Red Heifer Birth in Galilee Raises Palestinian Fears Over Al-Aqsa

Why is the birth of a red heifer in the Galilee raising alarm bells in Palestine?

In mid-June, the Temple Institute announced the birth of a flawless, completely red heifer in the Galilee, making it a potential candidate for a rare Jewish ritual.

It's alleged that only nine red heifers have existed since the time of Moses.

According to rabbis referring to the Book of Numbers attributed to Moses, the ashes of a flawless red heifer, after sacrificing it, are required to putify Jewish believers from the impurity of death after attending a funeral or being in a hospital,

a requirement to enter the Temple. The Temple Institute also states that the red heifer is a necessary step toward rebuilding the Third Temple in Al-Quds.

But what appears to be a religious ritual is a serious danger for Palestinians and the Islamic world.

Because the alleged Third Temple will be built on the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount, and to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock stand today.

This means that this birth will grant permission for thousands of settlers to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Institute considers the timing of this birth meeting strict biblical requirements, coinciding with the difficult war Israel ignited in Lebanon, to represent a miraculous divine sign, thereby blessing further settler violence and offering a God-like narrative to lift up morals,

following the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding imposing the end of Israeli aggressions on Lebanon.

But these fears are not new. Palestinians have warned for decades that the Judaization of Al-Quds and growing settlers' Temple movement around Al-Aqsa risk culminating in the destruction of the Mosque, even more so in a context marked by absolute impunity,

intensifies settler violence, settlement expansion and multi-front war crimes across the region.