Al-Aqsa preacher slams UAE’s deal with Israel

By Rana Jamous

ISTANBUL (AA) - The grand imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque Monday slammed the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) normalization deal with Israel as a defeat.

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri gave a speech in a virtual conference organized by the Turkish-based Al-Aqsa Minbar Association on the 51st anniversary of burning of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The normalization that happened two days ago between UAE and the Israeli aggression is rejected,” Ekrima said.

He also called for spreading the Islamic narrative regarding Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. “No stone in Palestine demonstrates the existence of the Jewish Hebrew history,” Ekrima added.

The final statement of the conference called for confronting all attempts to obliterate the Palestinian cause by the US' so-called Deal of the Century, the Israeli annexation plan and the normalization steps.

On Aug. 21, 1969, the mosque was burned by an extremist Jewish Australian tourist Denis Michael Rohan which destroyed the historical parts of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a deal between Israel and the UAE to normalize their relations. The UAE is the first Gulf state and third Arab nation to have full diplomatic relations with Israel after Egypt and Jordan.

*Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara