1990 Temple Mount riots
Encyclopedia
The 1990 Temple Mount riots, also known as Black Monday
or the Al Aqsa Massacre, was an event that took place in Al-Aqsa Mosque
, Jerusalem at 10:30 am on Monday, 8 October, 1990 before Zuhr prayer during the third year of the first intifada
. They began after a decision by the Temple Mount Faithful
to lay a cornerstone
at the site. The riots resulted in the death of over twenty and the injury of more than 150 Palestinians
. It was condemned by two UN Security Council resolutions.
began much earlier than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It has great religious significance for both Judaism
and Islam
. In Judaism, the temple mount is considered the birthplace of Adam and Eve
, the site of the creation of humanity. It is also the site of the covenant (biblical)
made between God and Abraham, the father of Judaism through his son Isaac, born of his wife Sara and the father of Islam through his son Ishmael
, born of Sara's handmaiden Hagar
. according to the Koran and the Old Testament. Jews for almost three thousand years have yearned to return to the Temple Mount, though their ancient first and second temples were destroyed and they were exiled from the area. Today the Temple Mount remains the holiest site in Judaism, and Jews always pray towards the Western Wall, the only remains of the temples. In Islam, the "Noble Sanctuary" as it is called, too has religious importance and is concodered a symbol for Muslims all around the world where it was the first "kiblah" for Muslim paryers before Mecca and the presence of the "Dome of the Rock" there which Prophet Muhammad's "Isra'a and Mi'araj" took place. Jews were not able to return to the Western Wall or the Temple Mount until they broke through to this area in the 1967 Six-Day War
. Since then, the Temple Mount has remained under the control of the Islamic waqf
in order to preserve the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Under the law, there is to be freedom of access and religion, but all religious prayer except Muslim is banned.
In this instance, there was pressure between Palestinian worshipers and a religious extremist group known as the Temple Mount Faithful, who proposed to rebuild Solomon's Temple
where the Al-Aqsa mosque now stands. According to New York Times, the Haaretz, as well as Palestinian Human Rights Groups, the Israeli supreme court had earlier barred the Temple Mount Faithful group, as well as all non-Muslims, from marching to the temple due to five attempts by the group to enter the al-Aqsa mosque in September.
A year before, the Temple Mount Faithful had planned a demonstration in front of the mosque and Mayor Teddy Kollek
of Jerusalem warned of a catastrophe if the event occurred.
The UN Security Council noted on the death of 20 Palestinian people and the injury of 150, including Palestinian civilians. In Palestinian historiography, the al-Aqsa event is often cited as a massacre. Sources note between seventeen and twenty-three Palestinians were killed.
, to investigate the al-Aqsa incident and to report back to the Security Council promptly. which was by far the most critical of Israel introduced by the United States. The UN issued the following resolution on October 12, 1990 referencing the event:
Israel ended up rejecting the resolution, saying it did not pay attention to attacks by rocks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. In turn, the UN Security Council unanimously backed UN Security Council Resolution 673 on Oct. 24, 1990 condemning Israeli rejection of the UN fact finding mission.
The Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
later decided to publish his report without dispatching the mission.
Human Rights Watch condemned Israel's response to the al-Aqsa massacre in their Annual 1990 World Report.
Israel rejected the UN resolution condemning the incident and calling for investigation, saying it did not pay attention to attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall
, and that it was an interference in its internal affairs. Israel refused entry to the mission, with Resolution 673
urging Israel to reconsider its decision.
On October 26, 1990, Israel issued a report concerning the temple mount massacre and concluded that Israel police acted with prudence once it came under attack citing fear for the safety of policemen on Temple Mount. The report also had some criticism of the police for not assessing properly the situation and not being prepared with a larger force to deal with any eventuality.
Human Rights Watch condemned the Israeli report on al-Aqsa massacre as "only mentioning in passing the 'uncontrolled use of live ammunition' by police, giving scant attention to what should have been a central issue: the use of excessive force, including shooting into a crowd with bursts of automatic-weapon fire."
Black Monday
Black Monday is a term used to refer to certain events which occur on a Monday. It has been used in the following cases:* Black Monday, Dublin, 1209 – when a group of 500 recently arrived settlers from Bristol were massacred by warriors of the Gaelic O'Byrne clan...
or the Al Aqsa Massacre, was an event that took place in Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque
Al-Aqsa Mosque also known as al-Aqsa, is the third holiest site in Sunni Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem...
