Israeli soldiers bar young men under forty-five from the al-Aqsa compound

Evidence

“You’ll never get in!” they told him, since the Israelis won’t let any male under forty-five into the al-Aqsa compound. But he was determined to try. He took his passport and told them he’d be back by late afternoon. He shared a taxi to the drop-off point. In Jerusalem’s old city, he worked his way through the crowds in the narrow alleys, looking for the entrance to the mosque. When he found it, a small metal door, a phalanx of soldiers stood in his path. He tried to walk through the line, but one of the soldiers began yelling at him. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 539

Categorization

• QUESTION: The age-based restriction on al-Aqsa access (no males under 45) is a striking demographic control detail — worth confirming the current policy and how it fluctuates.
• CANDY: Israel bars males under forty-five from al-Aqsa — a neat, narrow fact for a conversation about how religious access is policed.