Temple Mount is a "purely Islamic inalienable religious endowment" claims PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge
Headline: “Al-Habbash in response to Bennett: The Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours, the Al-Buraq Wall is ours, and the occupation is the real terror”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque – with all its plazas, courtyards, and its full territory (144 dunams) [parentheses in source], including the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount) – is a purely Islamic waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law; see note below). He added that non-Muslims have no right to it, according to a divine decision and as is stated in Sura [17] of the Night Journey in the Quran. He also said that this [Islamic] right was emphasized by the international resolutions that the League of Nations issued in 1930 (apparently refers to 1930 Shaw Commission Report -Ed.), UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948 (see note below -Ed.), and also all of UNESCO’s (UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) resolutions on the matter.
In response to [Israeli] occupation Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s statements on the matter of ‘Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem and supervision of its holy sites,’ Al-Habbash said: ‘The occupation state has no religious, historical, or legal legitimacy in the holy city [of Jerusalem]. It is a colonialist and illegal occupying power that is crouching over our Palestinian land, implementing terror, and committing crimes against the Palestinian people and its holy sites.’ He added that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque will remain Islamic-Palestinian, and that in the end the occupation will pass from the world.
The supreme Shari’ah judge emphasized that the occupation is the real terror… and that resistance to the occupation is a legitimate right that is anchored in all the international conventions for the oppressed peoples who are bowing under occupation and colonialism…
He noted that the occupation’s recurring attempts to establish cultural or religious evidence of any kind that would prove its connection to the city have suffered total failure (sic., an abundance of evidence proves Jewish history in Jerusalem), and that it has nothing other than lies and fabricated falsehoods devoid of any tangible proof.”
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice. In August 2019 PA Chairman Abbas dismissed all his advisors by Presidential decree. It is unclear what their status is today.
The Al-Buraq Wall - Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have ridden during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."
A waqf is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law. Palestinians define all of Israel as waqf, and thereby Israel exists on Islamic holy land. Palestinian leaders have explained that under Islamic law Muslims are commanded to free the waqf from non-Muslims.
UN Resolution 194 (Chapter 11, Dec. 11, 1948) states that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return." Palestinian leaders argue this means that all Arabs who left Israel during the war (hundreds of thousands) and their descendants (a few million) have a "right of return" to Israel. Israel argues that the resolution only calls for a limited return and only under certain conditions, especially focusing on the words "wishing to return... and live at peace with their neighbors."
UN Charter Article 51 - PA leaders and officials have legitimized Palestinian violence by citing Article 51 of the UN Charter. However, Article 51 merely ensures "the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security." Given that the PA is not a member state of the UN, and that Palestinian terrorism is not "self-defense" in response to an armed attack against a UN member state, this claim is baseless. Furthermore, the UN Charter prohibits targeting civilians, even in war. Chapter 1, Article 1, opens by saying that "international disputes" should be resolved "by peaceful means."
UN Resolution 3236 - PA leaders and officials have legitimized Palestinian violence by quoting UN resolution 3236 which "recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to regain its rights by all means." The PA interprets "all means" as including violence against civilians, but has chosen to ignore the continuation of the resolution which states that the use of "all means" should be "in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations..." The UN Charter prohibits targeting civilians, even in war. Chapter 1, Article 1, opens by saying that "international disputes" should be resolved "by peaceful means."