[ 15/03/2010 - 04:27 PM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Preacher of the Aqsa Mosque Sheikh Ikrima Sabri issued on Sunday an urgent appeal to all Palestinians to be alert to the Israeli preparations to open a mythical synagogue tomorrow and head to the holy Aqsa Mosque to defend it by all means.
In a statement, Sheikh Sabri warned that the hurva (ruin) synagogue is a prelude to the building of the alleged temple of Solomon on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque, affirming that the story of this synagogue is fictitious and was made to pave the way towards the demolition of the holy Mosque.
He noted that the higher Islamic council and Jerusalemite organizations issued a statement to call on all Palestinians at home to travel to the Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday to defend it against the dangers threatening it.
The preacher highlighted that the Palestinians alone cannot stand in the face of the Israeli occupation, calling on all Arab and Muslim peoples and governments to support them in these critical moments.
In a related development, Haaretz newspaper reported that the Israeli police deployed today reinforcements of 2,500 policemen in east Jerusalem in preparations for the opening ceremony to be held for the synagogue and tightened its restrictions on the entry of Palestinians to the Aqsa Mosque.
The Israeli police had already deployed more than 3,000 policemen in Jerusalem.
The newspaper quoted Israeli chief of police Dudi Cohen as saying that the Israeli police are ready and present throughout Jerusalem and will act in accordance to their assessment of the situation as well as intelligence information.
For their part, extremist Jewish groups have launched a campaign of incitement against the Palestinians, Christians and Muslims, calling on them to leave what they claimed the land of Israel.
In a statement they distributed on the streets of Jerusalem on Monday, the groups said that it was written in their Torah that the land of Israel is a small land, belongs only to the Jewish people and others are prohibited to live in it permanently.
The statement blatantly called on Palestinians to leave Israel in order to ensure peace.
In light of this serious Israeli escalation against Jerusalem and the Islamic holy sites in Palestine, the national and Islamic forces in the holy city called in a joint statement on citizens to continue their vigil at the Aqsa Mosque and visit it for prayers in preparation for any settlers’ attempt to attack it.
Their statement called for a general commercial strike for two hours on Sunday and today.
For his part, Arab Knesset member Ibrahim Sarsour strongly denounced in a press statement the unprecedented Israeli escalation against Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque, warning that this escalation would explode the whole region and the world.
Sarsour stressed that what is happening is a blatant Israeli attempt to impose a policy of fait accompli through ensuring a Jewish majority in east Jerusalem in order to make it impossible for Palestinians to demand Jerusalem as a capital of their independent state.
Israeli troops storm Aqsa Mosque, force out 20 Palestinians
[ 15/03/2010 - 11:09 AM ]
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Dozens of Israeli troops stormed Sunday evening the southern part of the Aqsa Mosque and forced out 20 Palestinian worshipers who held a vigil inside.
Local sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the troops raided Al-Qebli Mosque, part of the Aqsa Mosque, physically assaulted the Palestinians inside it, prevented them from entering again and confiscated their ID cards.
Al-Qebli Mosque is located in the southern side of the Aqsa Mosque, where male worshipers pray towards the Qeblah direction in Makkah.
In a related incident, Al-Bayarik foundation said that it’s convoy of buses arrived in the occupied city of Jerusalem on Sunday afternoon despite the Israeli restrictions imposed on movement.
The foundation added that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) erected barriers along the roads leading to Jerusalem, but everyone was on those buses was determined to reach the holy city and Mosque regardless of what would happen.
For his part, Palestinian lawmaker Ibrahim Abu Salem warned that Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque are exposed to a barbaric Zionist attack and scheme threatening their existence.
In a press statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Abu Salem stressed that the Israeli attack on the Islamic holy sites in Palestine is like playing with fire.
“When Israel declared the establishment of the ruin synagogue, it would be natural that the people of Jerusalem would move to support the Aqsa Mosque,” he highlighted.
The lawmaker added that the Aqsa Mosque belongs to all Muslims around the world and not only to Palestinians, and thus it is an obligation on all Muslims to defend and support the holy city and Mosque.
In a new development, senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan said that his Movement along with other Palestinian factions and university professors will participate on Monday in a conference on Jerusalem that will be held in Gaza city.
Radwan added that the conference will focus on warning the Arab and Muslim nations of the grave dangers threatening Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque and galvanizing them into action.
The conference will also call for a general strike on Tuesday in conjunction with the opening of what is called the ruin synagogue.
[ 15/03/2010 - 04:53 PM ]
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, on Monday asked the Arab summit scheduled to be held late March in Libya to adopt firm decisions in support of the Aqsa Mosque.
Bahar, who was opening a photo exhibition for Jerusalem in Gaza city, said that occupied Jerusalem was not in need of more condemnation statements but rather practical decisions.
The speaker asked the Arab League to cancel its backing for indirect negotiations between the PA in Ramallah and the Israeli occupation authority especially when they coincided with the violations against Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Jerusalemites on Monday clashed with the Israeli occupation police in various areas of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources told the PIC that the confrontations took place in the Old City, Tur, Aisawiya, Ras Al-Amud and Salahudddin street only hours before the official inauguration of the so-called ruins synagogue near the Aqsa Mosque.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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