JERUSALEM (AA): Over 1,600 Jewish settlers forced their way into East
Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last week to mark the
Jewish holiday of Sukkot, a Palestinian official said Tuesday.
Firas al-Dibs, a spokesman for the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf (a
Jordan-run organization responsible for overseeing the city’s Islamic
sites), told Anadolu Agency that a total of 1,640 Jewish settlers —
backed by at least 245 Israeli security personnel — had forced their way
into the mosque compound last week to mark the weeklong Sukkot holiday.
Settlers, he said, had repeatedly toured the Al-Aqsa complex, passing
by both the Al-Qibali and Dome of the Rock mosques, where, he added,
they “performed Talmudic rituals”.
During the same period, the Israeli authorities had restricted the
entry of Muslim worshipers into the site, according to al-Dibs.
Over the course of the weeklong holiday, the official asserted, the
Israeli army had put up roadblocks at the mosque compound’s gates,
stopping hundreds of Muslim worshipers from entering the site for
“security reasons”.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents the world’s third holiest site. Jews,
for their part, refer to the area as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it
was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
In September 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli
politician Ariel Sharon sparked what later became known as the “Second
Intifada,” a five-year-long popular uprising in which thousands of
Palestinians were killed.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, in which the Al-Aqsa is located,
during the 1967 Middle East War. It formally annexed the entire city in
1980, claiming it as its capital in a move never recognized by the
international community.
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