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Arabs are too busy with in-fighting, says Al-Aqsa imam

July 22, 2017 at 3:01 pm

Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri in Jerusalem on January 6, 2016 [Mahfouz Abu Turk/ApaImages]

The veteran Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque and former Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, said on Friday that the Arab states are too busy fighting each other to worry about the Noble Sanctuary, Aljazeera.net has reported. Speaking during the Friday sermon, Sheikh Sabri said that the Israeli occupation authorities had placed the electronic metal detectors at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to test the will of the Arab world.

He explained:

It is not a test for us because our stance, as Jerusalemites, is very clear…but it is a test for the will of the Arab states who are diplomatically weak due to their fighting against each other.

Sabri was hit by two rubber-coated bullets fired by Israel’s security forces earlier this week as he was protesting against the measures imposed on the mosque by the Zionist government. The 78-year old Imam noted that the Arabs are busy buying weapons “to kill each other.”

Israel army to Netanyahu: ‘Remove metal detectors from Al-Aqsa’

The Islamic authorities in Jerusalem called for all of the city’s mosques to stay closed and ordered the Friday prayer to be performed only inside Al-Aqsa. However, Israeli police – reinforced by five extra battalions – prevented most people from entering the sanctuary.

Under the slogan of “Day of Rage”, many Palestinian leaders called for worshippers to perform the Friday prayer near Al-Aqsa Mosque or at least at the Israeli checkpoints if they could not pass through.

Follow the Live Blog: Day of Rage at Al-Aqsa Mosque