کد خبر: ۱۲۹۸۳۵۳

تاریخ: ۱۳ مهر ۱۳۹۲ - ۱۳:۱۴

Islamic Holy Sites under Israeli Attacks

Muslim holy shrines and mosques in occupied Palestine are being targeted by extremist Jewish groups and police forces’ daily violations, ignoring the feelings of millions of Muslims worldwide.

“This is an attack against the religious and historic stature of this site to millions of Muslims around the world,” Tayseer Abu Snaineh, the director of the Wakf (endowment) Department in Hebron, told Saudi Gazette on Thursday, October 3.

He added that the “settlers desecrate this holy mosque and often embarrassed and ridicule Muslims while praying”.

Abu Snaineh was referring to the latest violation targeting mosques when Israeli occupation forces raised the Israeli flag over the Al-Ibrahimi mosque in the West Bank city of Hebron on Wednesday.

After raising the flag on the mosque wall, Israeli soldiers have also erected several tents at the mosque’s external plaza.

He harshly slammed the “provocative move” saying “Israeli soldiers allow the Jewish settlers to enter the mosque freely under lame excuses.”

“The settlers desecrate this holy mosque and often embarrassed and ridicule Muslims while praying.”

Appalled by the humiliating actions, Hamas has denounced the Israeli rampage on holy site, calling it an insulting attack against a religious and historical site of millions of Muslims around the world.

Hamas warned over the occupation repeated attempts to control the mosque, underscoring that it will be repelled by the Palestinian people.

The movement also urged the Palestinian authorities to take concrete actions against the attacks and to sue Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Al-Ibrahimi Mosque is the second holiest Islamic site Palestinian territories after Al-Aqsa Mosque in Al-Quds (Occupied East Jerusalem).

This 1000-year old mosque enshrines the tombs of Prophet Ibrahim, his sons and their wives.

Hebron (or Al-Khalil) is the largest city in the West Bank with a high Palestinian population but with approximately 400-500 fanatical Israeli settlers living in the city's Old Quarter.

Today the mosque is partitioned with one part converted into a synagogue for Jews to pray in.

Located within the Old City, the mosque is cut off from the Palestinian population by checkpoints at which they usually face intimidation by settlers and Israeli forces.

Not far from Hebron, Israeli settlers raided prophet Saleh's shrine in Ramallah on Tuesday, carving anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian slogans on the shrine's walls.

"Around 200 settlers blocked the road near the Mabo Dotan settlement, which is built on the town of Yabad, and threw stones at motorists," the Palestinian news agency quoted security sources as saying.

Reports said that Israeli police had blacked out the attacks on the shrine preventing Arab media from covering the incident.

Similarly, a group of Jewish extremists stoned Palestinian car drivers in the west bank, the Palestinian news agency reported on Wednesday.

"There were three other attacks on Muslim and Christian tombs last month, while Israeli authorities did nothing to protect them," Hana Essa, secretary-general of the non-governmental Agency for the Defense of Islamic and Christian Religious Sites in Ramla City was quoted by Anadolu Agency.

Palestinian officials and residents have also confirmed that a group of radical Jewish settlers torched and uprooted a number of olive trees.

Recently, a broader- sector of Jews have been visiting Al-Aqsa mosque in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem).

Attacked for years by Israeli zealots, Al-Aqsa mosque has became a new target for a broader range of visitors, including brides on their wedding days, synagogue and religious-school groups.

The phenomenon is backed by the increasing groups of Israeli politicians and rabbis challenging the longstanding rules constraining Jewish access and conduct to the Holy place, deemed the third holiest mosque in Islam.

Source: On Islam