PA Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher calls on Muslims to commit Islamic religious conflict on Temple Mount – the holiest site in Judaism

Headline: “Thousands held Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza

“Approximately 50,000 [Muslim] worshippers held Friday prayers yesterday [Sept. 24, 2021] at the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas…

Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Sheikh Muhammad Sarandah… demanded that the worshippers come to the mosque and carry out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic) there to thwart all the plots and the division according to areas and times (see note below -Ed.) that are being plotted against the mosque.”

“Division according to areas and times” refers to a submission of a “private bill” by Israeli MP Uri Ariel in March 2003. The bill suggested ensuring freedom of religious worship by allowing both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount - what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The bill sought to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. The bill never progressed past the initial legislatory stage. While there was additional discussion on the subject in 2012, no legislation was ever passed. In response to the incessant PA claims that the “division according to areas and times” of the Temple Mount is an operative Israeli plan, former Israeli PM Netanyahu stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of ‎changing the so-called status quo on the Temple Mount, which de facto is interpreted to mean Jews are only allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but not to conduct individual or communal prayers there. In July 2021, Israeli PM Naftali Bennett said Muslims and Jews have freedom of worship at the Temple Mount, which was understood by many as a hint to changing the status quo at the site, but the following day his office backtracked and said he misspoke and did not mean Jews would have freedom of worship, but rather would have freedom to visit. “There is no change in the status quo,” a statement from PM Bennett’s office confirmed.y type of worship.