MEND STATEMENT: Attack on Masjid Al-Aqsa

Palestinians have suffered decades of abuse at the hands of the Israeli state, which has consistently ignored numerous UN resolutions declaring that Israel continues to breach international law.

In this month alone, Palestinians have had their homes stolen by settlers in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem whilst being beaten by the Israeli police; their fields have been burned by settlers while they themselves have been arrested; Palestinian families have been attacked in the streets whilst breaking their fast; an unarmed 16year old boy was shot in the back and killed by Israeli forces in Nablus; and last night over a hundred worshippers in Masjid Al-Aqsa were injured in an attack by Israeli forces armed with pellet guns, stun grenades, and tear gas, while they performed night prayers.

The UK press either fails to report on these atrocities, or else it continues to label these abuses as “clashes” and consistently misrepresents the aggression and violence directed at Palestinians. Such framing is a betrayal of honest reporting and serves only to legitimise and obscure the scale of oppression faced by Palestinians in occupied Palestine.

Meanwhile, the UK Government remains overwhelmingly silent on these heinous acts of aggression.

MEND therefore calls on the press to accurately report on the crimes committed against Palestinians and urges the UK Government to urgently condemn the violence of the Israeli state against Palestinians and hold the Israeli Government to account.

Get involved and see our action alert here!