Murabitat (''defenders of the faith'', ''steadfast'', or ''garrison soldiers'') (“Murabitin”, "Mourabitoun" (males) and “Murabitat”, "Mourabitat" (females)) is an illegal Islamist

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

of Muslim women, funded by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. The group organises classes at Al Aqsa Mosque from learning how to read and write to university level and Islamic

tajweed In the context of the recitation of the Quran, ''tajwīd'' ( ar, تجويد ', , 'elocution') is a set of rules for the correct pronunciation of the letters with all their qualities and applying the various traditional methods of recitation (''Q ...

or the musical chanting of

Quranic The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

verses. Following the 1967

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 ...

, Israel left administrative oversight of the Temple Mount/al-Haram al-Shariff to Jordan, which delegates authority to the

Jerusalem Islamic Waqf The Department of the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, together with its board the Islamic Awqaf Council, is the Jordanian-appointed organization responsible for controlling and managing the current Islamic edifices on the Temple Moun ...

. Israel maintains security control. A status quo was declared where Muslims have been allowed to pray atop the compound while non-Muslims were allowed to visit unobstructed but not allowed to pray. In this context, members of Murabitat movement also keep an eye on Jews visiting the compound and who would be "attempting to pray". Women from the organisation disrupted several such attempts by shouting at the groups,

cursing Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...

, and by physical

assault An assault is the act of committing physical harm or unwanted physical contact upon a person or, in some specific legal definitions, a threat or attempt to commit such an action. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in cr ...

History

The parallel groups, Murabiton for men and Murabitat for women, were created by the northern branch of the Islamist group, Islamic Movement in Israel in 2012. According to

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner ...

, their purpose is "to harass Jews visiting Temple Mount." The groups run a daily shuttle service between the concentration of Arab towns including

Umm al-Fahm Umm al-Fahm ( ar, أمّ الفحم, ''Umm al-Faḥm''; he, אוּם אֶל-פַחֶם ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Arab citizens of Is ...

and

Tayibe Tayibe, also spelled Taibeh or Tayiba, ( ar, الطيبة, lit=the kind/benevolent, translit=aṭ-Ṭayyibah, South Levantine pronunciation: ; he, טַיִּבָּה) is an Arab city in central Israel, north east of Kfar Saba.Triangle A triangle is a polygon with three edges and three vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, any three points, when non- colline ...

, as well as from the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...

and the

Galilee Galilee (; he, הַגָּלִיל, hagGālīl; ar, الجليل, al-jalīl) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Galilee traditionally refers to the mountainous part, divided into Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and Lower Gali ...

to the Temple Mount. According to Israeli security officials, before the male and female groups were banned and the offices of the NGO funding them closed, activists were paid 3,000–4,000 shekels ($771–$1,028) per month, with some of the funds coming from the Gulf States.

Incidents

According to

Christian Broadcasting Network The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) is an American Christian media production and distribution organization. Founded in 1960 by Pat Robertson, it produces the long-running TV series '' The 700 Club'', co-produces the ongoing ''Superbook'' ...

, the women are, "paid to harass female visitors to the Temple Mount even when they're modestly dressed." In August, 2015, the women harassed a group of visiting Members of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

, including Rep. Evan Jenkins, Rep.

Trent Franks Trent Franks (born June 19, 1957) is a former American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative for from 2003 to 2017 (numbered as the 2nd district from 2003 to 2013). He is a member of the Republican Party. During his ...

, Rep.

Keith Rothfus Keith James Rothfus (born April 25, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Pennsylvania's 12th congressional district from 2013 to 2019. He succeeded Democratic Representative Mark Critz, whom he d ...

and Mr. Jenkins' wife, Elizabeth Jenkins. Congressman Jenkins described himself as being, "struck by the level of intolerance and the confrontational attitudes and approach and actions" taken by the group." He described the behavior of the Muslims on the Temple Mount that day as "shocking".

Moshe Ya'alon Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...

, the

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in s ...

, has asserted that the groups' behavior leads, "to violence that could harm human life."

Declared illegal

In August 2015, the activists were banned from

Temple Mount The Temple Mount ( hbo, הַר הַבַּיִת, translit=Har haBayīt, label=Hebrew, lit=Mount of the House f the Holy}), also known as al-Ḥaram al-Sharīf (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, lit. 'The Noble Sanctuary'), al-Aqsa Mosque compou ...

by Israeli Minister of Public Security,

Gilad Erdan Gilad Menashe Erdan ( he, גִּלְעָד מְנַשֶּׁה אֶרְדָן, ; born 30 September 1970) is an Israeli politician and diplomat serving as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations since 2020. Erdan previously serv ...

, during morning visiting hours. Earlier, the

Arab League The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

condemned the plan to ban the group. On September 8, 2015, Defense Minister

signed an order which declared the Murabitat group as an illegal organization. Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the

that administers the

, called the decision, "totally unacceptable", asserting that the government of Israel had "no right" to intervene.

External links

Who are the guardians of al-Aqsa?
2016, Megan O'Toole, Al-Jazeera.
Meet the outlawed women of Israel’s Islamic Movement
January 16, 2016, Samah Salaime, +972 Magazine.

References

{{Temple Mount 2012 establishments in Israel 2015 disestablishments in Israel Illegal organizations Islamic organizations based in Israel Islamism in Israel Anti-Islam sentiment in Israel Organizations promoting literacy Political movements in Israel Religious organizations established in 2012 Religious organizations disestablished in 2015 Temple Mount Women's organizations based in Israel Islamic organizations established in the 21st century