Jewish fundamentalists caught smuggling goats for Al-Aqsa 'sacrificial rituals'

Jewish fundamentalists caught smuggling goats for Al-Aqsa 'sacrificial rituals'
Israeli police detained two Jewish activists who were attempting to smuggle two baby goats to sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
1 min read
18 April, 2019
The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem is the site of regular provocations by Israeli extremists

Israeli police detained two Jewish activists who were attempting to smuggle two baby goats to sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The activists, who are from the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, wanted to ritually sacrifice the goats on the occasion of the Passover holiday.

The Temple Mount Faithful Movement seeks to build a Jewish temple on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in the Islamic faith. Two journalists accompanying the activists were also detained briefly.

Israeli police said that the activists, one of whom was 17 years old, intended "to cause provocations" by sacrificing the goats ahead of Passover.

Incidents like this are a regular occurrence, according to Israeli police, with Jewish zealots attempting to assert their claims to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in defiance of Israeli law.

The Temple Mount Faithful Movement believes that the Jewish Temple of Solomon stood on the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in ancient times and that animals were sacrificed there at Passover.