An Israeli appeal court on Wednesday overruled a magistrate who had stirred Palestinian anger by questioning the legality of barring Jewish prayer at a contested Jerusalem shrine, as the United States warned its citizens over travel in the vicinity.
Al Aqsa mosque compound, which Jews revere as a vestige of their two ancient temples, is in Jerusalem’s Old City and at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Under a decades-old “status quo” arrangement with Muslim authorities, Israel allows Jews to visit on condition they refrain from religious rites.
Three Jewish youths who received a restraining order after praying at the site successfully challenged the police decision at Jerusalem Magistrates Court, which ruled on Sunday that their actions had not constituted a breach of the peace.
That prompted protests from the Palestinians and a pledge from Israel that the status quo would be preserved. A planned flag march by Israeli nationalists in the Old City on May 29 has further stoked tensions. The state filed a counter-appeal on Wednesday with Jerusalem District Court, which found in favour after nightfall.
“The special sensitivity of the Temple Mount cannot be overstated,” Judge Einat Avman-Moller said in her ruling, using the Hebrew name for a site Muslims know as the Noble Sanctuary.Agencies
