The grand mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Ahmed Hussein, on Sunday called on Palestinians to gather around the Al-Aqsa Mosque and protect it using whatever means possible.
Hussein accused Israel of trying to cleanse out any expression of Arab and Islamic culture from Jerusalem. "It is not just Al-Aqsa and its domes which reflect the Islamic nature of the city, but each floor of the holy city, every remnant of the city, and every centimeter attest to the fact that it is an Arab and Islamic city, whose roots lie deep in history and culture.”
The mufti added that the Palestinian people would never give up on the Arab, Muslim and Palestinian character of the city. His comments came at a press conference marking the 47th anniversary of the arson at the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Australian citizen Denis Michael Rohan, who was later tried, found to be insane, and hospitalized in a mental institution.
For Muslims, Al-Aqsa on the Temple Mount is third holiest site.
The grand mufti of Jerusalem is the most senior Sunni Muslim cleric in Jerusalem and is in charge of the city's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The position was created by the British military government in 1918. Since 2006 the post has been held by Muhammad Hussein.
Meanwhile, in a taped address played at a separate ceremony in the Gaza Strip, the exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said that the Palestinians embrace the Koran and jihad (holy war): "The Palestinian people will place their finger on the trigger, and are preparing for the liberation of Palestine, Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Last week, a Palestinian Arab minister accused Jewish organizations of making plans to demolish the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and to establish what he termed an "imaginary" temple in its place.
