Visit the Western Wall: No Special Permission Needed

Credit to Erwin Renaldi, a journalist at the Australian ABC’s Asia Pacific Newsroom, who wrote about his experience visiting Jerusalem.

Being a Muslim Indonesian and an intrepid traveller, I’d visited Mecca and Medina in neighbouring Saudi Arabia many times, but never made it west to Jerusalem despite it being on my bucket list for years.

Part of this was due to travel limitations and finances, but also due to fears about security being a journalist in addition to the fact that — while not necessarily hostile to each other — Israel and Indonesia have no formal diplomatic ties to this day.

There is no better way to dispel some of the fears and misunderstandings surrounding Israel than visiting and seeing the country for yourself.  While describing some of the complications and security procedures he went through getting a visa and entering Israel as a citizen of a country that has no official relations, Renaldi writes in a fair and non-judgmental way. It is clear that his experience of Israel and particularly Jerusalem is an overwhelmingly positive one.

That’s why there is no reason to believe that a number of factual errors in his piece were made in bad faith.

Such as this:

And since a security crackdown by the Israeli Government in 2017, Muslims living in the Old City are only able to enter or pray at the mosque on Fridays and Islamic holidays.

Restrictions are also in place for non-Muslims, who are only allowed to enter the compound during certain times of the day determined by the Israeli Government.

So passing by all the guards stopping various people, with the knowledge and images of recent tensions in the air despite all the protocols and recent violence during my visit, there were no metal detectors or barriers in sight, and we pretty much walked straight in no questions asked.

Once inside it was serene and security free, but I also felt a little uncomfortable by the fact that an Indonesian Muslim could waltz right in and take a photo like the one below, while people that lived down the road for years could not.

In fact:

• There are no restrictions on Palestinian Muslims living in the Old City or with Jerusalem residency from entering the Temple Mount or praying in the Al-Aqsa mosque on any day of the week.
• While there was a security crackdown in 2017 during a wave of Palestinian violence that necessitated the installation of metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount compound, even then there were no restrictions. It was Palestinians themselves who refused to go through the metal detectors and preferred to pray outside even though they were not being stopped from going to their holy sites.
• An Indonesian Muslim and a Muslim resident of Jerusalem are able to “waltz right in” to the Temple Mount.
• Non-Muslims are only allowed to enter the compound at certain times of the day and only through the Mughrabi Gate. This is not a political decision on the part of the Israeli government but agreed upon arrangements between the Israeli Police and the Palestinian Waqf that administers the site.

Renaldi also writes:

However, over the years there have been continual clashes and disputes over the land and while I roamed freely through the Christian Quarters and beyond, I was told I would need special permission to visit the Jewish Quarters or the Western Wall.

Any tourist in Jerusalem will know that there are no restrictions on wandering around the Old City. While one has to pass through security to enter the Western Wall plaza, a tourist does not need “special permission to visit.”

The only caveat to that is that permission is needed in advance for journalists to film TV footage at the site. (This does not, of course, apply to tourists with personal cameras.)

Renaldi answered our tweets, saying that he had been told by an Israeli police officer that he would need permission to visit. We can only assume that there was some misunderstanding. In any case, we hope that Erwin Renaldi will return to Israel in the future and see even more of the country.

In the meantime, we’ve contacted ABC News requesting corrections or clarifications.

Featured image: CC BY-NC-ND Kirk k; Temple Mount CC0 Pixabay;