Palestinians expel Knesset Deputy Speaker from Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinian worshippers expelled Knesset Deputy Speaker Moshe Feiglin and the Jewish settlers who accompanied him in to Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards today, the Palestinian news agency reported.

Accompanied by tens of settlers, Feiglin stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque amid a heavy police presence to show solidarity with radical Rabbi Yehuda Glick who was issued with a restraining order two days ago. Israeli police denied the Rabbi entry to the mosque’s courtyards for 10 days because of his “lack of commitment to the mosque’s visitation rules”.

According to eyewitnesses, Feiglin and the settlers stormed the mosque from the Mughrabi Gate uttering racist remarks and cursing Muslim worshipers and the mosque’s students which led to clashes with the Israeli police who accompanied them.

Feiglin, who heads a right-wing extremist group, has called for Israeli sovereignty to be imposed on Al-Aqsa Mosque replacing Jordan which acts as legal custodian of the mosque and East Jerusalem under an agreement signed with Israel in 1967.

Feiglin called to convene a special session at the Knesset to discuss the issue but the session was cancelled amid strong protests by the Palestinian leadership, the Jordanian government and the international community.