Palestinian Foreign Ministry calls for international protection for Jerusalem and its holy sites
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Israeli occupation continues its attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque to implement its Judaization plans, calling on the international community to provide international protection for the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites, as the capital of the State of Palestine and the main entrance to the establishment of the independent Palestinian state.
In a statement today, on the occasion of the 53rd anniversary of the burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the occupation is carrying out continuous attacks on Al-Aqsa through a wide range of measures to isolate it from its surroundings and besiege it by preventing Palestinians from reaching it and depriving them of praying there. The occupation is also launching a fierce campaign against the Islamic Endowments Department and its institutions with the aim of withdrawing its powers and preventing it from exercising its various tasks towards Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Foreign Ministry pointed out that what Al-Aqsa Mosque is subjected to is an integral part of the processes of Judaization and deepening of settlements, changing its features and cultural Christian and Islamic identity, and trying to create new facts imposed by the force of the occupation in line with its ambitions.
On August 21, 1969, the Zionist terrorist Dennis Michael Rohan, in coordination with the occupation authorities, set fire to the prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque, as part of the relentless attempts to destroy one of the most important religious and historical monuments that confirm the depth and rootedness of the Arab Islamic presence in the occupied city of Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian Minister of Endowments, Hatem Al-Bakry, said in a statement to SANA reporter, that the occupation is still implementing systematic plans to overturn the facts and falsify history through the continuation of excavations under the mosque and its surroundings and the intensification of settler incursions and the destruction of the historical and archaeological sites of doors, panels and windows during the daily incursions.
Al-Bakri called on international organizations, led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO, to break their silence and take urgent action to stop the ongoing crime of occupation against Al-Aqsa, stressing that the Palestinian people will continue to defend the mosque and protect it from the processes of Judaization.
Director of Al-Quds International Center Hassan Khater pointed out that the crime of burning Al-Aqsa in 1969 is part of an integrated plan that the occupation continues to implement to seize Al-Aqsa and its surrounding of the historical buildings and walls and to empty the entire surrounding area of the Palestinian presence through demolishing homes, seizing real estate and establishing outposts settlement to tighten the siege on it. He stressed that Al-Aqsa is going through one of the most dangerous stages in its history, which calls for urgent action by the international community to put an end to the occupation’s aggressions and stop them.
Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustafa Barghouti, noted that the anniversary of the burning of Al-Aqsa coincides with the intensification of the occupation’s attacks on the mosque in an attempt to impose a fait accompli and change the historical, civilizational and religious features of Al-Aqsa and Judaize it. The Palestinian people are organizing today a series of events on the 53rd anniversary of the crime to deliver a message to the international community that it is necessary to break its silence regarding the crimes of the occupation and to emphasize the rejection of the fait accompli policy that the occupation wants to impose in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem, he added.
Member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People’s Party, Talaat Al-Safadi, called on UNESCO to activate its role and protect the religious and cultural heritage in Jerusalem from the attacks of the occupation, stressing that the Palestinian people will continue their struggle and defense of their sanctities until the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
It’s noteworthy that on the morning of August 21, 1969, the Zionist terrorist Dennis Michael Rohan entered the Old City of occupied Jerusalem through Al-Asbat Gate towards Bab al-Ghawanma, then entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque in full coordination with the Israeli occupation forces, carrying a bag containing gasoline and kerosene.
Rohan went to the prayer hall in the mosque and put his bag at the bottom of the steps of the platform and wet a woolen scarf with kerosene and stretched one end on the steps of the platform and the other end in the container that he filled with inflammable materials, then lit the scarf and fled Al-Aqsa through Hatta Gate and the Old City through Al-Asbat Gate.
The fire destroyed 1,500 square meters of the southern prayer hall, which has an area of 4,400 square meters. Among the landmarks that were affected by the fire was the Omar Mosque, whose roof was made of mud and wooden bridges, with its religious and historical symbolism, and three corridors out of seven extending from south to north with columns, arches and decoration. Part of the mosque’s ceiling fell as a result of the fire, as well as stone pillars. The fire also destroyed 74 windows, decorations and colored glass, and these contents represent the heritage and civilization character of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
While the Palestinians rushed to put out the fires with their clothes, dirt and water in the wells of Al-Aqsa, the occupation cut off the water from the prayer hall and its surroundings and prevented the firefighting teams from quickly reaching it to ensure the widest spread of the fire.
To evade their full responsibility for this heinous crime, the occupation authorities claimed that Rohan was mentally ill and refused to open an investigation into the reasons of his crime, only to deport him to Australia from which he came without being held accountable for what he had committed.
On September 15, 1969, the UN Security Council passed Resolution No. 271 with 11 votes in favor and four abstentions, including the United States, in which it condemned Israel and considered it responsible for the fire as the occupying power and called on it to cancel all measures that would change the situation in Jerusalem.
In the meantime, dozens of Israeli settlers renewed their storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque today.
Palestinian media reported that 162 settlers stormed Al-Aqsa from the Magharba Gate and made provocative tours in its courtyards, under heavy security guards from the occupation forces.
Hundreds of settlers attacked Al-Aqsa Mosque last week.
Inas Abdulkareem