By Elad Benari
The Popular Resistance Committees terrorist organization threatened Israel on Tuesday, warning it that any harm to the Al-Aqsa mosque would “open the gates of hell against the Zionist enemy.”
In a statement the organization issued, it stressed its commitment to protecting the dignity of the mosque, which it claimed is being “contaminated by the Zionists”, through the masses of the Islamic nation which has started waking up and meeting its religious commitment towards “Palestine” and towards the Al-Aqsa mosque.
The statement further noted that the Israeli violation of Islamic holy places in Jerusalem was made possible because Israel saw the helplessness of the Muslims for decades, and now the time has come to mobilize the Islamic nation to action and “save” the Al-Aqsa mosque from the “Zionist impurity.”
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the former mufti of Jerusalem, said in this regard that the area of the Al-Aqsa mosque, including the Al-Buraq Wall (the Arabic term for the Western Wall) belongs only to Muslims, and Jews have no right to it.
Sabri expressed his strong opposition to an agreement that would allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount, in an arrangement similar to the one that exists in the Cave of the Patriarchs. There recently have been growing calls to create a partition between two sections of the Temple Mount, one for Jewish use and the other for Muslims.
The Arab statements make no mention of the fact that the Waqf, which was left in charge of the Temple Mount following Jerusalem’s reunification in 1967, has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the Jewish holy site. The decision to leave the Temple Mount in the hands of the Waqf was made by then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan.
At the entrance to the Temple Mount, a Waqf sign says, “The Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and everything in it is Islamic property”.
Police, in an attempt to appease the Waqf, discriminate against Jews. They limit the number of Jewish worshippers allowed on the Temple Mount at one time in order to prevent conflict with Muslim worshippers. They often close the Mount to Jews in response to Muslim riots – despite evidence that Muslim riots have been planned in advance for the specific purpose of forcing Jews out.
In July, the Arab League released a statement warning Israel to stay away from the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The statement warned the “occupation authorities” against interfering with the mosque. “The city of Al-Quds [Jerusalem] and at its head the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is a red line that must not be crossed, and any attack on it will definitely endanger the safety and stability of the entire region,” it stated.
