Last Friday of Ramadan, at the entrance to the Temple Mount

We met at around 10:00 at the train stop, and headed towards the Old City. It’s a very hot day.  The  massive presence of all kinds of security, mainly policemen and border police, can be seen in every direction.  Police vans are parked on the curbs and along the blocked streets. Fences and police barriers navigate
the passage through various defined directions.  We joined the crowd moving towards Nablus Gate.

In contrast to previous years, there were no stands filling the space surrounding the Gate.  In a nearby street we saw plenty of such stands. The media are ready with cameras facing the Gate.

We stayed for about one hour, watching the worshippers streaming into the Old City.  Many held cameras and took pictures of themselves with Nablus Gate in the background.
The security forces stand on the sidelines and don’t mix with the crowd.

We saw two men stopped and taken aside for a check.  One  was a young man with a blue ID, the other older with a green ID (i.e. from the occupied territories). Both were checked from top to toe, apparently for knives. They were required to lift their shirts and the hems of their trousers, and their bodies were groped.  But the check was not violent, and they were then permitted to proceed.

We entered through Nablus Gate and moved with the crowd towards the entrances to the Temple Mount. At the intersections and along the side roads we saw plenty of policemen and border police, mostly standing behind police barriers, and all was tranquil.  Alongside the shops and the regular stands prepared for sales after the prayer, there were beggars, peddlers, as well as many soliciting for donations for various mosques.

The closer we moved to the Temple Mount, the more decorations and coloured lights were to be seen.  It must be a fabulous sight at night. At one of the entrances lanterns made of muti-coloured egg-trays were hung.  Other lights deck the entrance from the direction of Bab Alhuta.  At this point there was no separation of men and women, as last week. Posters with the names of Allah and Muhammad hang along the route.  There are very many people, but it is still possible to move along at a reasonable pace. There are also a few Christian tourists, solitary or in groups, along the Via Dolorosa.

We proceeded as far as Lions Gate.  Outside the gate there is a municipal poster to welcome the arrivals for Ramadan. Policemen and border police generally stand aside. Some people arrive via the the steep climb.  Older ones are sitting in the shade near the kiosk for a rest. For some reason the policemen urged them to move on into the Old City — we couldn’t tell why — and their seats were taken by new arrivals.  We stood there for a while, then turned to leave the Old City.  All along the way there were stands selling clothes, shoes, toys, household stuff, textiles, gifts, even tools.  As well as food.

We turned outside the walls towards Flowers Gate. Here it is more quiet, and there are no stands.  People are resting on the grass outside the walls.  Only public transportation is allowed on the street — with traffic attendants directing the traffic — and people disembarking to enter the Old City.

We too stopped to rest in the shade, and took the opportunity to call one of our potential petitioners (?) who is already at the Temple Mount.  He tells us that tonight is “Al Kadr Night” (when, according to belief, Muhammad received the Koran and the skies open to the prayers of believers).  For this reason many remain on the Mount to pray through the night, and so will he.

Many policemen and B.P. in the square near Flowers Gate, and also at the Gate, but they stand aside and do not interfere. Here too there’s a municipal poster greeting the arrivals.  There is some pressure at the entrance, but all is conducted in an orderly and quiet fashion.  We return to Nablus Gate.   People stop at the water fountain to wash their faces and moisten their hats — but drinking is forbidden to those who fast during Ramadan. There are more people at the Gate, and more arriving.
 

Around 12:15 we return to Flowers Gate and enter the Old City. The entrance is crowded with people.  The border policemen are now in the nearby square. We join the crowd and advance slowly with it; soon the road widens and the pressure is somewhat released.  We continue to Bab Alhuta, where the segregation of men and women begins.  Not everyone obeys. We stayed for about 15 minutes until the kiosk closed and its owners left for prayers.

We returned in the direction of Flowers Gate and could hear the muezzin’s call to prayer in the background.  Ahead of us some youths were pushing a cart heavy with bags of some drink (probably tamarhindi) and we followed in their wake against the stream of atecomers.  At Nablus Gate we  saw an improvised stand for the

sale of drinks.  The place is now quiet — until the end of prayers.

On our way back we saw mounted police disappearing at the end of the railway track covered with their droppings. We hope they’ll remain idle. Later we heard of friction at Qalandia, where horses were also used, but on the Temple Mount prayers ended quietly, and Al-Kadr night was peaceful
 

Ramadan Karim!