A video surfaced on Tuesday evening showing Israeli police beating and injuring Muslim demonstrators at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. The incident sparked calls for an international response to the violence, including from Muslim-majority countries such as Jordan and Egypt.
The mosque, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is a holy site revered by Muslims and Jews alike. Tensions over it have often erupted into violence, including clashes that set off the last war in Gaza in 2011.
More and more police brutality
It is also home to some of the most sensitive religious sites in the world. Despite the frequent violence, Israel has long maintained a status-quo arrangement that allows non-Muslims to visit, but not worship, at the holy site.
This week, the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan and Jewish Passover converge in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, creating fears that further violence could occur. During these events, Israel has deployed its civilian police force to a number of key sites to prevent attacks by non-Muslims, particularly those who are members of extremist groups such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
As such, the raid on the mosque is likely to raise tensions even further in the region. It is a clear reminder of the violence that occurred when a similar confrontation took place in May 2021, which led to an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Turmoil in Israel
A public health approach to violence emphasizes the prevention of such incidents. This is done through a variety of strategies, including joint information/education campaigns with communities, educating people about the nature of violence and its consequences for their own and other people’s health, developing and testing effective ways to reduce certain types of violent behavior, and working with the community to identify and address specific problems or issues that are likely to lead to violence.
According to research, violence is a complex issue that involves a series of interrelated factors. These factors include socioeconomic, cultural, political and psychological variables. In addition, there are multiple sources of societal stress that contribute to escalating violence.
Among those factors are discrimination, poverty and lack of social support. These elements can result in compromised mental well-being, depression, and addiction, ultimately amplifying the potential for increased violence.
Can’t even mourn in peace
Another factor is the ability of extremist groups to mobilize and recruit support in the community. This is often aided by social media and online videos.
In this instance, the video depicting the police attack has gained extensive traction across social media platforms, igniting a surge of indignation among the Palestinian community. It has been hailed by Palestinians as “a crime against humanity” and as “a sign of the imminent revolution” against the occupation.
The video also raised questions about whether Israel had a legitimate right to enter the mosque, which is home to some of the world’s most sacred Islamic sites. The Israeli government has repeatedly condemned such actions and has promised to preserve a status-quo arrangement at the mosque.
