Mufti of the Holy Land: No sign of Jewish presence in Jerusalem ever
Headline: "Seminar at Al-Quds Open University – Amer: Establishing a unified strategy on the subject of Jerusalem is a national and moral necessity.
The Al-Quds Open University, in cooperation with National Committee for the Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture events, organized a seminar entitled, 'Jerusalem - the City of the Monotheistic Religions," at the university campus in Tulkarem, with the participation of Deputy Governor Jamal Said, Director of Education for the Tulkarem region - Dr. Faisal Amer, Mufti of the Holy Land - Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Bishop Atallah Hanna, and Hatem Abd Al-Qader, who holds the Jerusalem portfolio…
Director of Education for the Tulkarem region extended greetings to those present and participating in the gathering, and noted that the symposium was taking place on the anniversary of the Intifada for Al-Aqsa [terror campaign], for the sake of which [Al-Aqsa], it seems, the Intifadas continue – starting from 1929 and until Allah decrees to bring the [Al-Aqsa] Mosque and the city [Jerusalem] out of captivity…
The Mufti of the Holy Land, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, spoke about the history of the Arabs and the Muslims in the Holy Land and noted that the Arabs are among the earliest peoples that settled in Jerusalem, 7,500 years before the Christian era… He said that the occupation authorities [Israel], in their excavations under the walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, have discovered a wall from the Canaanite period, and found no sign testifying to Jewish [presence]… Sabri said that the last Intifada by the residents of Jerusalem against the violations of the occupation had been a difficult lesson to the Israelis that Muslims would defend Al-Aqsa with their lives and would never relinquish it.
Bishop Atallah Hanna spoke about the continued efforts of the occupation [Israel] to Judaize the holy city and to erase the Islamic and Christian landmarks. He emphasized that all such attempts would ultimately fail, because the history of Arab Jerusalem is stronger than all the plots, stating that the Arabic character of Jerusalem cannot be distorted. Hanna said that those who persecuted Christianity in its early stages and slaughtered the children of Bethlehem and robbed Jerusalem are today those who are torturing the Palestinian people in general.
[Atallah] Hanna… said that the Christians and Muslims would continue in their ongoing struggle, shoulder to shoulder, until the liberation of the Islamic and Christian holy places, and the land of Palestine, from the yoke of occupation.
Hatem Abd Al-Qader [Member of Parliament and Fatah's Revolutionary Council], who holds the Jerusalem portfolio, said that Jerusalem is not just a capital and a religious city; it has political, social and geographic characteristics… Abd Al-Qader emphasized that Jerusalem must be considered [as including both] its eastern and western sides, as a single unit, and that UN Resolution 181 does not recognize western Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Abd Al-Qader said that Israel is trying to turn Jerusalem into a religious capital for all Jews in the world… and noted that many of the Jews took tents along with them in the course of their attempt to enter the plazas of the Al-Aqsa Mosque… This testifies to an attempt by the extremists to establish a large camp within the Mosque’s open areas, in order to seize control over it."
The Al-Quds Open University, in cooperation with National Committee for the Al-Quds Capital of Arab Culture events, organized a seminar entitled, 'Jerusalem - the City of the Monotheistic Religions," at the university campus in Tulkarem, with the participation of Deputy Governor Jamal Said, Director of Education for the Tulkarem region - Dr. Faisal Amer, Mufti of the Holy Land - Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Bishop Atallah Hanna, and Hatem Abd Al-Qader, who holds the Jerusalem portfolio…
Director of Education for the Tulkarem region extended greetings to those present and participating in the gathering, and noted that the symposium was taking place on the anniversary of the Intifada for Al-Aqsa [terror campaign], for the sake of which [Al-Aqsa], it seems, the Intifadas continue – starting from 1929 and until Allah decrees to bring the [Al-Aqsa] Mosque and the city [Jerusalem] out of captivity…
The Mufti of the Holy Land, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, spoke about the history of the Arabs and the Muslims in the Holy Land and noted that the Arabs are among the earliest peoples that settled in Jerusalem, 7,500 years before the Christian era… He said that the occupation authorities [Israel], in their excavations under the walls of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, have discovered a wall from the Canaanite period, and found no sign testifying to Jewish [presence]… Sabri said that the last Intifada by the residents of Jerusalem against the violations of the occupation had been a difficult lesson to the Israelis that Muslims would defend Al-Aqsa with their lives and would never relinquish it.
Bishop Atallah Hanna spoke about the continued efforts of the occupation [Israel] to Judaize the holy city and to erase the Islamic and Christian landmarks. He emphasized that all such attempts would ultimately fail, because the history of Arab Jerusalem is stronger than all the plots, stating that the Arabic character of Jerusalem cannot be distorted. Hanna said that those who persecuted Christianity in its early stages and slaughtered the children of Bethlehem and robbed Jerusalem are today those who are torturing the Palestinian people in general.
[Atallah] Hanna… said that the Christians and Muslims would continue in their ongoing struggle, shoulder to shoulder, until the liberation of the Islamic and Christian holy places, and the land of Palestine, from the yoke of occupation.
Hatem Abd Al-Qader [Member of Parliament and Fatah's Revolutionary Council], who holds the Jerusalem portfolio, said that Jerusalem is not just a capital and a religious city; it has political, social and geographic characteristics… Abd Al-Qader emphasized that Jerusalem must be considered [as including both] its eastern and western sides, as a single unit, and that UN Resolution 181 does not recognize western Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
Abd Al-Qader said that Israel is trying to turn Jerusalem into a religious capital for all Jews in the world… and noted that many of the Jews took tents along with them in the course of their attempt to enter the plazas of the Al-Aqsa Mosque… This testifies to an attempt by the extremists to establish a large camp within the Mosque’s open areas, in order to seize control over it."