Fatah high official promises that the "battle" for Jerusalem "will be long" and Palestinian "resistance will continue with full force"

Text posted on the Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi

Posted text: “‘They are in Ribat (i.e., religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic) until Judgement Day’

In the Ribat of continuously staying in the [Al-Aqsa] Mosque, our people are waging the battle of protecting the Noble Jerusalem Sanctuary (i.e., the Temple Mount) and its plazas, which the occupation is desecrating by turning them into a military base and a platform for settlers who do not hesitate to desecrate the site’s honor and sanctity (refers to Arab riots on the Temple Mount and Israeli efforts to restore order -Ed.).

Ribat is a weapon that our people added to its resistance at a significant and decisive stage of standing against the plot to impose a division according to areas and times [at the Al-Aqsa Mosque] like at the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron.

It is now known that the occupation’s goal in using religious claims is to seek legitimacy for its presence in every possible way, while it does not completely understand the spiritual and national symbolism that Jerusalem represents for our people, which understands that the battle over the holy sites will be long, and that its resistance continues with full force to thwart these plots.

Jerusalem is Palestine and there is no Palestine without Jerusalem.”

Tawfiq Tirawi also serves as Fatah Commissioner of Popular Organizations.‎

“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.