Thousands of Palestinians answered a call to action on Arab media by arriving at the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, on Friday morning, purportedly for prayer. Palestinians who arrived at the site reportedly chanted, “With our blood and souls we will redeem you, al-Aqsa.”
Al Aqsa mosque, literally ‘the further mosque’, is mentioned in the Koran as a place where Mohammad prayed. According to most Islamic scholars, it is located Al-Ju’ranah near Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. Some Muslims believe it is the grey domed mosque located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The Palestinian leadership has been using the term ‘Al Aqsa’ to refer to the golden-domed Dome of the Rock, Qubbat aṣ-Ṣakhra in Arabic, as well as the entire Temple Mount in an agenda of disinformation.
The Waqf, the custodial authority which managed the edifices on the Temple Mount, called the ruling a “flagrant violation” of the compound’s sanctity and a “clear provocation” for Muslims worldwide.
“This decision also has no legitimacy because we do not recognize Israeli law on al-Aqsa,” mosque director Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani told AFP.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Ibrahim Shtayyeh called on the United States to intervene to prevent Jews from having the right to pray on the Temple Mount. He also called on Arab countries to show solidarity with the Palestinians.
Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza recognized by many countries around the world as a terrorist organization, called the move a “blatant aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a clear declaration of a war that goes beyond political rights to an aggression against religion and sanctities”. The group said in a statement that the “resistance is ready and prepared to repel aggression and defend rights.”
The Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Yousef Al-Othaimeen, said in a statement that the ruling is a provocation to Muslims globally.
“Such illegal decisions constitute an unprecedented attack on the inalienable religious rights of the Islamic nation and its heritage, a provocation to the feelings of Muslims all over the world, and a violation of freedom of worship and the sanctity of holy places,” he said.
“We warn against Israel’s attempts to impose a new reality at the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Shtayyeh said on Thursday.
Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Fadi Al-Hadmi said Palestinians are “facing an open war at all aspects of life”.
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