Jerusalem clerics thankful for Jordan’s efforts to defend city

AMMAN — The Islamic Supreme Committee in Jerusalem on Tuesday hailed His Majesty King Abdullah’s stance towards Islamic and Christian holy sites in the city. 

They highlighted King Abdullah’s directives to the government to exert all efforts to safeguard Al Aqsa Mosque, considering it a red line, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

At a meeting organised by the committee, Al Awqaf Department and Al Iftaa Department in Jerusalem, participants called on His Majesty to continue his efforts to stop Israeli practices of closing Al Aqsa Mosque and barring worshippers under a certain age from entering the compound, the third holiest shrine in Islam.

They also stressed that the mosque belongs only to Muslims, and the Monarch’s custodianship over holy sites in the city represents custodianship on behalf of the entire Umma.

Israeli authorities have repeatedly closed the gates of the mosque and prevented worshippers from entering. Also, they have attacked employees of the Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem, obstructed their work and allowed extremist Jews to enter the mosque under the protection of Israeli security forces.

Jordan has placed pressure on the Israeli government to halt the practices, with Israeli reports indicating that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the Knesset to ease the situation in the holy city.

The Islamic Supreme Committee was established after Israel occupied East Jerusalem in 1967, comprising key Muslim scholars who joined ranks to defend the holy places in the city.

The committee said in a statement that Israel, Israeli media outlets and Western politicians and media institutions use the term “the Temple Mount”, stressing that this is a wrong name as the shrine has one name: Al Aqsa Mosque, which belongs to the Muslim faith.

The committee, the Islamic Awqaf Department and Al Iftaa Department in Jerusalem stressed that the use of any other names for the compound “is merely a matter of faking facts and aimed at changing the current status quo of the compound”.

In another statement, the committee referred to what the media was circulating regarding a Jewish organisation that intends to split Al Aqsa Mosque in terms of time and place between Muslims and Jews.

The committee said that Knesset does not have the right to discuss such a “dangerous project, since it has no authority over the mosque”.

The statement stressed that Jerusalem is still an occupied city, and the occupation forces do not have the right to make any changes to occupied areas.