Palestinians Condemn Silence over Al-Aqsa Breaches

Israeli police forces arrested Tuesday one of al-Aqsa Mosque’s guards and took him to al-Qishleh detention center for investigation.

Local sources affirmed that Fadi Alyan, a guard at the holy shrine, was arrested today by Israeli police, bringing the overall number of Jerusalemite detainees over the past 24 hours to 17. Earlier Tuesday, 12 Jerusalemite youths, and minors were detained while leaving the Mosque, according to Palestinian local agencies.

Palestinian Religious Affairs Minister Yusuf Adeis on Tuesday slammed Arab and Muslim “silence” in the face of increasingly frequent incursions by extremist Jewish settlers into East Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“Incursions into Al-Aqsa by Jewish settlers during the holy month of Ramadan emanates from the Arab and Muslim world’s silence, along with inaction on the part of the international community,” Anadolu Agency reported.
He went on to describe the recent settler incursions as “flagrant violations of Arab and Muslim sentiments, particularly during the last ten days of Ramadan [the Muslim fasting month]”, which will end in the first week of July.

Adeis also condemned Arab and Muslim “inaction” in the face of what he described as the ongoing “Judaization” of East Jerusalem and violations committed by the Israeli authorities against Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied city.

He went on to say that his ministry was in contact with the Jordanian authorities (which are technically responsible for East Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites) with a view to “halting Israeli violations and allowing Muslim and Christian worshippers to perform their religious obligations”.

For its part, Hamas spokesman Husam Badran called on the Palestinians to intensify their presence at the holy al-Aqsa Mosque in response to the Israeli assaults on the Muslim worshipers.

Badran said in a press statement that Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa during the holy month of Ramadan are a serious provocation to Muslims. The anti-occupation Jerusalem Intifada will keep going and the Palestinians will continue to sacrifice their lives for al-Aqsa until the Israeli assaults are over, he vowed.

The Hamas leader further hailed the Muslim sit-inners who have stood on their guard to ongoing attempts by Israeli settler gangs to storm al-Aqsa on Sunday and Monday under heavy police protection. A number of Muslim sit-inners were injured as they tried to thwart the break-ins.

Sunday and Monday saw clashes in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Muslim worshipers and Israeli police after the latter allowed large groups of extremist Jewish settlers to enter the area, which is frequently a flashpoint for violence.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount”, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Some extremist Jewish groups have called for the demolition of the Al-Aqsa Mosque so that a Jewish temple might be built in its place.

In 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Second Intifada” — a popular uprising against the Israeli occupation in which thousands of Palestinians were killed.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the capital of the Jewish state in a move never recognized by the international community.