Targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque...an attack on an entire nation

The chapters of the Israeli conspiracy reach their peak when it is thought of tightening the noose on the worshipers coming to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the month of Ramadan, the month of worship and recitation, the month of forgiveness and contentment, but the Netanyahu government and the Israeli security services have another opinion.

Yesterday, the Israeli media reported a recommendation made by the police, the Shin Bet and other security agencies to allow only ten thousand worshippers to perform Friday prayers inside the holy courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that the Israeli government would make the final decision in the near future.

In the details of the recommendation, the police say that only men over 55, women over 50, and children under 12 will be allowed to enter Al-Aqsa to perform prayers, meaning that more than two-thirds of citizens wishing to perform the rituals and rites of the holy month will be deprived.

Where is the freedom of worship in such a decision, if it is actually implemented by the Israeli government, and its police, which always announces in its statements before and during religious occasions, that it is keen to provide comfort and calm and maintain public order for the security and safety of worshippers, whether they are Muslims, Christians or Jews, and that it guarantees freedom of worship, or is this propaganda for media consumption only, and for a purpose in Jacob’s soul?

The blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque was built on purely Arab Islamic Waqf land, and Israel and its settlers have nothing to do with it, neither directly nor indirectly. It is not permissible for any party, government, party, faction, or minister to attack the mosque of Muslims, their Qiblah, and their historical destination. The Israeli government must avoid making decisions based on political grounds, in revenge against the Palestinians and as punishment for them in light of the ongoing war against our people everywhere. It must know very well that our people are aware of the nature of the plans and conspiracies being hatched against Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is considered a red line, crossing which means declaring war, not only against our Palestinian people, but against the entire Islamic nation.

Isn't it enough that Al-Aqsa Mosque suffers from unjust Israeli measures, led by settlers' raids and Talmudic rituals, their violation of the sanctity and holiness of the mosque, the actions of police officers against worshippers, and the campaign of arrests and deportations of worshippers, sheikhs and imams, most notably Dr. Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Secretary of the Pulpit? We are now faced with chapters of a new conspiracy targeting one of the holiest and purest places on earth, during the greatest month, for flimsy reasons, arguments and justifications.

Palestinians are determined to perform prayers and worship rituals throughout the holy month from the early hours of dawn until the end of the Tarawih prayers. This is an acquired right guaranteed by religious and heavenly laws. Israel and its government must respect privacy in this sensitive aspect, instead of violating the sanctity of religion and Muslims.

Confronting such a decision comes by staying at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and making the pilgrimage to it, to thwart the opportunity for the Israelis and their ambitions, while emphasizing the necessity of taking appropriate decisions by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, as the guardian of the Christian and Islamic religious sanctities in the city of Jerusalem, in order to preserve the firm Jordanian position that stems from the fact that the city is an occupied land, and the responsibility to protect it and its sanctities is an international responsibility in accordance with international law and resolutions.