A part of the Temple Mount 'tensions' story that BBC audiences were not told

In the early morning hours of July 27^th the funerals of the three terrorists who committed the attack at Lions’ Gate nearly two weeks earlier took place in their home town of Umm al Fahm in northern Israel.

“Thousands of people attended the funerals overnight Wednesday of the three Arab-Israeli terrorists who carried out a terror attack at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem two weeks ago, killing two Israeli Druze police officers with weapons they had smuggled onto the holy site.

Some 3,000 people were at the funerals in the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm, according to Hebrew media.

The burial processions included cheers and celebratory chants, as attendees vowed to become “martyrs for Al-Aqsa,” in reference to the mosque that sits on the Temple Mount along with the Dome of the Rock sanctuary.

Some flew the Palestinian flag. “Millions of martyrs are marching to Al-Aqsa,” the crowd chanted, in footage shown on Channel 2.

An unnamed member of the Jabarin family praised the attackers, telling Channel 2 they were “shahids” (martyrs), and saying “they received the respect they deserved with a mass funeral the area has not seen before.””

The organisers of the funerals claimed higher attendance:

“During the funeral procession, the three terrorists, buried alongside one another, were hailed as “shahids” (martyrs) while firecrackers were shot in the air, Palestinian flags were waved and the masses chanted: “By fire and with blood we will redeem you, Al-Aqsa,” and “You are the shahids of Al-Aqsa.”

The procession was led by the head of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, and other senior members of the outlawed organization. One participant said the funeral was one of the largest ever to take place in Umm al-Fahm, “as befitting the shahids honor.”

Funeral organizers claimed that over 10,000 people took part in the procession, while the Israel Police said it comprised less than 3,000 people.”

Writing at Ha’aretz a few days later, Moshe Arens noted that:

“Unfortunately, engraved in the memory of many will remain not only the criminal act by three Israeli Arabs from Umm al-Fahm, but even more disturbing, the mass celebrations there that accompanied their funerals. The gunmen evidently had the support of many in Umm al-Fahm, and others seem prepared to follow in their footsteps. Those who wanted to believe that it was the act of a few crazed individuals are sorely disappointed. The assailants killed two policemen and damaged the fabric of relationships between Israel’s Jewish and Arab citizens that will take a long time to repair.”

Those getting their news from the BBC, however, have no idea that those funerals took place and are completely unaware of the scenes that so disturbed the Israeli public in general and foremost the families of the two murdered policemen.