Muslim leader slams ties with Zionist Entity
A high-ranking Muslim Waqf (Islamic religious endowment) official in East Jerusalem has lashed out at Arab and Muslim governments that are normalising relations with "Zionist Entity".
Adnan al-Husseini, Head of the Supreme Muslim Council, the official body overseeing the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Haram Al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) of Jerusalem complained the moves are encouraging Zionist Entity to make "bolder provocations" against Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.
"I say without hesitation that certain Arab and Islamic regimes are tacitly encouraging Zionist Entity to carry out hostile designs against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"We have been talking a lot and protesting incessantly against these hostile actions, but these despotic regimes don’t accord Islamic holy places here real attention or respect," al-Husseini said during an interview with Aljazeera.net.
Strong relationship
He argued that there was a strong relationship in recent steps taken by Pakistan and Bahrain to normalise ties with Zionist Entity and what he called the "increased frequency" of Jewish attempts to access the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On Wednesday, as many as 50 members of a Messianic Jewish group were allowed by police to enter the Haram Al-Sharif esplanade, a step seen by many Muslims here as a brazen provocation.
In September 2000, a visit to the Muslim sanctuary by Ariel Sharon, then opposition leader, served to spark off the Al-Aqsa intifada, which killed and maimed thousands of Palestinians.
A statement by the Al-Aqsa Foundation, which monitors attacks by Jewish extremists against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, pointed out that the extremists allowed into the Haram Al-Sharif were escorted by dozens of Zionist Entityi policemen and paramilitary troops.
Jewish religious rites
At least some of the extremists, who are affiliated with an extremist group called the Temple Mount Faithful, were seen performing Jewish religious rites inside the Haram esplanade.
The group is openly dedicated to the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and neighbouring Dome of the Rock and the building of a grand Jewish temple on their sites.
The Zionist government has never sought to ban the group, despite its recurrent efforts to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Underscoring their seriousness, the group has prepared a prototype of the contemplated temple.
Earlier this week, the Zionist High Court issued a ruling allowing members of the Temple Mount Faithful to "pray" inside the Haram al-Sharif as individuals, not as a group.
Muslim leaders have interpreted the decision as another step toward giving Jews "a foothold" at Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa.
No policy change
"This is what they initially did with regard to the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron. They allowed Jews to visit, and then the visits evolved into 'arrangements' and eventually the bulk of the mosque was converted into a synagogue," said Shaikh Taysir Tamimi, the supreme Sharia Judge in the Occupied Palestinian territories.
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank - Thursday 20 October 2005