Danish Christian pro-Israel activist, Jane Kiel, was removed from the Temple Mount on Wednesday by Muslim authority police because she might pray there. Just as shocking was the claim by the guard that the entire mount is a mosque.
Kiel is a resident of Jerusalem and as an activist is known as ‘Jerusalem Jane’. Wednesday morning she visited the Temple Mount and was approached by a Waqf (Muslim Authority) guard who addressed her by name. The guard had a video on his phone of an incident two months earlier when she had been singing a prayer on the Temple Mount.
Kiel recorded the incident. When the guard confronted her, accusing her of praying inside the mosque, she responded that she had never been inside the mosque. The guard showed her a video on his phone of her singing in the Temple Mount compound. He indicated the entire grounds of the Temple Mount and said, “I pray here, I pray there. Same area. This is all mosque… This is only for Muslims.”
When she insisted that she was a Christian, he responded in a strange manner. “You are religious. Only religious who can come here are Muslim; not Christian, not Jew,” meanwhile assuring her they loved Christians. He then claimed to be Jordanian police, however refused to produce identification.
“Christians want to share the mosque (indicating the Temple Mount) with us, is big problem.”
He demanded to see her ring and noted that it had Hebrew writing on it. He called her a “born again believer,” and said “the only religious who can come here are Muslims, no Christians or Jews.”
The guard demanded to see her phone which was the recording device, and ordered her companion (a Jew) to erase the video. He agreed, however did not do so. This attitude towards video evidence is a frightening aspect of the confrontation in light of Palestinian refusal to allow video cameras on the Temple Mount in an effort to protect the status quo and calm the violence.
Three more guards approached and escorted her off the Temple Mount.
Kiel filed a complaint with the Jerusalem police and has written letters to Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.
Kiel has been warned by the Waqf security in the past for recording Muslim harassment of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount and claims to have had her life threatened for this pro-Israel activity. Until now, her identity as a Christian foreigner lent her a small measure of immunity, however the recent incident indicates that many aspects of the status quo have indeed changed.