, Jerusalem at 10:30 am on Monday, 8 October, 1990 before Zuhr prayer during the third year of the first intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
. They began after a decision by the Temple Mount Faithful
Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement
The Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement is an Orthodox Jewish movement, based in Jerusalem, Israel whose goal is to rebuild the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and re-institute the practice of ritual sacrifice. The Movement was founded by former Israel Defence...
to lay a cornerstone
Cornerstone
The cornerstone concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.Over time a cornerstone became a ceremonial masonry stone, or...
at the site. The riots resulted in the death of over twenty and the injury of more than 150 Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
. It was condemned by two UN Security Council resolutions.
Background
Tensions around the Temple mountTemple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
began much earlier than the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It has great religious significance for both Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. In Judaism, the temple mount is considered the birthplace of Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
, the site of the creation of humanity. It is also the site of the covenant (biblical)
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
made between God and Abraham, the father of Judaism through his son Isaac, born of his wife Sara and the father of Islam through his son Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, and was Abraham's first born child according to Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ishmael was born of Abraham's marriage to Sarah's handmaiden Hagar...
, born of Sara's handmaiden Hagar
Hagar
-People:* Hagar , handmaid of Sarah and mother of Abraham's son Ishmael* Hagar Finer, Israeli WIBF bantamweight champion* Albert Hagar, Canadian politician* Mandy Hagar, New Zealand children's author...
. according to the Koran and the Old Testament. Jews for almost three thousand years have yearned to return to the Temple Mount, though their ancient first and second temples were destroyed and they were exiled from the area. Today the Temple Mount remains the holiest site in Judaism, and Jews always pray towards the Western Wall, the only remains of the temples. In Islam, the "Noble Sanctuary" as it is called, too has religious importance and is concodered a symbol for Muslims all around the world where it was the first "kiblah" for Muslim paryers before Mecca and the presence of the "Dome of the Rock" there which Prophet Muhammad's "Isra'a and Mi'araj" took place. Jews were not able to return to the Western Wall or the Temple Mount until they broke through to this area in the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
. Since then, the Temple Mount has remained under the control of the Islamic waqf
Waqf
A waqf also spelled wakf formally known as wakf-alal-aulad is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law, typically denoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. The donated assets are held by a charitable trust...
in order to preserve the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Under the law, there is to be freedom of access and religion, but all religious prayer except Muslim is banned.
In this instance, there was pressure between Palestinian worshipers and a religious extremist group known as the Temple Mount Faithful, who proposed to rebuild Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple, was the main temple in ancient Jerusalem, on the Temple Mount , before its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar II after the Siege of Jerusalem of 587 BCE....
where the Al-Aqsa mosque now stands. According to New York Times, the Haaretz, as well as Palestinian Human Rights Groups, the Israeli supreme court had earlier barred the Temple Mount Faithful group, as well as all non-Muslims, from marching to the temple due to five attempts by the group to enter the al-Aqsa mosque in September.
A year before, the Temple Mount Faithful had planned a demonstration in front of the mosque and Mayor Teddy Kollek
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
of Jerusalem warned of a catastrophe if the event occurred.
Events
According to the New York Times, a group of unarmed worshipers at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem were killed by Israeli security forces. The Times account is as follows:"Palestinians on the Temple Mount began throwing stones at Jews worshiping, on a religious holiday, at the Western Wall below. The only security forces present, 40 men from the paramilitary Israeli Border Police, used live ammunition on the Palestinians. They killed at least 21. There were no Israeli deaths.The Israeli Government claimed that the Palestinians brought the stones with them and staged the incident as a political provocation. The Temple Mount is a paved plain that usually has few if any stones. But at this time construction work did provide material for missiles. Zeev Schiff, the respected defense correspondent of the newspaper Haaretz, said the Palestinians began throwing stones only after mosques in the nearby village of Silwan announced through loudspeakers that Jewish extremists had come there. The extremists were from the Temple Mount Faithful, who proposed to rebuild Solomon's Temple where the Al-Aqsa mosque now stands. "
The UN Security Council noted on the death of 20 Palestinian people and the injury of 150, including Palestinian civilians. In Palestinian historiography, the al-Aqsa event is often cited as a massacre. Sources note between seventeen and twenty-three Palestinians were killed.
