Arab riots in Jerusalem are a “true popular war,” says senior Fatah leader
Headline: “Zaki: The battle that the Jerusalem residents have entered is to defend the holy sites”
“Fatah Central Committee member and [Fatah] General Commissioner for Arab and China Relations Abbas Zaki said that the battle that our people is fighting in Jerusalem (refers to violent Arab riots -Ed.) is not just a battle of [PA] elections for the sake of our legal democratic right inside the holy city, but rather it is also a continuation of other struggles against the arbitrary measures that the occupation is implementing against the Islamic and Christian holy sites.
Zaki added in a statement that this battle is… also against the Israeli Parliament’s illegal laws that work to Judaize the holy city and erase its Arab and Islamic landmarks… and [it is also] against the settlers’ wild attack against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque through ongoing break-ins into its plazas, and what the criminals are doing against our people in the holy city in order to take control of their neighborhoods and expel them from their homes.
He said that our great people in Jerusalem will triumph in the battle, just as they shattered the metal detectors that the occupation placed around the Al-Aqsa Mosque in July 2018 (sic., 2017; see note below). He emphasized that Fatah was and always is in the front lines of all the battles against the occupation, especially in what happened in recent days, which is a true popular war in the plazas of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and in the alleys and streets of the Old City [of Jerusalem], the Damascus Gate, and the Silwan and Wadi Joz neighborhoods…
He emphasized that the spiritual status of the city for the Muslims and Christians in the world… will not allow these Zionist gangs to carry out their plans in this city, and Jerusalem will remain Arab, blessed, pure, and clean as Allah wanted it.
He emphasized that Jerusalem will always remain the key of war and peace in the region, and called on everyone who believes in the justice of our cause and in the obligation to defend the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to raise their voice in the Arab and Islamic world states and [the states of] the free people of the world for the sake of the heroic residents of Jerusalem.”
The PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "break-in." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.
The mention of "the metal detectors that the occupation placed around the Al-Aqsa Mosque" refers to Israeli security measures at the Temple Mount, including metal detectors at the entrances, following an attack there on July 14, 2017, in which 2 Israeli border police officers were murdered by 3 Israeli Arab terrorists. On July 24, 2017, Israel decided to remove the metal detectors and security cameras it had placed at the site. The PA continued to demand that all measures including inspections at the entrances be removed, and Palestinians continued to riot. On July 27, 2017, PA religious leaders declared that all Israeli measures had been removed.