Yeshuatami News Blog

All Things Israel

Ramadan

The Threat of Ramadan

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With war in Gaza raging, tensions in East Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, (aka the West Bank territories) are escalating with the start of the holy month of Ramadan, particularly on the Temple Mount. Located in east Jerusalem’s Old City, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount is considered the third holiest site in Islam, while to the Jews it is the most holy site as the location of the two ancient Holy Temples.

Even after Israel won the Six Day War and conquered and annexed east Jerusalem in 1967, including the Temple Mount, the Muslim religious facilities of the Temple remained under the administration of the Waqf, dedicated to Muslim religious purposes. All Islamic religious activity has remained under Jordanian control since the cease-fire of the 1948 war of Israel’s independence.

In Islam, the holiday of the Ramadan fast (and feasting every night) observed by millions of Muslims around the world is supposed to be a time of prayer, reflection, and community. The Muslims believe that during this holy month, their holy book, the Quran, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

However, since Israel gained control of the grounds of the Temple Mount, each year, the time of Ramadan has become particularly inflammatory. Every year violence erupts on Ramadan as Palestinians use the compound and even the mosque itself to riot and throw rocks in provocation of Israeli forces who are there to keep law and order. When Palestinian rioters are injured and many are arrested as a result of Israeli police dispersing rioters, even more violence ensues.

Image above: Cartoon by Alaa’ al-Laqta. Right: Incitement to violence.  The Arabic reads, “The meal of young Jerusalemites before the Ramadan fast” (Alaa’ al-Laqta’s Facebook page, April 23, 2021).

In 2022 and 2023 during Ramadan, inspired by Hamas and carrying Hamas flags, Palestinian terrorists shot, stabbed, and threw bombs on Israelis praying at the Western Wall below. PA (Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria) President Mahmoud Abbas negated any Jewish connection to Jerusalem by declaring, “We alone have the religious, historical, and legal right to Al-Buraq Wall (the Western Wall).”

Ramadan is not like any holiday in other religions. Rather than being a month of peace and harmony, it is a month of war and violence. From Islam’s beginnings, Ramadan was a time to wage war.

History of Ramadan

In 624 CE, during Ramadan, the Prophet Muhammad waged his first jihad (holy war). In 632, during the month of Ramadan, Muhammad attacked and conquered the city of Mecca with its Kaaba stone, which is Islam’s most holy site today.

Throughout the centuries, Muslims have waged wars and conquests during Ramadan. A few more examples are:

  • The conquest of Rhodes in 653 CE
  • The invasion of Spain in 710 CE and 
  • Battles against the Crusaders over Jerusalem led by Salah Al-Din in 1187 CE.
  • In 1260, Muslims defeated the Mongols in Palestine (now Israel,)
  • In the 20th century, between 1962 to 1970, during the Yemeni Civil War, Muslims fought each other through nine Ramadans.
  • In 1973 on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, Egypt and Syria, on Ramadan launched a surprise attack on Israel. The Israelis call it the Yom Kippur War whereas they call it the Ramadan War.  
  • In 1981, Iran rejected an offer for a Ramadan cease-fire from Iraq, and a year later attacked Iraq in what they called, “Operation Ramadan.”
  • Likewise, in 1987, Iran again rejected an offer of a Ramadan cease-fire from Iraq.
  • In Israel, Palestinians rioted from the years 1987 to 1993 during six Ramadans. From the 1990s and well into the beginning of the 21st century, during Ramadan, Muslims continued to war in other locations than just in Israel. For example, widespread fighting occurred in Kashmir when Muslims rejected a Ramadan cease-fire offered by India as a step for peace.

Ramadan Today

Now, at the start of Ramadan, as the war in Gaza continues, Hamas is calling for violence against Jews.

In a speech prior to the start of Ramadan which began on March 10th, Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, incited Palestinians in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to storm the Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.

Haniyeh also called for the Iran-aligned “Axis of Resistance” members including Hezbollah, the Houthis, and various Iraqi Shia militias to escalate their attacks against Israel. A spokesman for Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), another Iranian-backed Palestinian terror group, called for a “month of terror” against Israel during Ramadan.

It is obvious that Hamas, under the guise of this holiday, intends to inflame religious tensions and increase attacks against Israelis, so the month of Ramadan begins the second phase of their plan that began on October 7th. Unfortunately, also the PA has increased incitement against Israel during this fragile period.

Unlike Hamas, Israel intends to do everything possible to decrease tension and prevent violence during this volatile time. Israel’s policy is to maintain religious freedom and access to holy places for all religions, including access for Palestinians and Israeli Arabs to Muslim holy sites on the Temple Mount.

The Enemy From Within

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No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. Isa. 54:17

The opening scene of the video “Fighting the Jews”
(Telegram, March 29, 2022)

The majority of the Arab Muslim Israeli citizens are mostly anti-Zionists who usually vote for the Israeli Arab parties which are also anti-Zionists. Some also vote for the two far-left Israeli parties of Meretz and Avoda which support the Arab ideology that Israel should be a nation of all its citizens and not just a Jewish nation. Nine out of ten Arab Muslim Israeli citizens are against Israel being the nation of the Jewish people. Very few vote for the right-wing Zionist parties. Hence, most of the Muslim Arab Israeli citizens are the enemy from within. Of course, not all are terrorists as even in the territories of Judea and Samaria few of the Arabs commit terrorist acts although the majority support the terrorists. The same holds true concerning Israeli Arabs who have Israeli citizenship.

