Jewish teenage girl arrested for holding a sign near Temple Mount
Police arrest girl for holding up sign near Temple Mount entrance protesting discriminatory policies against Jews on holy site.
A 17-year-old female activist from the “Returning to the Mount” organization was arrested on Thursday morning, and has been accused of disturbing the peace.
The girl was arrested for placing hand-written signs next to Mughrabi Gate at the entrance to the Temple Mount. The signs, one of which read “No entrance to Jews and dogs” in both Hebrew and German, was intended to protest the discriminatory policy limiting Jewish access to the Mount and a comprehensive ban on prayer by Jews on the holy site. The protest was held on Holocaust Remembrance Day to highlight the irony of such a policy in the State of Israel.
Another sign used in the protest read “Today, on Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Temple Mount is closed to Jews, as were dozens of places in Europe during the Second World War.”
Israeli police arrested the girl under the pretext that her protest coincided with a Muslim religious event on the Mount, and thus could inflame tensions. The arrested activist was taken to a police station in the Old City and interrogated.
Attorney Rehavia Piltz of the Honenu organization arrived at the police station to provide legal assistance to the activist.
“That the police do not allow Jews to protest against a racist policy – banning Jews from the Temple Mount – is very serious,” said a Honenu lawyer.
