Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 10:47 Following an incident in which policemen prevented Jews from drinking from public water fountains on the Temple Mount, Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado demanded to know if this is a new regulation designed to limit the presence of Jews on the Temple Mount.
On Sunday, March 6, during a visit on the Temple Mount three Jews, including Tom Nisani, a spokesman for the “Students for the Temple Mount” organization, requested permission to drink from a public water fountain. For no apparent reason, policemen prohibited them from drinking and physically blocked them from reaching the water fountains.
The three visitors repeatedly requested to either be allowed to drink or to receive an explanation for the prohibition. However the policeman, led by Lieutenant Shlomi Tubul. the Temple Mount Police Commander, refused to justify their actions and demanded that the group of Jews continue their tour otherwise their actions would be considered disturbing a policeman in the line of duty, an act for which Jews are detained on the Temple Mount or are given orders, without a trial, banning them from entering the Temple Mount.
Following the incident Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado sent a letter to Lieutenant Tubul, requesting clarification of the matter and a reply as to whether or not Jews are forbidden to drink water from the public water fountains on the Temple Mount.
“On 6.3.16 you prohibited Tom Nisani and other visitors from drinking water from the water fountains on the Temple Mount, and did not answer their questions about why you prohibited them from drinking,” wrote Yado to Tubul.
“In their [the visitors’] name, I request an explanation as to why you prohibited them from drinking water from the water fountains on the Temple Mount, or if there was a concrete cause to prevent my client and his friends from drinking on that morning, and if so, what the cause was,” added Yado.
The “Students for the Temple Mount” organization has posted two videos on YouTube documenting (Hebrew only) the refusal of the police to allow Jews to drink from public water fountains on the Temple Mount. A short video is posted here, and a longer, eight minute, video is posted here. Video credit for both videos belongs to “Students for the Temple Mount”.