Punished for defending the world Muslims’ third holiest site, several female Palestinian Muslim worshipers have been "targeted" by the Zionist occupation forces which denied them entry to Al-Aqsa mosque over the past months.
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"Israeli escalations specifically targeting women came after they [the Israelis] saw the magnitude of sacrifice offered by [female Muslim worshippers] for the holy site," Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of Islamic Movement in Israel, was quoted as saying by the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowments and Heritage on Thursday, December 18, OnIslam reported.
Saleh's complains were made at a meeting with a group of Muslim women who were barred from entering Al-Aqsa mosque compound for periods ranging from two weeks to several months.
Along with Muslim women, religious students, who used to gather at the mosque compound to protect it from the invasion of the Jewish settlers, have been targeted.
"The Israeli occupation is trying to take revenge on Palestinian female worshippers and religious students by assaulting, detaining or banning them from the compound," Salah added.
Salah, who has been restricted from the holy site since September 2013, is largely viewed as a thorn in Israel's side for his activism against Israel’s relentless efforts to take over the Islamic holy place or at least partition it between Jews and Muslims.
Al-Aqsa is the Muslims’ first Qiblah [direction Muslims take during prayers] and it is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka`bah in Makkah and Prophet Muhammad’s Mosque in Madinah, Saudi Arabia.
Its significance has been reinforced by the Islamic incident of Al Isra’a and Al Mi’raj — the night journey from Makkah to Al-Quds and the ascent to the Heavens by Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him). Draft Resolution Away from security issues, the UN Security Council is expected to vote on a Palestinian draft resolution for ending Israeli occupation within 24 hours, the Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said on Friday, December 19.
While the US decided not to back the resolution, Russia's Permanent Representative in the UN Security Council said that his country is ready to support the draft.
“The text is good. I believe that we will certainly support it,” Russian Permanent Representative in the UN Vitaly Churkin was quoted by Itar Tass agency. The diplomat noted that the date to consider the document hasn't been set yet, and authors of the draft resolution “will have to decide whether they are ready to put it up for vote or not.”
Last month, officials in the Palestinian Islamic Movement revealed that Israeli security officials were pushing a bill that would outlaw the presence of Muslim guards that patrol the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied Al-Quds.
Tension has run high in the holy city of Al-Quds over the past months, when Israeli authorities closed Al-Aqsa mosque compound after Glick's shooting before reopening it a day later.
The unrest mounted further after Israeli forces killed a young Palestinian man suspected of shooting the rabbi in a raid on his East Jerusalem home. Several Israeli parliamentarians accompanied by Jewish settler have entered the mosque complex in recent days, drawing the ire of Muslim worshippers and official condemnation from Arab and Muslim countries. /SR
