A view of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Photo: wiki commons.

A 20 year old London man was told to remove his kippah (Jewish headpiece) while visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem recently.

“Remove your skullcap, this is a holy place,” he was told.

Considered one of the holiest sites on earth in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, the Temple Mount is currently under the control of Islamic Waqf, while Israeli police enforce a rule banning non-Muslims from praying at the site in order to avoid Arab violence near the landmark.

“I have visited the Temple Mount before as part of a religious group of Jews, we had all worn Kippot with no response from anyone, I think this time the Waqf thought they could single me out because we looked like a group of foreign tourists and I was the only one wearing a Kipah”, the man, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

Israeli Police, who normally escort Jewish tourists during their visit to the site, were not present during the incident. The Londoner decided to leave rather than remove his headpiece.

“I have experienced anti-Semitism in England, but I never thought that in Judaism’s holiest site I would be subjugated to such discrimination,” he said.