
 
 
Arab fears of  Jews taking over the Temple Mount convinced police to ban Jews from the site  during Chanukah, which celebrates the Jews' return to the Holy Temple. A report  in an Israeli newspaper, disseminated worldwide by United Press International  (UPI) stated that Jews planned a “mass pilgrimage” numbering in the “hundreds”  to the Temple Mount on Thursday.
The “mass” throng actually consisted of  only 200 Jews, but the reports set off panic among Arabs and left Jews outside  the site as police blocked their entrance, as has happened several times in the  past after Arab clerics spread fears of a “Jewish takeover.”
A spokesman  for the activists said, “The police provided no reason for their arbitrary  decision. At one point police claimed that the Mount was closed due to the  Moslem new year, which occurs on Friday and not on Thursday.
UPI reported  that the planned “pilgrimage” would test the ”shaky calm” in Jerusalem and  quoted a report that Jewish activists’ intentions to ascend the Temple Mount  were interpreted by Arab clerics as “as a plan to invade the site or build a  synagogue there.”  
The news agency also recalled riots during the Sukkot  holiday in October, when Arabs also spread rumors of a “Jewish  takeover.”
Arab analyst and reporter Amjad Abu Arafeh was quoted by the  Bethlehem-based Maan news agency as saying. “It seems this is now a usual event  in Jerusalem, threatening the Al-Aqsa Mosque. These groups try to invade Al-Aqsa  daily to make their prayers there. Only yesterday several settlers invaded the  yards of Al-Aqsa mosque but the Waqf guards and the guards of the mosque were  able to get them out.”
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Muhammad Al-Husayni  told the news agency that the “compound faces ongoing threats.” Maan described  the Temple Mount as being “believed to be the site of the First and Second  Jewish Temples” and that “a few extremist [Jewis groups call for Israel to  conquer the area and build a third temple."
Arab leaders and media have  claimed for several years that Israel is plotting to undermine mosques and cause  their collapse. Arab propaganada also has increasingly made the claim that the  Holy Temples never existed and that Jews have no connection to the  site.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel forbade Jews to ascend the Temple  Mount  because there are areas there where only Cohanim (members of the priestly  tribe of Jews) may go according to Jewish Law and there is a debate about their  location. Other rabbis permit Jews to ascend to certain parts of the site  after preparations, including immersion in a ritual bath.