Palestine: warning about raids at Al Aqsa Mosque during Jewish holidays

Palestine’s Mufti Mohammad Hussein warned on Monday about Israeli raids at Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s Old City during the Jewish holiday season. The mufti’s statement came in response to calls by Jewish groups for their followers to show up in large numbers at the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam, during the holiday period.

“Such calls are a dangerous escalation intended to change the status quo of the holy place as a Muslim-only place of worship,” said Mufti Mohammad. “They are made in the context of the frantic campaign by the Israeli occupation government to Judaise the holy city of Jerusalem.”

The Islamic scholar pointed out that Israel is Judaising the city and wants to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque temporally and spatially. “The ultimate intention is to prevent Muslims from getting to the mosque,” he explained.

READ: Scores of Israeli settlers force their way into Al-Aqsa complex

For that reason, he said, Muslims must be present in Al-Aqsa at all times in order to undermine Israeli Jewish attempts to desecrate it and change its status. The mufti called on Muslims around the world to do what they can to protect Al Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem from Israel’s Judaisation plot.

Extremist Jewish organisations are seeking to destroy everything within the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa and build a temple. They take advantage of the Jewish holidays to urge their followers to go to the Muslim holy site in an effort to change its current status and eventually take it over. Israeli police provide protection for the fanatical Jewish settlers who enter Al-Aqsa Mosque.