International response
On October 10, The United States proposed a resolution, supported by the United Nations Secretary General, Javier Perez de CuellarJavier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
, to investigate the al-Aqsa incident and to report back to the Security Council promptly. which was by far the most critical of Israel introduced by the United States. The UN issued the following resolution on October 12, 1990 referencing the event:
Res. 672 (Oct. 12, 1990) – “Expresses alarm at the violence which took place” on October 8, 1990, “at the Al Haram al Shareef and other Holy Places of Jerusalem resulting in over twenty Palestinian deaths and to the injury of more than one hundred and fifty people, including Palestinian civilians and innocent worshippers”, “Condemns especially the acts of violence committed by the Israeli forces resulting in injuries and loss of human life”, and “Requests, in connection with the decision of the Secretary-General to send a mission to the region, which the Council welcomes, that he submit a report to it before the end of October 1990 containing his findings and conclusions and that he use as appropriate all the resources of the United Nations in the region in carrying out the mission.”
Israel ended up rejecting the resolution, saying it did not pay attention to attacks by rocks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall. In turn, the UN Security Council unanimously backed UN Security Council Resolution 673 on Oct. 24, 1990 condemning Israeli rejection of the UN fact finding mission.
“Deplores the refusal of the Israeli Government to receive the mission of the Secretary-General to the region”, and “Urges the Israeli Government to reconsider its decision and insists that it comply fully with resolution 672 (1990) and to permit the mission of the Secretary-General to proceed in keeping with its purpose”.
The Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
Javier Pérez de Cuéllar y de la Guerra is a Peruvian diplomat who served as the fifth Secretary-General of the United Nations from January 1, 1982 to December 31, 1991. He studied in Colegio San Agustín of Lima, and then at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. In 1995, he ran unsuccessfully...
later decided to publish his report without dispatching the mission.
Human Rights Watch condemned Israel's response to the al-Aqsa massacre in their Annual 1990 World Report.
Israeli response
The Israeli Government claimed that the Palestinians brought the stones with them and staged the incident as a political provocation. The Temple Mount is a paved plain that usually has few if any stones. But at this time construction work did provide some stones.Israel rejected the UN resolution condemning the incident and calling for investigation, saying it did not pay attention to attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
, and that it was an interference in its internal affairs. Israel refused entry to the mission, with Resolution 673
United Nations Security Council Resolution 672
United Nations Security Council Resolution 672, adopted unanimously on October 12, 1990, after reaffirming resolutions 476 , 478 , the Council expressed alarm at the violence at Holy Places in Jerusalem on October 8, 1990, resulting in the death of 20 Palestinian people and the injury of 150...
urging Israel to reconsider its decision.
On October 26, 1990, Israel issued a report concerning the temple mount massacre and concluded that Israel police acted with prudence once it came under attack citing fear for the safety of policemen on Temple Mount. The report also had some criticism of the police for not assessing properly the situation and not being prepared with a larger force to deal with any eventuality.
Human Rights Watch condemned the Israeli report on al-Aqsa massacre as "only mentioning in passing the 'uncontrolled use of live ammunition' by police, giving scant attention to what should have been a central issue: the use of excessive force, including shooting into a crowd with bursts of automatic-weapon fire."
See also
- Arab–Israeli conflictArab–Israeli conflictThe Arab–Israeli conflict refers to political tensions and open hostilities between the Arab peoples and the Jewish community of the Middle East. The modern Arab-Israeli conflict began with the rise of Zionism and Arab Nationalism towards the end of the nineteenth century, and intensified with the...
- First IntifadaFirst IntifadaThe First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
- Israeli–Palestinian conflictIsraeli–Palestinian conflictThe Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
- al-Aqsa
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 672United Nations Security Council Resolution 672United Nations Security Council Resolution 672, adopted unanimously on October 12, 1990, after reaffirming resolutions 476 , 478 , the Council expressed alarm at the violence at Holy Places in Jerusalem on October 8, 1990, resulting in the death of 20 Palestinian people and the injury of 150...
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 673United Nations Security Council Resolution 673United Nations Security Council Resolution 673, adopted unanimously on October 24, 1990, after reaffirming Resolution 672 , the Council deplored Israel's refusal to receive the mission of the Secretary-General to the region....