The recent escalation of tension in East Jerusalem and especially in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque will most certainly confuse many. Why, some ask, would the Israeli government carry on an unprecedented act of closing off the entire mosque area to all but eight Muslim worshipers, only to reopen it the next day and appeal for calm?
The extreme Israeli action included the prohibition of the call for prayer, which has not happened since the Israeli occupation of the city in 1967. Israelis say they could not remain silent following the shooting of Yehuda Glick, a radical American-Israeli activist rabbi who has been calling for Jews to establish a permanent presence in the entire Haram al-Sharif, which is nominally under the joint control of unarmed Islamic Waqf (Jordanian) guards and well-armed Israeli security personnel.
