Amman, Sept. 11 (Petra)-- Tens of thousands of worshippers performed Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif despite stringent Israeli occupation measures imposed on those heading to Jerusalem.
The Islamic Awqaf Department in Jerusalem said tens of thousands of worshippers performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to Palestinian media reports.
Israeli occupation forces tightened restrictions on worshippers across Jerusalem in conjunction with the so-called Jewish New Year. They deployed heavily and erected metal barricades in the city's streets, around the Old City and in the vicinity of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Separately, dozens of settlers today desecrated the Bab al-Rahma Cemetery adjacent to the eastern wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque, performing Talmudic rituals and blowing the shofar near Islamic graves under the protection of Israeli police, on the eve of the so-called Jewish New Year.
The Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA), citing the Jerusalem Governorate, reported that the rituals were performed outside the cemetery for the third consecutive week, amid growing demands by groups affiliated with the alleged Temple organizations to conduct their religious rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque during Jewish holidays.
The governorate said that, while settlers have been prevented from conducting some of these rituals inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, they have increasingly sought to impose them around the mosque, at its gates and in areas adjacent to its walls, particularly Bab al-Rahma Cemetery.
It said the move was aimed at creating a new reality on the ground and expanding manifestations of Judaization from inside the mosque to its surrounding areas, while targeting its Islamic identity and the status of the holy sites and landmarks around it.
The governorate warned against exploiting the Jewish holiday season to expand incursions, impose new religious rituals, extend the hours and areas in which intruders are allowed to remain, restrict worshippers and Waqf employees, and undermine the established historical and legal status quo at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
//Petra// MF
