation flag inside #Al-Aqsa Mosque Next Tuesday, 5/15/2024, on the occasion of what is called “Independence Day,” which coincides with the anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba.
The group said in the announcement: “We will make a pilgrimage to the Temple Mount on Independence Day, and we will pray… pic.twitter.com/wL7kqyuUlh
—Dr. Abdullah Marouf Dr. Abdullah Marouf (@AbdallahMarouf) May 12, 2024
Breaking the red lines
Halsa added that since Ben Gvir assumed his position through which he controls the police, he has succeeded in tightening his grip on it and was able to subjugate many of the leaders who were opposed to his policy and replace them with leaders who suit him. This is what contributed to crossing and even breaking the red lines drawn by previous Israeli governments, while It concerns controversial issues with the Palestinians, including Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Regarding his expectations about the possibility of the success of the extremists’ step in raising hundreds of Israeli flags inside Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, Halasa said, “The police will ignore and be lenient with the intruders and will be more severe towards the worshipers. This is due to the conditions left by the war and the settler’s and the policeman’s feeling that the state, at all levels, identifies with it and intersects with it.” “His goals.”
Academic Al-Maqdisi concluded his speech by saying that the conditions are favorable for this violation to be carried out, unlike previous times, suggesting that “Ben Gvir will allow this behavior, and he also succeeded in breaking the red lines in issues that many believed were difficult to verify by the settlers and temple groups.”
“The circumstances are conducive for this to happen in Al-Aqsa because people are exhausted and the Arab world, which is watching the killing of Palestinians and the dismembering of their body parts in Gaza without moving, will not be moved by raising the Israeli flag in Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Halsa adds.
Special attention
Although the flag is considered a symbol of countries, Israel attaches special importance to its flag. For example, the “Land of the Bible” Museum – built on the lands of the Jerusalem village of Lifta that was displaced in 1948 – dedicates a hall to the flag, whose story is told and its importance is talked about in many ways.
In the hall, the museum administration displays a huge old Israeli flag on a table topped with white and blue lighting. The lighting takes visitors to the hall on a journey that attracts them to sympathize with Israel. Next to one of the small flags is written, “This flag symbolizes the ability of nations to work together successfully in space as well as on the Earth.” “.
The hall also displays the Israeli flag that was launched into space on board the first international flight in 1975, and was presented as a gift to the head of state after it was signed by the three American astronauts who participated in the flight.
