Ukraine in Arabic | The Al-Aqsa mosque closed first time for 50 years
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ The Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem has been closed to all worshipers for the second time since 1967. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called the closure a ‘declaration of war.’ The first full closure of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem’s Old City was 14 years ago.
It’s not unusual for Israel to restrict access to the mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. This is believed to be the first time that the Temple Mount complex has been closed off entirely since Ariel Sharon paid it a controversial visit in 2000, the precipitating event behind the Second Intifada in which more than 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians were killed.
Muslims prayed on a rainy street in the Old City Friday as Israeli authorities continued to restrict access to the Al-Aqsa mosque following violence in east Jerusalem. Border police increased their presence in the cobblestone alleyways and around the Muslim access points or gates into the Al-Aqsa compound, checking identification papers closely. Worshippers over the age of 50 were allowed inside, a day after the entire site was closed off in a security lockdown.
“Yesterday it was painful for me not to pray in Al Aqsa,” said Nahil Salayme, 42, from east Jerusalem. “I go every day. They want to take this place from us. I will never let it happen, I will sacrifice everything, even my children. This is a red line for us.” Nabih Al Basty, 49, a businessman, said: “I prayed today in the street because the Israelis aren't allowing us to go inside. We walked all the way from Wadi Joz, it's a long way and it's raining. My father is 70, he's been going to the mosque every day since he was seven. Yesterday was the first day he missed going.”
It was closed following the shooting and wounding of right-wing Jewish extremist Yehuda Glick on Wednesday. Israeli police shot and killed Muataz Hijazi, the Palestinian man suspected of shooting and trying to kill the Jewish activist, but the incident intensified clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli riot police.
Police spokeswoman Luba Samri told that al-Aqsa Mosque compound would open early on Friday “for dawn prayers, after midnight” following its first closure in decades.
Israel said its clampdown on the site, known as Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims, was a temporary measure aimed at calming tempers.
Samri said that because of fear of unrest at Friday midday prayers, entry for Muslim men would be restricted to those over 50. There would be no restrictions on Muslim women.
Non-Muslims are routinely not allowed access on Fridays.
Thursday’s closure brought Arab and US calls for Muslim worshippers to be allowed access, and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas condemned it as an Israeli “declaration of war”.
Wednesday night’s wounding of the rabbi and the subsequent killing of the suspected gunman sent tensions soaring to a new high, following months of almost daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police in Jerusalem’s occupied eastern sector.
Officials from the Islamic Waqf, which administers the compound, said it was the first closure since Israel seized Arab east Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.
“This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation,” Abbas said through his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, warning it would only fuel “more tension and instability”.
But a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the closure aimed “to prevent riots and escalation as well as to restore calm and status quo to the Holy Places”.
Israel said he was behind the attempt to gun down far-right activist Yehuda Glick, who has lobbied for Jewish prayer rights at the Al-Aqsa compound.
Police said Hijazi shot at officers who returned fire, killing him.
However, Hijazi’s brother Khalil said police had burst into the house at 6am, and then shot him on the roof.
Islamic Jihad said Hijazi was one of its militants.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the unprecedented closure was tantamount to a "declaration of war" and Sunni Islam's top institution, Al-Azhar in Cairo, called it "barbaric".
The United States urged that the compound be reopened to Muslim worshippers, and called on all sides to exercise restraint amid spiralling tensions in Jerusalem.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki also condemned the shooting of hardline rabbi Yehuda Glick, an Israeli-US dual national.
In a development the Palestinians claimed was related to the unrest in Jerusalem, Sweden announced its formal recognition of a Palestinian state, becoming the first EU member in western Europe to do so.
Abbas hailed Stockholm’s decision as “brave and historic”.
Israel recalled its ambassador from Sweden for “consultations” and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the move as “deplorable”, issuing a sardonic statement noting that “relations in the Middle East are a lot more complex than the self-assembly furniture of IKEA”.
