The Higher Presidential Committee of Churches Affairs in the State of Palestine condemned the continuous aggression of extremist settlers and the occupying power against Al-Aqsa Mosque and the worshipers in it, considering it an organized state terrorism, which continues before the eyes and ears of the whole world and bears the complete responsibility to stop and put an end to the violations of sanctities, which will drag the entire region into a religious war.
In a statement issued by Dr. Ramzi Khoury, ThePresident of the Committee and GeneralDirector of the Palestinian National Fund, called on all believers, Churches and clergy, to declare their explicit positions and condemn these violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and denounce the ongoing attacks on worshipers by the occupation forces, which coincide with Islamic holidays and events. These violations are a crime that must be stopped and its perpetrators and supporters must be held accountable, because it offends all religions and does not represent the noble values and principles of any religion.
“Instead of providing protection for holy sites and civilians in the city of Jerusalem in accordance with the obligations imposed on by international law and the relevant Geneva Conventions, that guarantee freedom of worship, the occupying power is participating in targeting those holy sites by enabling more than a thousand Jewish extremists, that stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque by force on the day of thememory of the “destruction of the temple”, which was accompanied by assault, repression and persecution against worshipers to secure protection for extremist settlers, all of which are acts classified by international law as crimes that require accountability and punishment”.
The committee also called on the relevant international institutions to assume their responsibilities to stop these continuous violations, provide protection for Islamic and Christian sanctities and their worshipers, and lift all forms of siege and restrictions on religious places in the city of Jerusalem, whose neighborhoods and surroundings are subjected to a systematic process of displacement and ethnic cleansing, as is taking place now in Sheikh Jarrah , Batn Al-Hawa, Al-Bustan, and in Silwan.
The Committee saluted the steadfastness of the Jerusalemites, Muslims and Christians, in confronting the daily attacks and repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the targeting of Christian holy sites by the occupying power and gangs of extremist Jewishsettlers, which escalated few days before the blessed Eid Al-Adha.
The committee concluded its statement by emphasizing that the city of Jerusalem with its Islamic and Christian holy sites are under Israeli occupation, and it is an occupied Palestinian land in accordance with international law and United Nations resolutions, and it will remain the capital of the independent Palestinian state, where peace must be established instead of thekillings, siege, demolishing homes and displacing its residents.