In the Israeli parliament today two parties support the Arab terrorists. They are the Joint Arab party and Ra’am. Even while they officially condemned the last terror attacks, it was just lip service. Iman Udae, the leader of the Joint Arab party, compared the murder of the 5 Israeli citizens in the last terror attack in Bnei-Brak (one was an Arab Christian policeman) to the 51 Palestinian terrorists killed in the course of committing terrors acts since the beginning of the year. How can one compare the murder of innocent civilians with the defensive killing of terrorists? Murder cannot be compared to defensive killing. Udae’s referral to the terrorists as having been murdered actually reveals his opposition to Israel being a Jewish state.

Border Police officers carry the coffin of their comrade Shirel Aboukrat, who was killed in a terror attack in Hadera on March 27, 2022. (credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI/MAARIV)

The enemy from within doesn’t include the Arab Christian citizens who support Israel being a Jewish state. Many even volunteer in the Israeli army. Sadly, in the Brei-Brak attack, one Israeli Arab Christian police officer fought the Palestinian terrorist and was killed while defending with his body other Jewish passersby from being murdered.

The Muslim Arab enemy from within has accumulated a great amount of illegal weapons, thus adding to the mortal danger coming against Israel from outside her borders. What can Israel do to win the fight against the enemy from within? One way is to start an operation of going from house to house to find those who are among them, confiscate their illegal weapons and arrest their owners. That was actually what the Israeli forces did in Judea and Samaria at the height of the suicide bombing terror wave in the early 2000s. Now, when Israel is facing the danger of terror attacks from Arab citizens, the same operation is needed.

Last week, the Muslim wave of violence in Israel claimed the lives of 11 innocent people, with many others physically wounded and emotionally traumatized. Israeli Arab citizens, sympathizers of ISIS, committed two of the three deadly attacks, one in the southern city of Beersheba and the other in the central city of Hadera. News commentators link this wave of terrorism to the summit that took place in the Negev (desert area of southern Israel.) Foreign ministers of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt gathered there early last week to strengthen the Abraham Accord peace initiative that was formed by former President Trump and former PM of Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu. The Palestinians, who opposed that summit, felt that the world was indifferent to their cause.

Although the focus of the summit was the Iranian threat, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others still wanted to address the Palestinian issue and the “two-state solution,” emphasizing that Israel’s normalization with the moderate Muslim states should not come at the expense of the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

However, as proven in the past, peace with the “Zionist enemy”, as the Palestinians refer to the state of Israel, is not the Arab Muslim’s ultimate goal. If it were so, there would now be peace with Israel.

In fact, Arab Muslims, both in Israel and in Judea and Samaria, resorted to heinous acts of terrorism that killed Jews, a Christian Arab, and a Druze Israeli citizen, as well as two Ukrainian nationalists. Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, Gaza, and East Jerusalem celebrated the murders with cheers, candies, and pastries to honor the “martyrs” who murdered the innocent.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strong government allowed for the quietest security time Israel enjoyed for over a decade. Now, as the Palestinians consider the current Israeli government weak, terror strikes. Similar conditions resulted in great violence that led to the Second Intifada during the terrible days of the Oslo Accords, under former Prime Minister Ehud Barak, while peace talks were being held between the Israeli PM and the Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat. They armed him and his people with weapons to “maintain peace.” At that time, Israel was willing to make great concessions; still, the worst wave of Palestinian terror broke out.

Now, the current Israeli government promises financial loans to the PA, with the knowledge Abbas is continuing to financially support families of terrorists, even those from Israel. In addition, visits to Jordan, which include guarantees to ease restrictions during Ramadan, such as removing age limits on worshippers, with the knowledge that the youth are the most violent. Finally, the government has remained silent in the face of Blinken’s calls to prevent violence “on both sides” during Ramadan and Passover. Israeli PM Bennett knows very well that there is no comparison between the murderous Arab terrorists and the few Jewish settlers who retaliate by burning a few trees and throwing a few rocks.

Click here to read: about The Danger of the Islamic Month of Ramadan.

Please Pray

  1. Father God, we bring before You the many Muslims who are observing Ramadan and we ask for Your intervention as we pray for their salvation in Yeshua.
  2. In Yeshua’s name we stand against the powers of darkness behind Islam and call in the light of Yeshua to many hearts that seek the truth.
  3. We pray for the Israeli authorities who deal with security to have wisdom and patience. Father God we ask for protection of all security forces.

The Danger of the Islamic Month of Ramadan

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Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 123:44

In Islam, fasting is one of the major acts of worshiping Allah. Muslims believe that its spiritual dimensions purify the soul, instill self-reflection and inspire virtuous living.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. During this month, Muslims worldwide fast and abstain from sexual relations from dawn to dusk (then they can eat as much as they want until dawn the next day.) The fast excludes the elderly, the weak, the mentally ill, and those who have chronic illnesses.

