The ceaseless call for safeguarding Jerusalem

His Majesty King Abdullah underscored the importance of stopping all illegal and provocative Israeli measures in Jerusalem that violate the historical and legal status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif and push towards further escalations.

In a series of phone calls on Monday with Arab, European, and UN leaders, the King discussed the need to step up all efforts at the regional and international levels to cease the Israeli escalation in Jerusalem and end violations against the city, its holy sites and people.

The King instructed the government, in a virtual meeting he chaired on Sunday, to continue its regional and international efforts and communications to stop Israeli escalations, and to lobby for an active international position that exerts pressure on Israel. The King stressed that protecting Jerusalem and its holy sites will remain a priority for Jordan, directing the government to dedicate all capacities to safeguard these sites.

Once again, His Majesty sends a clear message to the world about the centrality of Jerusalem and its priority for the Kingdom and its importance for achieving much-desired peace based on the two-state solution.

For the Hashemite leadership, the Kingdom and Jordanians, Jerusalem has always been a top priority, and the issue should be tackled via peace talks rather than illegal and provocative unilateral Israeli measures.

The Hashemites’ role in safeguarding and protecting the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem dates back to the era of Sharif Hussein Bin Ali, the great grandfather of the King, a legal and historical role that cannot be ignored or violated by any power as it has won acknowledgement and recognition by the entire international community.

Earlier this week, Arab and European countries stressed the need for respecting Jordan’s role in caring for the holy sites in Jerusalem, and respecting the sanctity of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif. Several Arab states and European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and Italy, called for respecting the status quo of the holy places in Jerusalem and the Kingdom’s role in these places.

Jerusalem, which is supposed to be the city of peace, has been witnessing increasing incursions and aggressions by Israeli forces and settlers coupled with restrictions on worshippers who seek to perform their prayers in the mosque.

By continuing its violations of the sanctity of Jerusalem’s Al Haram Al Sharif compound, which houses Al Aqsa Mosque, Israel is escalating its provocations against the entire Arab and Muslim worlds. These Israeli actions violate the 1994 Jordan-Israel peace treaty that recognises the Kingdom’s custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, as well as international resolutions calling on Israel to withdraw from the lands it grabbed by force in the 1967 war, including Jerusalem.

Today’s violations at Al Aqsa Mosque and against worshippers are even more serious and there are increasingly brazen Jewish acts in Al Aqsa Mosque to desecrate the holy site and alter the legal and historical status quo.

In his calls, King Abdullah warned that the unilateral Israeli measures in the Palestinian Territories could compromise the two-state solution and prospects of comprehensive peace.

Today, the world as a whole should still have faith that a just and lasting peace is the only answer to all Middle East problems, and certainly not the one-sided unilateral measures to impose spatial and temporal division in the mosque. It is the duty of all to make Israel understand this.

The latest infringements and violations by Israel would serve its aim of perpetuating its occupation of Arab land and thus staying away from any peace talks.

Intensified efforts by all are needed to respect the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem and to put an end to any further Israeli measures that would only escalate the situation and that would not serve peace, which is in the interest of all.