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Ramallah: A group of Jewish settlers
on Monday stormed the Al-Aqsa
Mosque Compound for prayers, a Palestinian official said.
Sheikh Azzam Al-Khatib, the head of Islamic Waqf department in
occupied Jerusalem, said that 14 settlers entered the complex
through the Al-Magharebah gate and started provoking the Muslim
worshipers.
They later entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza under the guard of Israeli police
and Border Guard officers.
He added that the
settlers move is part of “Israeli measures to Judaize what has
been left of Jerusalem “by intensifying the Jewish presence in it
and de facto policy to set aside time for Jewish worshipers on the
Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound,” referring to a bill by rightist Israeli
Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad.
In August, Eldad, of rightist National Union party, proposed in
his bill that a daily division that would allow each religious
group to access the “Temple Mount” (Al-Aqsa Mosque Complex) during
its usual daily prayer times.
Jews have three set prayer times on
weekdays, while Muslims have five.
Eldad also proposed giving each
group full access on its holidays. When holidays overlap, he was
quoted by the rightist Channel 7 television, the day would be
split between the two faiths.
The Israeli MK said that his
proposal is reminiscent of the arrangement in Al-Ibrahimi Mosque
(the Cave of the Patriarchs) in West Bank city of Hebron.
Al-Ibrahimi Mosque is the second holiest Islamic site in
Palestinian territories after Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied
Jerusalem.
The mosque was divided into Muslim and Jewish sections
by an Israeli government special committee called “Shamgar
committee” after a 1994 massacre that took place in the mosque
when a Jewish occupier opened fire on Muslim worshippers killing
and injuring 26 at Fajr (dawn) prayer.
Since then, Israeli
authorities have violated Muslim rights in the Ibrahimi Mosque by
restricting Muslims to praying in the mosque.
The authorities gave Jewish
occupiers access to the Muslim holy site which Israeli forces
close for Jewish holidays.
The occupiers desecrated this holy
mosque and often embarrassed and ridicule Muslims.
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