The Muslims believe that a fasting person is rewarded manifold for all good deeds, and whoever fasts and prays during Ramadan with pure intentions will have their past sins forgiven.

During the month of Islam’s holiday of Ramadan, Muslims feel more zealous for their religion and the Jihad (Muslim holy war) which motivates them to launch more attacks against the infidels and all those who are viewed as enemies of the Islamic world.

Muslim worshippers gather for Friday prayers, next to the Dome of the Rock Mosque on the Temple Mount one day before the beginning of the Ramadan, last Friday, April 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

During Ramadan, Muslims believe that fasting and prayer bring them closer to Allah. Often Muslim families wake up together before sunrise for an early breakfast. They also invite one another to break their fast (every evening) together thereby strengthening friendships and ties among neighbors, families, and friends. Many people also bring meals to mosques to share with the community, especially the poor, the needy, the traveler, and those without family. Together, they attend nightly Ramadan prayers at the mosque.

This year, even before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Palestinian Authority did its utmost to incite religious hatred and violence, spewing the libel that Israel is organizing an “escalation of hostilities” at the Temple Mount.

While the PA-incited terror rages, the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred to the visits of Jews to the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – as “invasions of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” and warned of Israel’s alleged “malicious intentions.” They exaggerate by saying that there is a continuation of invasions by Israeli officials during the “blessed month of Ramadan, which will cause an explosion in the occupied Palestinian territories.*

The reality is that “Al-Aqsa Mosque” is only a small part of the Temple mount, and while Jews are permitted to enter the Temple Mount for limited hours of the day, and are only allowed to walk around the periphery, they are strictly prohibited from praying and entering the mosque itself. 

In order to continue their incitement of an imaginary Israeli plan to “break into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque”, the PA conveniently ignores this reality and refers to the entire Temple Mount as the “Al-Aqsa Mosque.” They claim that Jewish visits there are totally unacceptable at any time, and warn against “the occupation’s* attempts to implement a plan to break into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan,” and against the “consequences this will have for the security and stability of the region and the world.”

While Jews visit the Temple Mount almost every day, Palestinians still claim that the continued Jewish visits to the Mount are a “new crime” and threaten that their response “will not be a regular light response.”

The PA incitement regarding the Temple Mount falsely claimed that “settlers are escalating their violations” and warned against non-existent attempts by “settler organizations under the auspices of the occupation (Israeli) police” to cause “an explosion”

“[PA] Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi Al-Hadmi said: ‘The occupation authorities and the settlers* are escalating their violations in occupied East Jerusalem on the eve of the blessed [Muslim fasting] month of Ramadan.’ (the opposite is actually true.)

Just before Ramadan started, The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: ‘At a time when official Israel is attempting to hold the Palestinian side responsible for the escalation that it is creating and for its consequences under the slogan “the [Muslim fasting] month of Ramadan,” it is implementing a racist occupation policy, is continuing in its aggression against the Palestinian people every day, and is seeking to be aided by anarchy and violence to carry out its colonialist plans.’”

The Palestinians are actually turning the tables. They promote the lies that Israel has “cunning intentions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the month of Ramadan” and that the “occupation authorities”* are permitting “extremist settlers” to invade the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the entire Temple Mount). Furthermore, the PA contends that Israeli news warnings of Palestinian disturbances during the month of Ramadan are simply a prelude to Israel’s cunning intentions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque; the PA warns of the consequences of these attacks.”

As Palestinians carry out terror attacks and violence in E. Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, the Israeli police must use force to stop these attacks by any means. In turn, the PA accuses Israel of perpetrating the crimes that they warned about in the first place.

*PA terminology: 
“Occupied Palestine Territories” – the entire Land of Israel.
A “settler” – every Israeli Jewish citizen living in “Occupied Palestine.”
“Settler organizations” – Israeli authorities and government
“Settler’s terror” – “racist occupation policy” that is aided by anarchy and violence.

Palestinians wave a PLO flag at a tense protest at Damascus Gate during Ramadan 2021 | File photo: Oren Ben Hakoon

Right after Ramadan started on Saturday, violence started at Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem late on Sunday after the evening Ramadan prayers. The Israel Police which had been preparing for months for such confrontations, determined to stop them.

Many young Palestinian men rioted near Israeli police officers. A crowbar was thrown at police officers who responded by drawing guns (without shooting) against the Palestinians who gathered around them. Some of the Palestinians threw stones and bottles. One police officer was hit on the head while another officer broke his arm. The Israeli police do everything to keep order without causing harm or death.

During the rioting, Israeli officers attempt to arrest only those responsible for the incitement. However, sometimes, things go out of control and there is no choice but to use harsh measures.

While the Israeli police do everything possible to maintain the peace on this Ramadan holiday, the Palestinians choose to disrupt. This coming Friday will be dangerous, as tens of thousands of Muslims gather on the Temple Mount for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.

The Israeli police are anticipating possible violence and preparing for such. Even one incident in this volatile situation can get out of hand and cause a disaster. Please pray.