Far-right activists pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque for Charlie Kirk
Far-right activists pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque for Charlie Kirk
Jewish and Christian worshippers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem on Wednesday and held prayers in honour of Charlie Kirk, a far-right activist murdered in the United States.
The event, organised by Israeli settler organisation Beyadenu, saw dozens attending to hear a eulogy led by Yehuda Glick, a religious nationalist rabbi and former MP who has campaigned for years for Jews to worship on the mosque's grounds.
Flanked by Israeli soldiers, Glick said Kirk had managed to "connect so many hearts to faith, without fear and without hesitation".
"And now, in his death, he has connected even more people to the Creator, and even brought Jews and Christians from all over the world to the place that God chose for His name to dwell,” he said.
Kirk, founder of the far-right student organisation Turning Point USA, was shot dead last week during a public event at a university in Orem, Utah.
Glick, who was himself shot several times in Jerusalem in 2014 by a Palestinian gunman, paid tribute to Kirk's family at Wednesday's event.
"We will work so that in the coming years more and more believers from around the world will join us in turning this place into a house of prayer for all nations," he said.
Israel seized control of East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, but allowed the kingdom to retain official control of Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam.
However, in recent years Israel has restricted Palestinian Muslim prayer at the site while also allowing settler groups to enter and pray in the al-Aqsa complex.
The mosque is believed by Jews to be the site of a two historical temples, now only represented by the Western Wall, and is referred to as the Temple Mount.
The Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem has long forbidden Jewish worship on the Temple Mount, saying that it would be blasphemous.
Israeli religious nationalists have argued, however, that Jews should be able to pray on the site and some have advocated for the demolition of the mosque and construction of a third Jewish temple.
Last month, Israeli authorities banned Muhammad Ahmad Hussein - the grand mufti of Jerusalem, the city's top Muslim cleric - from entering the site until January 2026.
Hussein's lawyer Khaldoun Najem said that the ban was a response to a Friday sermon the mufti gave that referenced Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Akiva Ariel, head of the public relations for Beyadenu, said Kirk had backed their campaign for Jewish worship on the site.
"Here, in memory of Charlie Kirk, we continue to fight for freedom of worship and Jewish rights on the Temple Mount," he said.
