Al Jazeera 11 September 2015. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/ Tuesday, 15 September 2015
Defence of Al-Aqsa: A rocky present and unknown future di Aseel Jundi
An unknown fate awaits the Mourabitoun and Murabitat activist groups defending Al-Aqsa Mosque after they were declared illegal groups by Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon. The decision was made based on the recommendation of the Israeli police and Shin Bet. However, these groups plan to challenge the decree as they consider defending Al-Aqsa a Muslim right that no one can interfere in. Ya’alon accused the Mourabitoun and Murabitat groups in Al-Aqsa of working on destabilising and disturbing the peace in Al-Aqsa and of creating violence inside the mosque, as well as in Jerusalem in general. He said that these groups are engaging in “dangerous incitement” against tourists, visitors and worshipers in what he called the “Temple Mount”, which leads to violence that could endanger lives. In response to Ya’alon’s decree, a teacher in Al-Aqsa, who was banned from entering the mosque, Khadija Khwais, said that the Israeli authorities are seeking to empty Al-Aqsa by various means. Such means include individual and collective arrests and banning, and now a decree has been passed outlawing sit-ins in the mosque as well as educational lectures and gatherings to coincide with the occupation’s planned division of Al-Aqsa. Khadija also told Al Jazeera: “When I try to enter Al-Aqsa and am prohibited from doing so, it is only natural for me to stay near the mosque and demand my right to enter. No one describes the Jews as terrorists when they pray in their synagogues, nor do they describe Christians as terrorists when they worship quietly in their churches. So why is our gathering labelled terrorism or illegal?”
Muslims’ rights Mourabitoun member Abu Baker Shima said the law is not new but is being presented in a different manner this time. He added: “I am proud to be present here as an individual demanding his right to pray and retreat in Al-Aqsa as well as protect it. This is a legal and legitimate right for Muslims alone, and therefore the decree does not scare us.” On his part, Deputy Leader of the Islamic Movement, Kamal Al-Khatib, said that Ya’alon and his government do not possess any sovereignty over Al-Aqsa Mosque and that any decree made by the occupation is rejected. He stressed that the Muslims’ protection of the mosque is considered an act of worship, such as prayer and fasting, and that portraying such actions as terrorism and illegal is also a portrayal of prayer, fasting and other pillars of Islam as terrorism. “When the occupation issues such decrees, it confirms that Arab and Muslim parties are providing a cover for this by means of its silence and in some cases, by means of their coordination. It also confirms the presence of security coordination with the Palestinian Authority,” he said. Al-Khatib noted that this decree was issued shortly before the Jewish holidays which began on Sunday in order to empty Al-Aqsa from worshippers and to allow for invaders to perform religious rituals. He added: “These measures are taken in the context of the presence of a right-wing government and these groups are merely an extension of other groups the form the Israeli government.” Al-Khatib describes what it currently occurring at Al-Aqsa as pouring oil on the fire, saying that “this fire will backfire on those who ignited it one day.”
Challenging the decree Dr Najeh Bakirat, president of the Al-Aqsa Academy for Science and Heritage, said he believes that Ya’alon and the Knesset’s decrees will not change the reality of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the division of which is rejected. He believes that the fate of all of these decrees will be “the dustbin”, whether they are issued by Ya’alon or anyone else. Any decision made with regards to Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem since 1967 “is not worth the ink it is written with”. “It is true that they are trying to impose decrees and apply them by means of military mobilisation and the harsh punishment of the worshippers, but we say that Muslims have the sole right to Al-Aqsa Mosque and they will not be able to divide it through time or space.” |