Sunday, June 5, 2016, 14:39 During the late morning hours on Jerusalem Day (today) a 57-year old rabbi and resident of the Binyamin region was detained as he left the Temple Mount. Honenu’s legal aid headquarters received a report according to which the rabbi attempted to clarify the identity of a policeman whom members of a group who had left the Temple Mount say assaulted them. According to the group, who had begun to sing as they walked on Chain Street, which is legal and common, the policeman pushed them. (See here for a similar incident from August 2014.)
The policeman shoved the rabbi, dragged him from the site, and twisted his arms as he handcuffed him. The rabbi was detained on suspicion of assaulting a policeman. A Honenu Attorney was called to the police station to assist the rabbi with legal counsel.
Update: Sunday, June 5, 2016, 16:58 The police decided to keep the rabbi in remand overnight. Honenu Attorney Menasheh Yado filed an urgent appeal on the decision with the Jerusalem Magistrate Court and demanded that the rabbi be either immediately released or brought to a court deliberation within the day. The court has not yet scheduled a deliberation on the appeal.
Earlier on Jerusalem Day a Jew was detained and removed from the Temple Mount after he answered “Amen” to Rabbi Yisrael Ariel’s Jerusalem Day greeting to Israel. Rabbi Ariel, the head of The Temple Institute, served as a paratrooper and took part in the liberation of the Temple Mount during the Six Day War.
The detainee was released after a short time, however the policemen warned him that he is forbidden to ascend the Temple Mount until a hearing is held at which he agrees to obey the strict rules applicable only to Jews visiting the site.
The staff of Honenu, who are assisting the detainee with legal counsel, stated that, “It is a dismal situation that this is the status of the Temple Mount 49 years after the liberation of Jerusalem from the hands of the Jordanians. The rights of Jews are being systematically trampled while Muslim rioters and Waqf personnel do whatever they please on the Temple Mount.”