Jerusalem Committee deplores Israeli provocative measures

AMMAN — Secretary-General of the Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs Abdullah Kanaan on Sunday said that Yom Kippur for Jews appears to be a religious occasion, yet it is full of provocative, racist and colonial practices against the Palestinian people.

Kanaan said that these practices include repeated attacks on Palestinians and intensifying raids on Islamic and Christian holy sites, mainly at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Kanaan added that this holiday is accompanied by religious rituals and aggressive measures, including the prohibition of movement, the closure of roads and the total restrictions on Palestinians. Kanaan said that compassion, tolerance, respect for others' beliefs and freedom of worship are deliberately absent from Jewish holidays such as Yom Kippur.

The secretary-general  said that Jewish holidays are always associated with brutal memories of the Israeli occupation's practices against the Palestinian people. Monday marks the anniversary of the 1996 Al Aqsa Intifada (uprising), which was triggered when the occupation opened a tunnel under Al Aqsa Mosque as part of its Judaisation operations in the occupied city of Jerusalem. 

These provocations led to a popular uprising that resulted in 63 deaths and 1,600 injuries among Palestinians, with 458 of them in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Kanaan said that the committee affirms global public opinion, including the opinion of legal and international institutions and world media, that “Jewish holidays have become a haven for the policy of apartheid”. 

He said that this gives the responsibility to international media and legitimate actors to expose Israel's policy and protect the Palestinian people from such crimes. 

Kanaan stressed that Jordan, in its capacity as the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, will continue to support the Palestinian people and exert diplomatic efforts in all international arenas, so that the Palestinian people can obtain their rights in an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.