RAMALLAH, Palestine and Jordan are coordinating their diplomatic efforts to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site located in Jerusalem’s Old City, from attempts by Israel and Jewish fanatics to change its historic status as a Muslim-only worship site, today said the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
“Political and diplomatic movement is being conducted by the Ministry with its Jordanian counterpart at all levels to provide protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and to confront the Israeli aggression, which aims to change the historical, legal and demographic reality in Jerusalem,” said the Foreign Ministry.
Jordan is officially the custodian in charge of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy places in occupied East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that as the Israeli state is escalating its aggression against the Palestinian people with extrajudicial killings, arrests and destruction in the cities, towns, and refugee camps, Israeli settler groups, on the other hand, have intensified calls on their zealot followers to break into Christian and Muslim holy places, foremost is Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Fanatic Jewish groups have called for butchering sheep as a sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during the Jewish Passover holiday, which starts Friday evening, in an effort to change the status quo at the Mosque, a step strongly condemned by the Palestinians who warned it could lead to a serious and dangerous reaction if the status of Al-Aqsa Mosque is compromised.
The Foreign Ministry held the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for what it said were “incitements’ by the Jewish groups and their dangerous repercussions on the entire region.
It also called on the US administration to pressure the Israeli government to put a stop to intrusions into Al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish groups.
Meanwhile, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs condemned in a statement calls by Jewish extremists to intensify the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning against allowing them to carry out practices that violate the sanctity of the holy mosque, stressing that it is a place of worship purely for Muslims.
Ministry spokesman Haitham Abu al-Ful stressed the need to respect the historical and legal situation in Jerusalem and its sanctities, and to stop all measures that impede the ability of worshipers to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque, especially during the month of Ramadan.
He said that the extremists’ incursions and provocative actions are a violation of the existing historical and legal status quo and international law.
Abu al-Ful stressed that all Israeli measures aimed at restricting Christians’ right to free and unrestricted access to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to practice their religious rites are rejected and condemned.
He stressed the need to stop all provocative and unilateral measures that would fuel conflict and fuel a culture of hatred and violence.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency