Abbas hails Egyptian presenter for defending Al-Aqsa

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent a thank you letter to Egyptian TV presenter Tawfiq Okasha expressing his deep thanks to him for defending the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, local media reports said yesterday.

The letter to Okasha, which was published on the Palestinian news agency Wafa‘s website, read: “The President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas expresses his deep thanks to the courageous campaign by the director of the Egyptian Al-Faraeen channel Tawfiq Okasha who called for the brothers and the sons of the Ummah to visit glorious Jerusalem and to perform prayers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.”

Abbas said such visits reinforce the steadfastness of the Jerusalemites and the residents of Bethlehem, as well as all Palestinians.

The president wished the channel continued success in its distinctive informational and journalistic work.

Okasha is a notorious Egyptian journalist and he is known for his views against Islamist groups in Egypt and abroad, including Hamas in Gaza.

He raised his shoe on air several times threatening to use it to beat Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas leaders. He also said several times that Egyptians who protest against the coup leader Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi deserve to be beaten with his shoe.