Jewish youth detained on suspicion of singing at gate to Temple Mount

Wednesday, August 6, 2014, 16:24 A group of Jewish youths went up to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on the morning of Wednesday, August 6. After the group exited the Temple Mount they began to dance and sing near the Chain Gate, which is permitted and common. For an unclear reason the policemen decided to shove the dancing youths. At some point one of the group, a youth approximately 19 years old, was detained by policemen on suspicion of disturbing a policeman in the line of duty and disturbing the peace. The detainee was taken to the Kishleh Police Station in the Old City of Jerusalem for interrogation.
Attorney Rechavia Piltz arrived at the police station and worked on behalf of Honenu for the release of the detainee, who refused to agree to the restraining order banning him from entering the Old City of Jerusalem offered by the interrogators as a condition for release. In the end, the detainee was unconditionally released.
Honenu responded to the detention: “At a time when Arabs are rioting every day in the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem and in East Jerusalem it is difficult for us to comprehend why the Jerusalem Police chose to detain a Jew whose only crime was dancing at a gate to the Temple Mount, the most holy place to the Jewish nation.”