ISRAEL TO TURN HISTORIC MOSQUE INTO SYNAGOGUE

Occupied Al-Quds (Jerussalem), 19 Shawwal 1434/25 August 2013 (MINA) – The Israeli army has taken full control of a historic mosque in Jerusalem to turn it into a synagogue, in what has been considered the latest measures by Israel to Judaize the Muslim city.

Muslims are banned from entering the mosque, which is located in the village of An-Nabi Samuel in the northwest of Jerusalem.

The mosque was built in the 18th century and is an important holy site for Palestinians.

Israel occupied half of the mosque and transformed it into a synagogue in 1994 when the Palestinian Authority lost control of the region.

In August, Israel announced a similar plan for Nabi Daud Mosque which is located southwest of al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli officials have been trying to Judaize the holy Muslim city of Jerusalem in the past decades.

Earlier this month, the senior member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), Ahmed Qurei, warned that the Israeli government plans to destroy the Islamic and Arab identity of Jerusalem.

Israeli occupation has also increased its illegal settlement expansion following an upgrade of Palestine’s status at the UN to a non-member observer state on November 29, 2012.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbid construction on occupied lands. (T/P02/P04)

 

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)