Palestinians condemn “invasion” of the Temple Mount by Jews on Jewish day of mourning commemorating “so-called destruction of the alleged Temple”
Headline: "Tens of thousands held Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in an atmosphere of tension and extremism on the part of the occupation"
"Tens of thousands of worshippers held Friday prayers yesterday [Aug. 16, 2019] at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas despite a rise in temperature and an escalation of the occupation forces steps at its gates and within the neighborhoods of the Old City [of Jerusalem] (refers to temporary closure of the Temple Mount after two Palestinian terrorists stabbed an Israeli policeman near the site on Aug. 15, 2019; see note below –Ed.).
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Sheikh Ismail Nawahdah said in his sermon: 'Allah has honored us with this blessed land, the land of [Prophet Muhammad's] Night Journey and Ascension to Heaven, with the existence of the holy land, the land of Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic) until the Day of Judgment, and He has honored Jerusalem with the existence of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque that is considered part of the fundaments of our faith and religion – and it is a symbol of our honor.'
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Sheikh Nawahdah condemned the daily invasions of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas under the protection of the occupation police to the point that it reached the invasion of herds of settlers on the first day of Eid Al-Adha (i.e., the Sacrifice Feast) and their attack against the worshippers, guards, and Jerusalem Directorate of Religion (i.e., branch of the PA Ministry of Religious Affairs) workers and their expulsion under the threat of weapons and stun grenades by the occupation police, and their being prevented from holding their religious ceremonies, while [commemorating] the so-called destruction of the alleged Temple (refers to Jews entering the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av – which fell
on the same day as the first day of Eid Al-Adha this year – and Israel's response to Muslim riots meant to bar them from the Temple Mount; see note below –Ed.).
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An atmosphere of heavy tension prevails in Jerusalem after the arbitrary and provocative Israeli steps against the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to completely take control of it."
Nassim Abu Roumi and Hamouda Al-Sheikh