Israeli Occupation Forces Deny Muslims Right to Pray

On Friday, October 24, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) denied over 100 Palestinian Muslims the right to pray Duhr - or noon prayer - at the Al Ibrahimi Mosque in Al Khalil.

Friday, or Juma'ah in Arabic, is the holiest day of the week in Islam. And Duhr is among the most popular times to pray communally at Al Ibrahimi, known by Jews as the "Tomb of the Patriarchs," the place where Abraham, Sarah, and other important figures from Scripture are buried. Al Ibrahimi Mosque is also the place where, in 1994, U.S.-born Israeli physician Baruch Goldstein opened fire on 800 Palestinian Muslim worshipers and killed 29 people. Goldstein is buried in the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba, where a plaque near his gravesite reads, “To the holy Baruch Goldstein, who gave his life for the Jewish people, the Torah, and the land of Israel.” This grave is a site of pilgrimage for many settlers, and is where Ben-Gvir took his future wife on their first date.

Every Friday in Al Khalil, starting about 45 minutes before the Muslim call to prayer, worshippers line up at the military checkpoint that regulates, and often bars, access to the mosque for Palestinians in the city, both those who live inside and outside the restricted area. For a Palestinian, going through the checkpoint consists of waiting in a large cage-like structure, heavily monitored by multiple cameras, in order to wait to be allowed through a large metallic turn style. Next, they must proceed through a metal detector and show their IDs to the soldier behind the plexiglass box before walking by several other heavily armed soldiers barking orders. All of this is done in order to pray.

At times, walking through the checkpoint goes relatively smoothly. More often, Palestinians tell us, there are numerous delays and even closures, blocking access to the mosque, to shops, to homes, and to everyday life.

On this particular Friday, at least 25 worshippers had lined up by 11:50 for the 12:24 prayer. For no given reason, the Israeli soldiers were only allowing in 3-5 people every 2 minutes - not nearly quickly enough to enable the quickly growing number of worshippers who continued to line up to get to prayer on time. By 12:34, 10 minutes after prayer had begun, at least 96 worshippers were still waiting to be let through the checkpoint; at least 10 had seen the line and left; and at least 4 had been turned away by soldiers. When we asked various Palestinians why the soldiers were holding up the line that day, they all replied with some version of, "They do this all the time. We are used to it. They do whatever they want. They don't need to give a reason."

Proving that the holdup had nothing to do with any need for security, at 12:45, 20 minutes after prayer was over, the soldiers opened the side gate and allowed all 96 Palestinian worshippers through the checkpoint at once. Nobody had to walk through a metal detector. Nobody had to show ID. But all had missed prayer time.

Just another way to make life under occupation as unbearable as possible.