Jews dancing while fire rages on Temple Mount lights up social media

Critics wrote scathing posts of how they were dancing as the Temple Mount was burning.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated: MAY 11, 2021 17:11
Israelis celebrate Jerusalem Day at the Western Wall while a tree burns next to the al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem, May 10, 2011 (Credit: Courtesy)
A video clip showing Israeli celebrants marking Jerusalem Day by dancing and singing in the Kotel plaza Monday night while a tree is seen aflame on the Temple Mount has gone viral.
The video captured a scene similar to those that Israelis have used to criticize Palestinians in the past – whether dancing on rooftops as Scud missiles landed on Tel Aviv buildings, or handing out sweets in Gaza following a successful Palestinian terror attack on Israelis.
Critics wrote scathing posts of how they were dancing as the Temple Mount was burning.
"Shocking," tweeted Joint List MK Ayman Odeh in a post accompanied by the video.
"This is a real scene from #Jerusalem today. Sorry, but the best description is: What a shit-show!" tweeted Haaretz reporter Noa Landau.

However, other social media posts pointed out that the primarily young, white-shirted religious nationalists would have been celebrating the day 0 marking the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 – regardless of the fire. The juxtaposition of the dancing and the fire was inadvertent.
Other tweets breathlessly claimed that the fire was the onset of Jews taking over control of the area and of the al-Aqsa compound on the Mount, the third-holiest site in Islam.
According to the Jerusalem Police, the fire was started due to errant firecrackers thrown by Palestinians.
The Foreign Ministry tweeted "A burning tree on the Temple Mount this evening, the result of violent protesters shooting fireworks at police."


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