OCCUPIED AL-QUDS (Dispatches) -- Footage of heavily armed Israeli troops smashing their batons and guns down on cowering Palestinian worshippers in Al-Aqsa Mosque’s Al-Qibli prayer hall during Ramadan sparked outrage worldwide on Wednesday.
The reality, said Abdullah Jaber, a teenager from Al-Quds who was assaulted in the prayer hall and detained by Israeli forces on Tuesday night, was much, much worse.
“They kept us on the ground, handcuffed, for a long time, and anyone who raised his head was hit with a gun,” Jaber said. “My leg hurt, so I told a soldier about it, but he hit me on my chest and cursed me.”
Speaking after his release, Jaber described the terrifying moment the Zionists forced their way into the holy site in occupied East Al-Quds, where Palestinians were practising the contemplative prayer of Itikaf.
Stun grenades and teargas were fired into the thousand-year-old building, before troops threw Palestinians to the ground, stamped on them, and bound their hands forcefully behind their backs.
Jaber said the beatings did not stop once they were removed from the prayer hall. The Zionists hit the detained Palestinians with batons as they led them out of the hall and crammed them into a space near the mosque. Around 400 Palestinians were detained on Tuesday night.
Even after they were taken to the police station, the assaults and insults continued, Jaber said. Now free, the teenager is nonetheless shaken and bruised after a night of worship became a night of brutality.
Many of the detainees were forced to sign papers banning them from Al-Aqsa Mosque for a week, as a condition of their release.
For mothers of young men like Jaber who were caught up in the assault, Tuesday night was fraught with anxiety and tension.
Earlier, tens of thousands had attended Taraweeh prayers, as is customary during Ramadan, and several people stayed behind to practise Itikaf.
Itikaf is a non-mandatory religious practice that is common in Ramadan, whereby worshippers stay inside mosques overnight to pray, reflect and recite the Qur’an.
While the occupying regime of Israel has refused to allow Palestinians to perform Itikaf this year and cleared people from the mosque after Taraweeh prayers, it had not used such excessive violence before Tuesday’s assault.
The Jewish holiday of Passover began on Wednesday, where Zionists were expected to gather at the Western Wall beside Al-Aqsa.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society and local media said dozens of Palestinians were injured in the crackdown. Medics were denied access to those hurt and one was assaulted outside the mosque.