The National Conference for Jerusalem Calls on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to Take Action to Stop Al-Aqsa Violations and Prevent an Explosion in the Region

SadaNews - The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem confirmed that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is a safety valve and a gateway to peace in the entire region, while at the same time being a detonator for events in Palestine. The General Secretariat emphasized that the daily violation of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extreme settlers, the latest of which occurred yesterday, Sunday, during the anniversary of what is referred to as the "Destruction of the Temple," where about 3,000 settlers led by the extremist Itamar Ben Gvir desecrated it, constitutes a flagrant provocation to the feelings of 2 billion Muslims worldwide, as well as a challenge to the Palestinian people who are steadfast and defending the holy mosque. The conference noted in a statement regarding this matter today, Monday, that while settler groups, protected by occupation forces, violated the mosque, the Israeli police and the so-called Border Police prevented Muslim worshipers from entering the Old City and reaching the mosque, as they also prevented Christian brothers from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to perform their religious rituals.

The General Secretariat addressed the arbitrary and restrictive measures taken against Muslim worshipers and religious leaders in Jerusalem, noting the arrest and interrogation of His Eminence the Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Hussein last week and preventing him from entering the mosque for a renewable week under the pretext that his sermon the Friday before last included incitement.

The General Secretariat also pointed out that the occupation forces set up dozens of military checkpoints at the entrances and doors of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the Old City, in addition to central military checkpoints, including the Qalandiya checkpoint, which prevents any citizen from the West Bank, even over fifty years old, from reaching the mosque, especially on Fridays, as happened during last Ramadan, in an intent to torment and deprive them of performing religious rituals, which is a right guaranteed in all international norms and agreements.

The General Secretariat stated that Israel aims through these arbitrary measures to isolate Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings in the West Bank and the occupied interior, noting that the capital city is witnessing the worst conditions on all levels since the Gulf War in 1991 until today. It highlighted that the closure of the city indicates that Israel, with U.S. support and a green light, is unilaterally determining the political status of Jerusalem without any negotiations with the Palestinian side, which effectively cancels all previous political agreements that postponed the issue of Jerusalem to final status negotiations.

The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem addressed the Hashemite guardianship over Islamic and Christian sanctities. It stated that the occupation authorities disregard the terms of this guardianship that prevent the Israeli side from monopolizing the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and taking any measures that would alter its Islamic identity. It confirmed that the mosque, encompassing an area of 144 dunams, is the exclusive property of Muslims alone, and no one disputes their ownership of it.

The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem issued a call to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Republic of Egypt for immediate action and measures that would halt the incursions of extremist settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque. The General Secretariat stated in its statement that the wide incursion of extremist settlers led by Ben Gvir on Sunday sends a message to the Islamic world in particular that Al-Aqsa is in real danger and is on the brink of spatial division after the occupation authorities have imposed temporal division for years. The General Secretariat considered that silence regarding this heinous crime amounts to undisclosed acceptance by the entire world of the violations and assaults on a sacred place of concern to 2 billion Muslims, and also resigns to the imposed reality of occupation, thus giving Netanyahu's government a green light to proceed with the process of spatial division. The General Secretariat emphasized that limiting responses to statements of condemnation and denunciation does not deter an oppressive occupation force that plans day and night to demolish the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and build a so-called temple in its place. Occupation soldiers, coinciding with Ben Gvir's incursion into the mosque, stormed dozens of undestroyed homes in the Gaza Strip, removing models and pictures of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque hanging on the walls and replacing them with images of the alleged temple, indicating that Israel is waging a religious war centered around Al-Aqsa. The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem warns that the coming days bear within them Israel's malevolent intentions towards Al-Aqsa Mosque and Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem, calling on everyone to be vigilant and alert so that what is not desired does not occur. Finally, the General Secretariat stated that Jerusalem is the key to war and the key to peace, and that aggression against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is the sure formula for igniting sparks of a religious war across the entire region that will never be extinguished.