The trial of Tom Nissani, one of the most prominent Temple Mount activists, reveals much about the treatment of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount by police.

In 2014, Nissani was arrested on suspicion of committing an offense involving a police officer in the performance of his duties.

According to the police, Nisani stopped in the middle of a visit to the Temple Mount and did not hear the policemen's instructions demanding that he continue the tour until the end. Nisani, who was a career soldier at the time, was arrested and held overnight in detention. The next day he was released under restrictive conditions.

The trial of Nisani began yesterday. During the initial hearing, Nisani's lawyer, Yitzhak Bam, asked the policeman who arrested him, why did he call the Arabs "locals?"

The policeman replied that the Jews were merely visiting the Temple Mount while the Arabs were in the area for 24 hours and they were the locals. The police admitted that despite the rioting by the Arabs, the police did not see fit to arrest the rioters.

Attorney Bam said in response: "The policemen could have been actors in the Theater of the Absurd. A group of Jews sat quietly near archaeological remains in the holiest place to which Jews could access. An organized group of Muslims attacked the Jews shouting 'Allah Akbar' and the police themselves testified that this was a threatening situation. Instead of dealing with the riot of the Arabs, the police demanded that the Jews leave. The police claim that in this situation the Arabs did not commit any offense and Tom Nisani bothered the police because he did not flee quickly enough from the place is absurd, but the conduct of the police stems from the distorted perception of the police that they see the Arabs as owners of the house and the Jews as visitors."