INCURSIONS INTO AL-AQSA ARE ESTABLISHING A RELIGIOUS CONFLICT
Ramallah, 2 Rabi’ul Akhir 1434/ 12 February 2013 (MINA) – The Palestinian government in Ramallah has described the latest incursions by dozens of Jewish settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque as “another example of extremism and organised state terrorism”.
The settlers were accompanied during the incursion by an Israeli television crew and protected by police officers as the conflict takes an increasingly religious turn, according to the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports received by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA), Tuesday.
In a media statement the Ministry of Information in Ramallah said that making a film about the so-called “Third Temple” in the courtyard of the Noble Sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, and under the protection of the Israeli police, reflects “a mentality of extremism, deep hatred and open terrorism”.
The ministry demanded that the international community should take action and not keep silent about Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and religious sites in occupied Jerusalem. “Silence from the rest of the world gives Israel a green light to carry on with their desecration of Muslim and Christian sites,” said the ministry.
Israeli actions include daily aggression, Judaisation policies and ethnic cleansing, and the prevention of Palestinians from praying in mosques and churches. Extremist groups and illegal settlers are, meanwhile, given a free hand by Israeli soldiers in the occupied Holy City.
11 thousand settlers and soldiers raided al-Aqsa Mosque in 2012
Al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage said in a report that number of Jewish settler and elements of Israeli forces and intelligence service, storming and desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque, has significantly increased in 2012.
A statistical report, prepared by teams of al-Aqsa Foundation for Waqf and Heritage and the Foundation for Construction of al-Aqsa and Holy Sites, stated that nearly 11 thousand settlers and soldiers, in their military uniforms, stormed al-Aqsa Mosque during 2012. This number was 5 thousand in 2011.
The report also pointed to the different forms of raids which increase during the “Jewish holiday seasons”, noting that the settlers perform during the raids biblical and Talmudic rituals in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Aqsa Foundation reported that the mosque has witnessed last year incursions by Israeli religious, political and judicial leaders, accompanied by suggestions to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews.
The Israeli authorities and settlers have also organized many Talmudic Anglo-Israeli concerts near Al-Aqsa Mosque under the slogan of accelerating the construction of the alleged temple.
According to the report, the occupation has deliberately allowed around 300 thousand foreign tourists to enter al-Aqsa Mosque during last year, without taking into account its sanctity and sacredness to Muslims.
For his part; Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in the Palestinian 1948-occupied territories, told PIC: “The occupation seeks to escalate its aggression against Jerusalem in general and al-Aqsa Mosque in particular, by intensifying incursions into al-Aqsa Mosque, and performing Talmudic prayers inside it.”
He stressed that Israel attempts to divide al-Aqsa, as it did in the Ibrahimi mosque in al-Khalil. (T/P-08/E1)
Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)
