Israeli government officials yesterday condemned the actions of Palestinians who hurled abuse and chairs at a Saudi Arabian blogger visiting Jerusalem as a guest of the Jewish state.
The visitor, named by Israeli public radio as Mohammed Saud, was one of six invitees from Arab states brought by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to give them fresh viewpoints on the country.
Such visits have been held before, but Iraq and Saudi Arabia were taking part for the first time, the ministry said.
Delegates were expected to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, an official said.
Video posted online showed mainly young Palestinians spitting, cursing and throwing plastic chairs at Saud as he walked on Monday through the Old City of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
The spitting and abuse continued as he toured the al-Aqsa mosque complex.
“Go and pray with the Jews, go and pray in the Knesset [Israeli parliament]. What are you doing here?” one man shouted.
Ofir Gendelman, a spokesman for Netanyahu, described Saud as a “peace activist.”
“When he came to pray at the #AlAqsaMosque, Palestinian thugs attacked him & spat on him, thus defiling this holy place,” Gendelman wrote yesterday on Twitter.
“It was barbaric, impudent,” ministry spokesman Hassan Kabia said.
He would not identify the visitors, but described them as “social activists, bloggers and media people.”
Jerusalem and its holy sites are the most sensitive issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third-holiest site in Islam.
The visit comes as Israel seeks to improve ties with Gulf Arab countries, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.
The journalists were to visit Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, parliament and holy sites, among others, the ministry said in a statement.
It said it had “the aim of exposing the journalists — some of whom come from countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel — to Israeli positions on diplomatic and geopolitical issues.”
Jordan is also participating, the ministry said.
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