Instead, the sacred time turned tragic when Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, where Muslim worshippers were performing their prayers. More than 170 people, mostly Palestinian Muslims praying in the mosque, were injured when fully-armed Israel soldiers stormed the complex on Friday. The violence was repeated on Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested.

Indonesia joined many other countries in condemning Israel’s armed violence against Palestinian people inside the Al-Aqsa complex. Violence against civilians is not acceptable and must be stopped, the Foreign Ministry declared in a statement.

Al-Aqsa is the third mosque most revered by Muslims, after al-Haram in Mecca and an-Nabawi in Medina, both in Saudi Arabia. Israel seized East Jerusalem, including the Old City, after the 1967 war, but the Al-Aqsa compound continued to be administered by Jordanian-Palestinian waqf. Muslims in the occupied territory as well as from around the world can still pray there, albeit under the close watch of Israeli forces.

Since the mosque complex also houses sites considered holy by Christians and Jews, an arrangement has been made for non-Muslims to visit at certain hours of the day with Israeli armed escorts and with the agreement that they are not permitted to perform rituals or prayers. This has been largely observed and respected.

But last Friday, right wing Israelis announced they would perform an ancient Passover ritual inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, not only in violation of the agreement but also with the protection if not encouragement of the Israeli soldiers. This act of provocation led to the violence and the attacks against protesting Muslims inside the mosque complex on Friday.

Violence always begets violence, and sure enough it has now spread to other parts of the occupied territory and beyond. This is almost a repeat of last year’s violence, which began after violent raids on the Al-Aqsa compound triggered 11 days of bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing more than 200 Palestinians.

The Israeli defense forces are clearly culpable for the latest cycle of violence. They could have prevented it if they wanted to. Their failure is abominable.

This is hardly impressive for the Jewish state which has been trying, with Washington DC’s support, to open diplomatic relations with Muslim-majority nations on the basis of the common roots of the Abrahamic faiths.

Since 2020, Israel has normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain where each side invoked the Abraham Accords, which call for peace and cooperation as the driving force for diplomatic relations. Israel has approached many other Muslim-majority countries, including Indonesia, to follow up on the model.

The continued violence against Palestinian people, including the latest against Muslim worshipers in Al-Aqsa, tells us that Indonesia, the country with the world’s largest Muslim population, is right in withholding any discussion of normalizing ties with Israel. Our heart has and will always be with the Palestinian people.