Hamas calls for urgent Arab and Muslim action to save Aqsa Mosque

GAZA, (PIC)-- The Movement of Hamas on Sunday called for an urgent Arab and Muslim action to curb the Israeli escalation against the Aqsa Mosque, and international intervention to force Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian land and holy places. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum warned that this escalation is part of a dangerous Zionist scheme aimed to Judaize the whole occupied city of Jerusalem and demolish the Aqsa Mosque. Spokesman Barhoum added that Israel started its scheme long time ago when it intensified its settlement activities, displaced Palestinians and demolished their homes, withdrew their ID cards, escalated its break-ins at the Aqsa Mosque and Judaized the names of streets in the holy city. He stressed that these new Israeli attacks on the holy Mosque, Jerusalem and its people is aimed to reach the goal declared by the Israeli premier about the "Jewish state". The spokesman said that that the Arab and Muslim passivity towards what is happening in the holy city as well as the Palestinian Authority’s "connivance" encouraged Israel to escalate its violations against the Aqsa Mosque. In a press release, secretary-general of the Palestinian legislative council (PLC) Mahmoud Al-Ramahi warned Sunday that the Israeli persistent attacks against the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank would certainly trigger a third Intifada (uprising) against Israel. Ramahi added that these Israeli violations would drag the region into further deterioration and instability, and urged the Palestinian people of Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied lands to march to the Aqsa Mosque to defend it against the attacks of Israeli settlers and troops. In another separate statement, the PLC said that the PA's collaboration with Israel against the Palestinian people and resistance fighters in the West Bank encouraged Israeli settlers to escalate their attacks on the Aqsa Mosque. The PLC also held the US administration and the European countries responsible for these attacks for their ongoing support for Israel and their silence towards its settlement and Judaization activities in the holy city. Head of Al-Quds international institution Ahmed Abu Halabiya, for his part, stated Sunday that the success of Israeli settlers to storm the Aqsa Mosque courtyards to perform rituals points to the size of the Arab and Muslim impotence. Abu Halabiya urged the Palestinian worshipers inside the Mosque to continue their steadfastness and not give up, and called on the people of Jerusalem and the 1948 lands to head to the Mosque to support their bothers. For his part, MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular committee against the siege, underlined in a press release that Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque are both at a critical juncture and facing difficult moments. In light of the Israeli escalating attacks against the Aqsa Mosque, Khudari appealed to the Arab summit to be held in Libya later this month to put the different Palestinian files especially the issue of Jerusalem and the holy Mosque on the top of its agenda. He stressed that the Arab leaders are demanded to act immediately to protect the Aqsa Mosque from the Israeli violations. For its part, the Islamic-Christian commission for the support of Jerusalem and holy sites strongly denounced the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for storming the Aqsa Mosque to pave the way for settlers to perform rituals in its courtyards. The commission said in a statement that the IOF troops sealed the gates of the Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of Jerusalem and turned the holy city into a closed area. It warned of an Israeli plan to connect the Islamic holy places with the Jewish religious festivals as happened with two mosques in the West Bank in preparation for imposing complete control over them. In a related incident, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported Sunday that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) continued its excavations in Ras Al-Amud area and near the Cave of Solomon area with the aim of opening a street used only by settlers, pointing out that this street would retard the movement of Palestinians in the Old City. Jerusalemite citizens warned that their homes might be demolished or seized any time as a result of these excavations. For its part, the council of trade unions in Jordan expressed dismay at the UN Security Council and the Arab League for not holding emergency meetings to discuss the latest Israeli escalation in the holy city. The council called on the Arab leaders to convene an emergency meeting to explore every avenue to face the new Israeli war, and also urged the member countries of the organization of the Islamic conference to sever their relations with Israel.