Israeli Court Says Jews Have Right To Pray At Temple Mount Gates

Arutz Sheva and Jerusalem Post report that in Israel yesterday, a Jerusalem Magistrate's Court has ruled that police acted improperly in attempting to prevent three 14-year old Jewish girls from praying at the Bab al-Huttah gate to the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem.  Police contended that the girls were attempting to create a provocation since they timed their prayers to coincide with the end of Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount.  The girls had undertaken similar activity before and were issued restraining orders by the police.  The court held that the girls have the same right as Muslims to pray at that location, saying in part:

[I]t is the right of every person to pray in the State of Israel on the streets of a city, provided this does not violate the rights of others.... The police representative's argument that throwing of objects would have resulted from the young women's presence is unacceptable to me, as I wouldn't have accepted the claim that a man with a wallet full of cash walking in a neighborhood where many pickpockets live violates public safety and invites offenses.