The National Popular Conference for Jerusalem Calls on the World to Break the Siege Imposed on the Holy City

SadaNews - The General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem has called on the entire international community to take swift action to break the severe Israeli siege imposed on the holy city, by facilitating religious trips to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, as well as sending tourist delegations to the markets of the old town, which is experiencing its worst economic situation since the outbreak of the Gaza War on October 8, 2023.

The General Secretariat stated in a statement today, Saturday - yesterday - that the city of Jerusalem needs to be visited from every deep space to save it from the repercussions of the severe Israeli siege imposed on it since the Gulf War until today, pointing out that the occupying authorities have increased their restrictions and arbitrary measures during the war of extermination. The General Secretariat denounced these unjustifiable measures which reflect a racist mentality that denies the existence of the other and fights any manifestation of solidarity with Jerusalem and its people and emphasizes its Arab and Islamic identity.

The General Secretariat confirmed that the continued cessation of both religious and tourist trips will worsen the economic situation in the city on one hand, and boost the settlers' domination over the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque on the other hand, calling on the Arab and Islamic worlds to take urgent action in this regard until the siege imposed on the holy city is lifted.

The General Secretariat of the conference noted in its statement that the occupying authorities have deployed dozens of additional military checkpoints at the entrances to the surrounding villages and towns to prevent their residents from reaching Jerusalem, as part of tightening the siege across the homeland amid a war whose repercussions are still ongoing, having set up no less than a thousand gates and barriers at the entrances of villages, towns, and cities to tighten the noose around our people and oppress and humiliate them.

In this context, the General Secretariat of the National Popular Conference for Jerusalem called on all Palestinian, Arab, and international human rights organizations to raise their voices and activate their actions in all influential forums to compel Israel to remove these gates and barriers that have caused deaths, prevented access to places of work and study, as well as agricultural lands, especially during the current olive harvest season which has witnessed a broad attack by settler gangs on unarmed olive pickers, particularly in the villages of Jerusalem and northern and central West Bank.

The General Secretariat considered the silence over this blatant aggression and this undeclared war in Jerusalem and the West Bank as a blatant complicity with the last occupation in modern history. The General Secretariat stated that international solidarity delegations had stood by olive pickers in Palestine in past years, confronting their attacks and preventing their spread, which confirms the utility of the presence and participation of these delegations for Palestinian farmers and reinforcing their steadfastness in their land.

It called for facilitating such delegations immediately as was done with the Gaza Strip during the bloody war that destroyed humanity, places, history, and geography in this cherished part of the homeland.

On the other hand, the General Secretariat condemned the silence of the Islamic and Arab world regarding the daily violations of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the aggression against the people of Jerusalem, as occurred last week with the street vendors in Bab al-Amoud, which were demolished under the pretext that they represent an unmodern appearance, claiming that the municipality seeks to reorganize the place by establishing modern commercial kiosks. The conference statement questioned: Is the sight of the vendors unmodern while the occupation that Judaizes the place and uproots the Jerusalemite from his roots is modern? It affirmed that distorting truths and history is nothing new for the occupying state.

Finally, the General Secretariat emphasized that the Arab and Islamic identity of Jerusalem will not be erased by rejected arbitrary measures; rather, it strengthens the individual and collective resolve to remain in the place and defend it with precious and dear efforts, for Jerusalem is the jewel of the crown and the eternal capital of our independent Palestinian state.