16 April 2009

Hamas on Thursday warned the Israeli occupation authority of any attempt to tamper with the holy Aqsa Mosque or to change the landmarks of occupied Jerusalem, describing such an attempt as "playing with fire".

Dr. Ismail Radwan, one of the Hamas Movement's political leaders, said in a press statement that the Aqsa Mosque is the key to "calm or revolution", adding that any tampering with the holy site would lead to an unexpected explosion of the entire region.

He asked the Palestinian people to make use of any available means to resist the judaization of Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque.

Radwan addressed an urgent appeal to the Arab and Islamic countries to immediately act against the IOA "rabid judaization" campaign of occupied Jerusalem.

The Hamas leader said that the Arab and Islamic rulers and ruled should rush to the rescue of occupied Jerusalem before the holy city's Arab and Islamic identity is lost.

Sheikh Khatib holds Israeli gov't responsible for consequences of Aqsa break-ins

Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib, the deputy head of the Islamic Movement in 1948 occupied lands, on Thursday held the Israeli government fully responsible for any serious consequences that may result from its protection and sponsorship of Jewish extremist groups' attempts to break into the Aqsa Mosque, warning that any break-ins will be stoutly faced.

Sheikh Khatib pointed out that thousands of Palestinians from different places in the Palestinian lands occupied in 1948 boarded after dawn prayer today hundreds of buses en route to occupied Jerusalem to defend the Aqsa Mosque.

For his part, MP Ahmed Abu Halabiya, a rapporteur of the PLC committee on Jerusalem, urged all Palestinians living in the holy city, the 1948 occupied lands and those who live outside Palestine and could have access to Jerusalem to travel and march towards the Aqsa Mosque to defend it against Jewish attempts to desecrate it.

In a press statement received by the PIC, MP Halabiya warned Thursday that there is a dangerous scheme planned by Jewish settlers and the Israeli government aimed to carry out daily break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque as a prelude to imposing the Jewish presence in the Mosque as a fait accompli.

The lawmaker added that the scheme is aimed to divide the Mosque courtyards betweens Muslims and Jews in a bid to repeat what had happened in the Ibrahimi Mosque, where some areas of it were allocated for Jewish rituals.

He also noted that this grave scheme is a prelude to achieving the main objective, that is, the building of the alleged temple on the ruins of the Aqsa Mosque.

In the same context, thousands of Jerusalemite citizens have flocked since the early morning hours to the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque in response to the appeals of the Islamic Movement in order to fend police-guarded Jewish settlers off the Mosque.

Media sources reported that thousands of Palestinians, who were prevented from reaching the holy Mosque, have been demonstrating since the morning at Al-Asbat gate, adding that Israeli occupation policemen blocked Palestinians under age 50 from getting access to the Mosque.

The sources said that the atmosphere is extremely tense in Jerusalem especially near the gates of the Old City and in the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque and may explode any moment.

The sources added that the Israeli policemen allowed buses carrying Jewish extremists to drive freely to the Maghareba gate and the Buraq wall, where it is expected that the Jews will go on massive marches from there towards the Aqsa Mosque.