Arab MK blasted for fueling tensions on Temple Mount - Efrat Forsher, Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, Edna Adato and Israel Hayom Staff

by Efrat Forsher, Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, Edna Adato and Israel Hayom Staff

Joint Arab List MK Jamal Zahalka "is a professional pyromaniac, who never misses an opportunity to incite violence," Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli says • Yisrael Beytenu head urges AG to strip Zahalka of immunity to facilitate incitement investigation.

 

Joint Arab List MK Jamal Zahalka confronts a policeman on the Temple Mount, Tuesday | Photo credit: Avichai Menachem

Knesset members from both the Right and the Left condemned Joint Arab List MK Jamal Zahalka for fueling tensions on the Temple Mount Tuesday, with some demanding he be made to face criminal charges.

The Arab MK clashed with a group of religious Jews visiting the holy site, as well as with police forces maintaining order on the premises, yelling at them that they were "crazy criminals," "fascists and racists" and demanding they "get out" of the compound.

"Zahalka and his counterparts are nothing but provocation experts flying the flag of hatred. They do not serve the public that elected them, all they do is inflict harm. They are a disgrace to parliament and they have no place there. In the name of sanity, I urge Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh, who believes in peace and coexistence, to denounce this act and wash his hands of these people," Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev (Likud) said Tuesday.

Likud MK Anat Berko filed a grievance against Zahalka with the Knesset's Ethics Committee. 

Zionist Union MK Itzik Shmuli called Zahalka "a professional pyromaniac, who never misses an opportunity to incite violence." 

Zahalka "may level harsh criticism at the government's policies in Jerusalem, but igniting the situation on the ground is certainly not the answer. The police did well to stop him," Shmuli said.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman urged Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to strip Zahalka of his parliamentary immunity, so that he may face an incitement investigation and, potentially, criminal charges. 

Under Israeli law, the attorney general must approve any incitement investigation, as well as any pursuant indictment.

"I call on the attorney general to prosecute MK Jamal Zahalka over his assault of Jewish visitors and policemen on the Temple Mount this morning," Lieberman said. "Law enforcement agencies must take a firm stand against this kind of disorderly conduct, which is part of the Joint Arab List's attempts to agitate tensions on the Temple Mount and harm the Jews visiting the site. 

"Zahalka, who told the visitors to 'go to hell' and said he was 'defending his home,' should know that neither the Temple Mount nor Israel are his home."

Likud MK Oren Hazan also called on Weinstein to remove Zahalka's immunity and order an incitement investigation.

"While Zahalka incites violence freely thanks to his parliamentary immunity, Jews are denied the right to safely and freely arrive [at the Temple Mount]," Hazan said. "How much of this are we supposed to take? When will we realize that words, like stones, are instruments of terror? Verbal terrorism, along with firebombs and stones thrown from within mosques, have become routine for people who see him and his ilk as their leaders.

"I urge the attorney general to order a criminal investigation against Zahalka, the 'terrorist of words,' over his incitement to assault and murder, and over his personal assault against policemen in the line of duty." 

Speaking with Channel 2 on Tuesday, Zahalka said he had not attacked the Jewish visitors, but rather "they were the ones who accosted me. I was standing in Al-Aqsa and saw a group of Jews attack the mosque. The occupation is violence. Violence is entering Al-Aqsa, violence is an Israeli policeman walking around the mosque and doing whatever he wants."

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, Zahalka added that "the policemen were the ones exercising brutality, because they violated the visitation conditions." Zahalka claimed the Israeli troops who escorted the Jewish visitors onto the compound "attacked Al-Aqsa. They went there despite the Waqf's objections. All they want to do is harm holy places -- that's provocation."

The Waqf is an Islamic trust that controls and manages the Islamic edifices on the Temple Mount.

Zahalka further said, "I have no problem with anyone visiting the place as tourists. The problem is religious visits. A mosque is a mosque, a church is a church, and a synagogue is a synagogue. People should pray where they belong."

Joint Arab List MK Hanin Zoabi blamed Israel for the incident, suggesting in an interview with Army Radio that the Israeli presence on the Temple Mount reminded her of the Nazi regime.

"It takes gall to compare the Muslims' demand to protect their right to pray in their holy site to Nazism. We all know who reflects the Nazi regime more closely, MK Hanin Zoabi or the State of Israel. As long as there is an invasion -- and it is an invasion -- of settlers, radicals and the police [to Temple Mount], there will be resistance," she said. 

Immigrant Absorption Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) confronted Zoabi on the air, saying, "If you believe what MK Zoabi is saying, the infamous ideology that some places should be free of Jews -- like it was during World War II -- is normal and acceptable. 

"If Jews, heaven forbid, visit the Temple Mount, than it's terrible and something must be done, and you have to riot, and if the police try to maintain public order than it's their fault."

Efrat Forsher, Mati Tuchfeld, Gideon Allon, Edna Adato and Israel Hayom Staff

Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=28585

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