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Palestinian
leader Mahmoud Abbas said a global religious war could be triggered if Jews are
allowed to pray on the Temple Mount in Al-Aqsa mosque, which in his words would
“contaminate” it.
RT.com
reports Abbas also warned the Israeli government against changing the status quo
at the site, which is holy for both Muslims and Jews, adding that protesters at
Al-Aqsa mosque have the right to defend themselves. Abbas was apparently
referring to clashes provoked by the closure of the holy site earlier.
Speaking
at the 10th anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Abbas
said Muslims and Christians would never recognize Jerusalem as the capital of
Israel.
“Keep
the settlers and the extremists away from Al-Aqsa and our holy places,”
Abbas said. “We will not allow our
holy places to be contaminated. Keep them away from us and we will stay away
from them, but if they enter Al-Aqsa, [we] will protect Al-Aqsa and the church
and the entire country.”
Jews
are allowed to come to Al-Aqsa but they cannot pray inside the building. It was
captured by Israel in 1967, but Muslims govern the area.
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Abbas
warned against any Israeli plans to divide the mosque. “Israel’s leaders are making a big mistake
if they think they can turn back history, to impose a reality, and to divide
the Al-Aqsa Mosque [into separate prayers times and areas] as they divided the
Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron,” Abbas said, adding that Muslims “have the right to defend themselves and
the holy places” if attacked.
With
the current situation unfolding, Israel is “leading
the region and the world to a destructive religious war,” Abbas
claimed.
Israeli
authorities have repeatedly stated that they are not planning to change the
current situation. They also denied reports last week that the nation’s
security forces have followed rioters into Al-Aqsa mosque.
Meanwhile,
Israel claims that Palestinians use the mosque for storing items such as
Molotov cocktails, rocks, and bottles.
Abbas
also said that areas occupied by Israel since 1967 are “not up for debate.”
“The
Muslim and Christian worlds will never accept Israel’s claims that Jerusalem
belongs to them. The Jerusalem that was occupied in 1967 belongs to us,”
he said.
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The
remarks of Abbas came on the same day that another Palestinian demonstrator was
killed by Israeli forces near the West Bank city of Hebron. A trooper fatally
shot 21-year-old Imad Jawabreh in the chest after he pointed an “improvised weapon,” according
to Israeli authorities. The shooting came amid clashes between the Israelis and
stone-throwing Palestinians in the area.
Violent
clashes in front of Al-Aqsa mosque have also intensified over the past month.
On
Wednesday, Israeli police shut access to Al-Aqsa mosque to Muslim worshipers
for several hours due to continued clashes in the city.
The
shutdown was triggered after clashes in the streets of East Jerusalem and the
Old City, in which Palestinian youths attacked Israeli police with stones and
firecrackers.
Israel’s
control of access to Al-Aqsa has been a sore point in relations between Jews
and Palestinians for decades. However, tensions at the holy site have been
particularly high since last week, when Israel closed it to Muslim worshipers.
Israeli police closed the
site for the first time since 1963 in retaliation for the killing of a
prominent right-wing Jewish activist, provoking outcry from the Arab
population. Access was renewed a day later, but males under 50 were still
banned from entering.
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