"Al-Aqsa Mosque faces recurring invasions in order to cause division between Jews and Muslims, to destroy it, and establish the so-called Third Temple on it" – PA Daily

Excerpt of a column by Omar Hilmi Al-Ghoul, regular columnist for the official PA daily and former advisor to former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on national affairs

Headline: “Take your sacrifices and be gone”

“The Al-Aqsa Mosque was and will remain the focus of recurring invasions in order (1) to cause a division [between Jews and Muslims] according to areas and times of the first direction of [Muslim] prayer and the third holiest mosque, (2) to destroy it, and (3) to establish the so-called Third Temple on it – something that all the Israeli archaeologists have confirmed that it did not exist in Jerusalem, despite the excavations that have been continuing for more than 55 years, and all they did is steal stones from the wall of the blessed mosque (sic., an abundance of archaeological evidence proves Jewish history in Jerusalem, including the Jewish Temples)…

And now they are turning to a new criminal measure that Raphael Morris, leader of the ‘Returning to the Mount’ group, declared on Tuesday, April 5, [2022,] in which they will invade the Al-Aqsa Mosque in two days, on Friday evening (i.e., Passover), in order to sacrifice ‘the Passover offering.’ …

The entire world, and the US in particular, must take the necessary steps before it is too late, particularly because the [Palestinian] people and its national forces will pay this back like a boomerang and turn the settlers’ sacrifices into a fire that will eat their hearts so that they will take their sacrifices and be gone to wherever they want far from Jerusalem, the eternal Palestinian capital, and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and will work to build the foundations of peace, which is the best and most important option for the future of the peoples.”

The PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "invasion." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.

“Division according to areas and times” refers to a submission of a “private bill” by Israeli MP Uri Ariel in March 2003. The bill suggested ensuring freedom of religious worship by allowing both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount - what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The bill sought to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. The bill never progressed past the initial legislatory stage. While there was additional discussion on the subject in 2012, no legislation was ever passed. In response to the incessant PA claims that the “division according to areas and times” of the Temple Mount is an operative Israeli plan, former Israeli PM Netanyahu stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of ‎changing the so-called status quo on the Temple Mount, which de facto is interpreted to mean Jews are only allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but not to conduct individual or communal prayers there. In July 2021, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said Muslims and Jews have freedom of worship at the Temple Mount, which was understood by many as a hint to changing the status quo at the site, but the following day his office backtracked and said he misspoke and did not mean Jews would have freedom of worship, but rather would have freedom to visit. “There is no change in the status quo,” a statement from PM Bennett’s office confirmed.y type of worship.