Arab meeting urges global community to halt Israeli aggression at Al-Aqsa

By Laith al-Junaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – The Arab Ministerial Committee on Jerusalem on Thursday urged the international community to take urgent measures to end Israeli aggression against Muslims at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The call was made in a statement released after the committee's meeting in Amman, Jordan’s capital.

The meeting was convened at Jordan's request, as the committee's chair, to review the "dangerous" situation in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as strategies to stop Israel's aggression and restore a comprehensive peace.

Tensions have been high in the Palestinian territories since Israeli forces entered Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and attacked worshippers last week.

The situation has been exacerbated by settlers' daily incursions into the flashpoint site to commemorate the week-long Jewish Passover holiday.

The committee's statement contained 16 demands, the most notable of which was for the international community to act immediately to stop Israeli security forces from violently attacking Muslims at Al-Aqsa Mosque and to protect it in accordance with international law and the UN charter, as well as for the UN Security Council to take up its responsibilities in maintaining international peace and security.

The meeting also agreed to maintain the Arab committee in session in order to keep track of developments and take the necessary steps to protect and support the Palestinian people.

"The attacks and violations reflect a flagrant provocation of Muslim sentiments," the statement said, adding that such acts "threaten to ignite a spiral of violence that undermines security and stability in the region and around the world."

The committee's meeting is the fourth since its inception last year, with the most recent taking place in September on the sidelines of the Arab League's 157th regular session at the ministerial level.

Following the meeting, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, his Palestinian colleague Riyad al-Maliki, and Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, held a joint press conference.

"The Arab meeting reflected the fact that Jerusalem and its sanctities are fundamentals beyond politics, and we cannot allow any aggression against them," Safadi stressed during the press conference.

For his part, Aboul Gheit said, "the items that the meeting concluded the deal with the Arab and Islamic position on the Palestinian issue, and not only toward Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa."

"Israel wants to impose a reality by seeing it in the Al-Aqsa Mosque," Al-Maliki said, warning that their attacks extend to all of Palestine.

Earlier, the committee met, with Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Qatar, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia as Arab League summit members, and the United Arab Emirates as an Arab member state of the UN Security Council.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat