Islam in Jerusalem

A journalist in Germany has been given a 6 month suspended jail sentence for posting a historical photo on Facebook and making the argument that Islam is a fascist ideology.

Violence broke out in and around Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque Thursday, with Israeli police using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to dispel stone-throwing demonstrators who had entered the compound, according to NBC News.

Israel's decision to remove the metal detectors from the entrance to the Haram al-Sharif compound, known to Israelis as the Temple Mount, seems to have assuaged recent tensions. The issue, however, still has the potential to upset the shaky regional order.

Palestinians were set to return to pray at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site on July 27 after Israeli authorities removed controversial new security measures, potentially ending a nearly two-week crisis that sparked deadly unrest.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 26 that the removal of metal detectors from the entrances to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City was a right move but not enough. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Muslims across the world to “visit” and “protect” Jerusalem.
The leader’s comments on Tuesday came after days of violence sparked over access to the al-Aqsa mosque in the city’s Noble Sanctuary, known as the Temple Mount in Judaism.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 24 that Israel is headed towards isolation because of measures imposed at the al-Aqsa compound in East Jerusalem.

"Equating the Muslims who come for worship with terrorists is a great eclipse of reason," Erdoğan said at a news conference at the Esenboğa Airport after returning from a two-day visit to the Gulf region.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu criticized Israel's "intervention" at the al-Aqsa mosque, which has led to the escalation of tensions in Jerusalem. 

"The right to faith and worship is the basic right of all people," Kılıçdaroğlu said on his official Twitter account on July 23.

As tensions mount in Jerusalem after new Israeli security measures at the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has urged calm, stressing the Islamic world's sensitivity on the issue.      

"Their implementation is wrong," Yıldırım said about the Israeli measures.

Israeli police barred men under 50 from entering Jerusalem's Old City for Friday Muslim prayers as tensions rose and protests erupted over new security measures at a highly sensitive holy site.