Temple Mount entry restrictions
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Throughout history, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem has been subject to entry restrictions on the basis of religious affiliation. These restrictions have varied depending on the time period and the authority in power. Like the rest of the Holy Land, the site holds great significance in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, among other Abrahamic religions.
Under the Ottoman Empire, there was an absolute ban on non-Muslim entry to the Temple Mount before the Tanzimat, which was a period of liberal reformation that began in 1839 and continued until 1876. Following the Tanzimat, non-Muslims were allowed to enter the site as long as they requested a special permit from the Ottoman authorities. Under the British Mandate for Palestine, the British government was prohibited by the League of Nations from interfering with the Ottoman-era "Status Quo" and the Jordanian Hashemite custodianship continued to exercise administrative control over Christian and Muslim sites throughout Jerusalem, with non-Muslim access to the Temple Mount still requiring special permission.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Jerusalem was divided, with Israel capturing West Jerusalem and Jordan capturing East Jerusalem, including the Old City. Under Jordan, the present-day Jerusalem Islamic Waqf was established and non-Muslim access to the Temple Mount remained limited; Jews and Israelis (incl. Muslims with Israeli citizenship) were banned from entering the site entirely. During the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, Israel captured all of Jerusalem, but kept the Jordan-based Jerusalem Islamic Waqf in power of affairs concerning the Christian and Islamic sites there.
At present, Israel and Jordan continue to have administrative responsibility over the Temple Mount, with the Israeli government controlling entry and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf managing what is known to Muslims as Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque.[1][2] Jews and Christians are generally restricted from entering for extended periods and may only visit the site as tourists, as the Status Quo only permits Muslim prayer on the Temple Mount; Jewish entry restrictions are also dependent on the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which holds the position that entering the site for prayer or worship goes against Judaic law. However, Israel also frequently prohibits Palestinian Muslims under the age of 55 from entering the site, which, according to Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, makes more than 95% of the Palestinian populace ineligible.[3] Due to widespread tension stemming from entry restrictions and religious activities, clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians are common at the Temple Mount, including at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, among other sites.
For centuries an absolute ban on non-Muslim access to the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount existed. The situation was relatively free of tensions as Jews acquiesced in the exercise of Muslim authority over the site.[4] In 1839, following the Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman establishment and legislation, non-Muslims were permitted to enter Temple Mount, but in order to do so they had to obtain special permit from the governor.[5] Jews who managed to obtain permission to visit the site at that time, such as Moses Montefiore and Baron Rothschild, had themselves carried across the site by Muslims, in order not to violate the rabbinic prohibition against Jews setting foot on the holy ground of the area.[6]
Under the British Mandate for Palestine (1920–1948)
Article 13 of the Mandatory Charter conferred on Britain by the League of Nations explicitly denied its governing body the right to either interfere with the site or the administration of purely Muslim holy places.[4] Jewish requests for access to their holy places during the period of British rule of Palestine were focused on the Western Wall, not on the Temple Mount, which was, in any case, off-limits according to the Jewish prohibition against entering the latter. The struggle between Muslims and Jews was concentrated on the latter's desire to secure regulated access to the wall on the mount's western side.[4] As early as 1920, rabbi Avraham Yitzhak ha-Kohen Kook stated that though in other hands, the Temple Mount would eventually come into Jewish possession, a declaration which was interpreted by the mufti Amin al-Husseini as evidence of a political plot to wrest control of the Haram itself. In the ensuing period, the Temple Mount became something of a "state within a state" which the British authorities would not enter even when it became the centre for the Arab Revolt, until the mufti fled the site.[4] The King's Order-in-Council issued by the government authorities of Mandatory Palestine in 1934 regulated the legal situation of the site by confirming the religious status quo regarding sovereignty reigning from Ottoman times.[7]
Under Jordan (1948–1967)
At the conclusion of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Haram al-Sharif lay behind the lines held by the Jordanian Legion,[8] and the Jordanian government established the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf to administer the site.[9] From 1948 until Israel captured the site in 1967 during the Six-Day War, Israeli Muslims were unable to enter East Jerusalem and access the Haram al-Sharif,[8] a restriction at times imposed by the Israeli government.[10]
