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The
arrest of Shaikh Ikrima Sabri, Mufti of Jerusalem, by Israeli
occupational authorities is the latest Israeli act of harassment to
Muslims and their clerics in occupied Jerusalem but was not the
first. As a matter of fact, contravening Muslims’ rights, shrines
and clergy by the Israeli invaders started with the first day of
Israeli occupation of the Arab East Jerusalem on June 7, 1967. They
embarked on demolition of al-Magharba (Moroccan) headquarters in the
old city within 48 hours of occupation time. Hundreds of Palestinian
Muslim families were evicted promptly by occupation troops on the
ground that the ages-old Islamic neighborhood was too close to the
Jewish Quarter.
A
systematic Israeli campaign of harassment against Muslims and Arabs
in East Jerusalem soon took place by the occupying state and Jewish
zealots. All means of repression and intimidation were practiced at
large scale to secure the evacuation of Muslims from the old city.
As a matter of fact many Muslim clerics and notables, were ordered
to live away from Jerusalem. Some of them ordered to move to the
West Bank or dismissed to surrounding Arab states. Shaikh Abdul
Hameed Sayeh, for example, was deported to Jordan. Other Muslim
notables faced later the same fate.
The
occupational authorities launched a frenzy campaign against Islamic
courts, the Islamic Waqf and the Supreme Muslim Council.
Jerusalem was annexed and declared as the undivided and eternal
capital of the Jewish state. The Security Council and U.N. General
Assembly condemned Israel annexation of Arab Jerusalem the site of
Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary).
Israeli police station was opened in al-Haram, and Israeli troops
were stationed at the gates and the walls of it. Only Muslims with
Israeli Ids are allowed to enter al-Haram for worshipping. After of
the Palestinian Intifada (Uprising against occupation) broke out on
September 28, 2000 other Israeli restrictions were imposed on
Muslims entering Al Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock (the two
main parts of al-Haram). According to these nasty restrictions, an
age-category-formula determines the age of Palestinians who may be
permitted to do Friday noon prayers. In most cases people under 45
are not permitted in the holy site.
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