Israel Police have filed an appeal in the Jerusalem District Court against a Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court decision approving the recitation by Jews of “Shema Yisrael” and bowing on the Temple Mount.
The ruling was handed down in the case of three Israeli teens who were arrested by police on the Temple Mount for shouting “Shema Yisrael” during a visit to the site, one of the holiest in the Jewish faith and third holiest in Islam.
Despite the court’s decision however, Israel Police detained for questioning a Jew who came to the Temple Mount on Monday morning and, according to witnesses, bowed before God. Two other Jews were likewise stopped altogether when they tried to enter the sacred compound with a prayer shawl (tallit) and tefillin.
Police Ignore Court Ruling, Detain Jew Who Bowed on Temple Mount
Police hope to overturn the decision in the Jerusalem District Court, saying the lower court erred in “drawing conclusions about government policy regarding the rules of conduct on the Temple Mount based on an online news report.”
Police claim the Magistrate Court judge also erred in determining there was no suspicion of committing a criminal offense, and that the boys’ behavior could not disrupt the public peace.
According to court papers quoted by Israel’s Channel 12 News, “The material from the investigation documents the respondents’ behavior which constituted a disturbance of a police officer’s performance of his duties in two stages. First, in violation of the explicit rules explained to the respondents by a policewoman a few minutes prior to violently violating the instructions. Secondly, in that the respondents disturbed the police in the performance of their duties even after the incident, returning to bow and shout, “Shame on you!” with two of the respondents ignoring police instructions.
“The actions of the respondents in a sensitive and complex place like the Temple Mount, were carried out during a tense period during which violent riots occurred on the Temple Mount and elsewhere in Jerusalem, at a sensitive time, on ‘Nakba Day’ – a misdemeanor that could violate the public peace.”
