Inside Story

How should leaders respond to rising tension over Al-Aqsa Mosque?

Tensions around the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem come amid an uptick in Israel-Palestine violence.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians.

With Ramadan, Passover and Easter taking place at the same time this year, tensions are running particularly high in occupied East Jerusalem.

On Sunday, Israeli police forcibly dispersed Palestinian worshippers who set up barricades to prevent ultra-right-wing Jewish groups from entering the compound.

The Al-Aqsa tensions come amid rising violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Could the violence escalate? And how should Israeli and Palestinian leaders respond?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Ziad AbuZayyad – Lawyer and political analyst

Nimrod Novik – Former senior policy adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres

Amr Al-Azm – Professor of Middle East history and anthropology, Shawnee State University