Gate of Mercy.. The renewed battle to divide Al-Aqsa

Unexpectedly, the name Bab al-Rahma returned to the forefront of the scene in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. No sooner had the morning of the second day of Eid al-Fitr begun than the worshipers in al-Aqsa Mosque were surprised by the Israeli forces storming the Gate of Mercy, cutting its electricity wires and destroying its newly repaired infrastructure, in a scene that was surprising given the Four years have passed since the reopening of the chapel after the events of the "Gate of Mercy" in 2019, which raised many questions about the reasons for this Israeli attack at this particular time.

In fact, the issue of Bab al-Rahma did not actually end with the occupation, despite the passage of more than 4 years since its opening. The occupation police have been storming the chapel regularly throughout these years, and they are keen to enter the place with shoes without the slightest respect to confirm the fact that it does not recognize it as a chapel despite the position of the Council. The Supreme Council of the Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem, who confirmed more than once that this place is one of the chapels of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that the Council deals with it on this basis.

What finally happened confirmed that Israel had not forgotten the issue of the Gate yet, and that it wanted to turn the clock back to before the events of February 2019, when Jerusalemites ended a complete Israeli closure of Gate of Mercy that spanned 16 years, beginning in early 2003 when the occupation authorities announced the closure of the Islamic Heritage Committee. Which was based in the place 10 years ago at that time, and the matter of Bab Al-Rahma was almost forgotten throughout these years, so that the Israeli police came and decided in 2019 to change the locks of the door in reference to declaring its control over it, and this led to the explosion of conditions in Jerusalem and the Jerusalemite youth announcing their intention to open The prayer hall again, and this is what happened on 22/2/2019.

Since that time, the actual war began over the ownership of the chapel. Israel saw this place as a hope to start implementing its vision of dividing the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews, considering the place “forgotten” for 16 years, during which the area adjacent to Bab Al-Rahma turned into a permanent center for settlers. Extremists temple, who conduct their rituals and religious lessons in the place without allowing Muslims to approach them, and therefore it was natural that the conversion of Bab al-Rahma into a synagogue is an idea put on the table of the Israeli government, waiting for the appropriate moment to implement it, as happened when the division of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron in 1994.

However, what happened was the opposite of all expectations, so the chapel was opened again, and no attempt to hinder it or prevent its opening succeeded, even by arresting the guards who used to open it daily, and the Muslims took steps in this direction with the Jerusalemite youths in 2021 preparing all the chapel’s interior requirements, including brushes and separators. Wooden and others, taking advantage of the events of the war that year, then the Jerusalemites take another step in the month of Ramadan in 2022 by removing the guard point that the Israeli police set up in 2018 above the Gate of Mercy, and then preparing the ground for the site later to connect it with the Marwani chapel and achieve unity that Israel has always tried to prevent between the chapels of Al-Aqsa Mosque divergent on the eastern side.

Under these developments, pressures were increasing on the Israeli government by extremist religious groups, which see that their achievements in the eastern region of Al-Aqsa Mosque are almost in vain, and this prompted the current Netanyahu government to consider that its battle in this spot is fateful because it is linked to the support of these extremist right-wing forces. , and especially the ultranationalist Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir.

Today, Itamar Ben Gvir is trying to present himself as the sole savior of the extreme religious right in Israel, and in doing so he is trying to jump over Netanyahu's back to show that he is his strong successor, even stronger than Netanyahu himself, and he does not hide the truth of his political ambitions to assume the presidency of the government in Israel, and therefore he bids on Netanyahu in everything related to Al-Aqsa Mosque in particular. While the Israeli Supreme Court renewed in July each year its decision to close the Gate of Mercy chapel, Ben Gvir anticipated the Israeli court’s renewal of its annual decision this year by informing the Islamic Endowments Department of his decision to close the door immediately in his capacity as Minister of National Security, before even To start the holy month of Ramadan!

It seems that Bin Gvir intended from this step to test reactions to his decision before starting to implement it after the end of Ramadan to prepare the ground in July, before the court renewed the closure decision, thus appearing as the only strong and solid man capable of implementing the court's decision and closing the Gate of Mercy.

In this matter, Ben Gvir tries to address the issue of al-Bab from the logic of the absolute power that he believes he enjoys in managing the affairs of the occupation police in Al-Aqsa Mosque, but he ignores an important fact, which is that the Israeli security authorities did not accept his reckless vision of the situation in Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem, and the possibility that This place ignites a war that Israel cannot afford to fight and bear its losses, especially when it is today in its weakest state in terms of the divided and fragmented society. Recklessness in dealing with an issue of this sensitivity led in the past to widespread disturbances that some political sane people in Israel believe are indispensable at this very critical time. The causes and circumstances that led to such disturbances with regard to Al-Aqsa Mosque have not ceased or disappeared, not at the local Palestinian level, nor at the Arab and Islamic level, nor even at the international level, which cannot support Israel when it comes to this site.

Possible scenarios
Indeed, trying to close the door will result in one of two scenarios:

The first: that Bin Ghafir completely fails in his effort to close the door and succeeds in return, in the event of his persistence and obstinacy in that, in re-igniting the entire region without knowing it. The issue of opening the Gate of Mercy chapel has become for Muslims in and outside Jerusalem an issue of public opinion that is very difficult to end with this simplicity. Israel and no one else can control it, because the people in Jerusalem are not affiliated with any Palestinian or non-Palestinian faction or political body whose movement can be predicted. The harbingers of this anger and popular movement are quite clear on the horizon, as the Jerusalemites have proven more than once that approaching the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque cannot pass without a price.
The second: That he be able to close the Gate of Mercy without much fuss, as he and the poles of the extreme Israeli right hope, and that will open the door wide to accelerate the division of Al-Aqsa Mosque and completely cut off this part of the mosque before Muslims realize the dimensions of what is happening, and I do not think this process - if it succeeds Ben Gvir - It takes more than just a few months. Although popular silence in this case is unlikely, the seriousness of this scenario should be noted, and here it should be noted that the popular conscience in and around Jerusalem must remain attentive to what Ben Gvir and the leaders of the Israeli right want, as the issue goes beyond the door of mercy to the division of the mosque as a whole, and the division of the mosque Al-Aqsa itself will, in fact, only be the starting point for complete Israeli control over it. About "Al Jazeera Net"