Israel Escalates Its Violations against Palestinian Worshipers in Al-Aqsa
The report pointed out that the recent period had witnessed a serious escalation in the Israeli attacks against women, elderly people and children detained, without charge, on the background of their daily presence in al-Aqsa Mosque.
52-year-old Haj Mohammad Shaukat Khatib said the occupation forces arrested him on the 10th of June during a raid on al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext of obstructing the police work and attacking a settler, and claimed they possess videos that prove the accusation.
He was taken to a police station where the investigator accused him of rioting and attacking a citizen in "public squares", and ordered him to take his clothes off on suspicion of drug possession.
Aida Seedawi, aged 53 from the city of Jerusalem, said that she has been also severely attacked by the Israeli policemen at Bab Hetta during her arrest.
When she arrived to the police station, the investigator accused her of beating the extremist rabbi Yehuda Glick, who has been organizing regular tours in al-Aqsa Mosque accompanied by settler groups, and of threatening to "blow up" al-Aqsa Mosque, a charge that was met with indignation on the part of Seedawi.
Seedawi also said that she was insulted by the Israeli investigator when he asked her to work with them and offered her a sum of money in return.
The old woman was detained under harsh conditions. She was held with criminal prisoners in a small room with four dirty beds, internal dirty toilets, and a surveillance camera.
Seedawi was freed after more than seventeen hours on bail. The court ruled that she will be deprived of entering al-Aqsa Mosque for thirty days, although it was proven that she did not commit any criminal act.
The Mizan center for human rights recently issued a booklet entitled "Human rights violations in the oasis of democracy", revealing the Israeli occupation’s violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Hebrew Passover feast based on testimonies of some worshipers who were detained by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Al-Aqsa Foundation, for its part, quoted in its report the worshipers' statements in which they described the different kinds of torture they were subjected to in the Israeli detention centers.
Mohamed Jumuaa, aged 30 from Taybeh city, said he was arrested with two other young men Wessam Yassin and Abdullah al-Tiby by the Israeli police before dawn prayer from the bathrooms inside al-Aqsa Mosque and were beaten during their arrest.
"The Israeli policemen took us to Bab Hetta, where they tied our hands with plastic cuffs and started to beat me and the other men. Then they took us in the car to a police station next to the Buraq Wall while we had no idea about our charges."
“Upon my arrival to the police station”, Jumuaa added, “I was beaten by the policemen for four hours, and then I was taken to a small bathroom where I was attacked again”.
Wessam Yassin said: "They want to humiliate us. I was severely beaten in different parts of my body, and I was seriously injured in my right eye and head. I was bleeding but the soldiers continued to hit me."
Lawyer Omar Khamaisi, from the Mizan center, said the center will file a complaint on behalf of those who have been abused to the competent committees in the Human Rights Council in Geneva to expose the Israeli violations and crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshipers.
For his part, Dr. Hikmat Naamna, director of Al-Aqsa Foundation, said that the Israeli occupation’s repressive policies aim to terrorize the Palestinians to push them give up their rights, and to gradually impose a fait accompli and divide the Aqsa Mosque, through encouraging settlers’ incursions into it while imposing severe restrictions on the entry of Muslims.
He also pointed out that 30 students in Al-Aqsa have been arrested since the beginning of this year for flimsy reasons.
Dr. Naamna stressed that despite these violations, the worshipers and students will never leave Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Source: Palestine Info
