JERUSALEM: Israel said Thursday that it will implement what it called “safety restrictions” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins over the weekend.
During Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians come to pray at Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam located in East Jerusalem — a sector of the Holy City occupied and annexed by Israel.
This year, Ramadan coincides with a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has largely halted fighting after a devastating war that left tens of thousands dead in the Palestinian territory.
“The usual restrictions for public safety will be in place as they have been every year,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said in an online briefing to journalists.
Last year, amid the Gaza war, Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on visitors coming to Al-Aqsa, particularly on those Palestinians coming from the occupied West Bank.
Only men aged 55 and older and women over 50 were allowed to enter the mosque compound “for security reasons,” while thousands of Israeli police officers were deployed across Jerusalem’s Old City.
Mencer indicated that precautions would be taken again this year.
“What we cannot, of course, and no country would countenance is people seeking to foment violence and attacks on anyone else,” he said, without detailing this year’s police deployment.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is a symbol of Palestinian national identity.
By longstanding convention, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray in the compound, which they revere as the site of their second temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.
In recent years, growing numbers of Jewish ultranationalists have defied the rules, including far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who publicly prayed there while serving as national security minister in 2023 and 2024.
The Israeli government has said repeatedly that it intends to uphold the status quo at the compound but Palestinian fears about its future have made it a flashpoint for violence.
Last year, Israel allowed Muslims to worship at Al-Aqsa in the same numbers as in previous year despite the war raging in Gaza.
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Israel says to have ‘safety restrictions’ at Al-Aqsa for Ramadan
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Israel says to have ‘safety restrictions’ at Al-Aqsa for Ramadan
- “The usual restrictions for public safety will be in place as they have been every year,” Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said
- Only men aged 55 and older and women over 50 were allowed to enter the mosque
Koshary, a spicy Egyptian staple, wins UNESCO recognition
CAIRO: Koshary – a spicy dish of lentils, rice and pasta available at countless Egyptian food stalls – won recognition as a cultural treasure from the UN’s cultural agency on Wednesday, as Cairo makes a broad push to promote its cultural and historical identity abroad.
Egypt’s nomination of koshary for UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list comes a little over a month after its opening of a sprawling new antiquities museum – another move officials hope will highlight the country’s rich history and lure more tourists.
One popular legend claims koshary originated in northern India and was brought to Egypt by soldiers during the British occupation. But the dish’s origins can in fact be traced through a farther-flung, millennia-old lineage of migration, trade and conquest, food researcher and archaeobotanist Hala Barakat said.
EGYPTIAN DISH, WITH GLOBAL INFLUENCES
Lentils arrived from the Fertile Crescent more than 5,800 years ago, and rice was introduced from East Asia. Tomatoes and chilli peppers were brought from the Americas centuries later, while pasta noodles were a more modern addition.
“These components came together over thousands of years,” Barakat said. “Its name may be Indian, but the Egyptian dish has its own form – and even that varies from Alexandria to Aswan.”
“Koshary in its current form is the koshary Egyptians made their own,” she added.
Egypt’s nomination makes note of this diversity, highlighting the fact that yellow lentils are used on the coast, compared with black lentils in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Some households add boiled eggs, while in Sinai a similar dish called ma’dous is common.
Each of these variations is united by “the special flavour provided by condiments such as vinegar, garlic, and hot sauce, which are added according to preference,” the nomination says.
COUSCOUS, CEVICHE ALSO ON LIST
Making the intangible heritage list is mostly symbolic, and does not bring any direct financial benefit. Other dishes such as couscous – common across the Maghreb region – and the South American dish ceviche are on the list. Italian cuisine was also set to be inscribed this year.
Koshary’s popularity surged in the 20th century as restaurants and brightly decorated street carts proliferated near schools and stations. The absence of animal products has also made it a staple among fasting Coptic Christians and younger Egyptians who are going vegetarian.
Today, the dish is one of Egypt’s most recognizable features, according to Ahmed Shaker, the public relations officer at Abou Tarek Koshary, a popular Cairo restaurant that dates back to 1963.
“Any foreigner or visitor who comes to Egypt visits the Pyramids, visits the museum, and comes to Abou Tarek to eat koshary,” Shaker said.
The dish joins Egypt’s 10 previous “inscriptions,” which include tahteeb, an ancient martial art using sticks, and the Sirat Bani Hilal, an epic oral poem.
UNESCO’s new director-general, Khaled El-Enany, previously served as Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, and has vowed to use his tenure to safeguard cultural traditions.
Egypt’s nomination of koshary for UNESCO’s “Intangible Cultural Heritage” list comes a little over a month after its opening of a sprawling new antiquities museum – another move officials hope will highlight the country’s rich history and lure more tourists.
One popular legend claims koshary originated in northern India and was brought to Egypt by soldiers during the British occupation. But the dish’s origins can in fact be traced through a farther-flung, millennia-old lineage of migration, trade and conquest, food researcher and archaeobotanist Hala Barakat said.
EGYPTIAN DISH, WITH GLOBAL INFLUENCES
Lentils arrived from the Fertile Crescent more than 5,800 years ago, and rice was introduced from East Asia. Tomatoes and chilli peppers were brought from the Americas centuries later, while pasta noodles were a more modern addition.
“These components came together over thousands of years,” Barakat said. “Its name may be Indian, but the Egyptian dish has its own form – and even that varies from Alexandria to Aswan.”
“Koshary in its current form is the koshary Egyptians made their own,” she added.
Egypt’s nomination makes note of this diversity, highlighting the fact that yellow lentils are used on the coast, compared with black lentils in Cairo and Upper Egypt. Some households add boiled eggs, while in Sinai a similar dish called ma’dous is common.
Each of these variations is united by “the special flavour provided by condiments such as vinegar, garlic, and hot sauce, which are added according to preference,” the nomination says.
COUSCOUS, CEVICHE ALSO ON LIST
Making the intangible heritage list is mostly symbolic, and does not bring any direct financial benefit. Other dishes such as couscous – common across the Maghreb region – and the South American dish ceviche are on the list. Italian cuisine was also set to be inscribed this year.
Koshary’s popularity surged in the 20th century as restaurants and brightly decorated street carts proliferated near schools and stations. The absence of animal products has also made it a staple among fasting Coptic Christians and younger Egyptians who are going vegetarian.
Today, the dish is one of Egypt’s most recognizable features, according to Ahmed Shaker, the public relations officer at Abou Tarek Koshary, a popular Cairo restaurant that dates back to 1963.
“Any foreigner or visitor who comes to Egypt visits the Pyramids, visits the museum, and comes to Abou Tarek to eat koshary,” Shaker said.
The dish joins Egypt’s 10 previous “inscriptions,” which include tahteeb, an ancient martial art using sticks, and the Sirat Bani Hilal, an epic oral poem.
UNESCO’s new director-general, Khaled El-Enany, previously served as Egypt’s minister of tourism and antiquities, and has vowed to use his tenure to safeguard cultural traditions.
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