The Mosque"Al -Aqsa"
Importance
The mosque Al-Aqsa is a silver-domed mosque which consists of 35-acre compound referred to as al-Haram al-Sharif, or the Noble Sanctuary, by Muslims. This Mosque lies in the Old City of Jerusalem, Palestine. It has been designated a World Heritage site by UN, UNESCO.
The Mosque Al-Aqsa and the sit has been the most contested piece of territory in Holy Land since Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including the Old City, in 1967, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip. However, this conflict was started even before the creation of Israel.
The United Nations generated a resolution in 1947 to separate historical Palestine, then under British control, into two states: one for Jews, mainly from Europe, and one for Palestinians. The 55% of the land was given to the Jewish state and 45% if the land was given to the Palestinian state. By the UN the al-Aqsa was granted the special status of its importance to the three Abrahamic religions.
The first Arab-Israeli war was started in 1948 when Israel was capturing the 78% of the land. In 1967, after the second Arab war Israel started increasing encroachment on the Land. It results in the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and eventually the illegal Israeli annexation of Jerusalem, including the Old City and al-Aqsa Mosque.
This illegal Israeli control violates different principles of International Law, which outlines that an occupying power does not have sovereignty in the territory it occupies.
In recent years the Israeli government has taken more steps to have a complete control the Old City and East Jerusalem. In 1980, the Israeli government passed a law according to which Jerusalem the "complete and united" capital of Israel which absolutely violates the International Law.
Palestinians in Jerusalem which are around 400,000, hold only the permanent residency status, not citizenship, despite being born there--in contrast with Jews who are born on the city. And, since 1967, Israel is deporting Palestinians quietly and imposing difficult conditions for them.
Israel has also built at least 12 fortified Jewish only illegal settlements in East Jerusalem. They have also built houses of 200,000 Israelis while rejecting building permits and demolishing their houses.
Religious Significance
For the Muslims the Noble Sanctuary hosts Islam's third holiest site, the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, a seventh-century structure believed to be where the Holy Prophet (PBUH) ascended to heaven.
Jews believe this compound/mosque s where the Biblical Jewish temples stood once, but Jewish Law and the Israeli Rabbinate forbid Jews from entering the compound/mosque and praying there as it considered too holy to tread upon.
Its Western Wall knowns as the Wailing Wall to Jews , is believed to the last remnant of the Second Temple, while Muslims refer to it as al-Buraq Wall and believe it is where the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) tied al-Buraq, the animal upon which he ascended to the sky and spoke to Allah.
Referring to Trump's intention to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Saudi Arabia's king said:
"such a dangerous step is likely to inflame the passions of Muslims around the world due to great status of Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque".
The greater context
Al-Aqsa is a small area within Palestine, but symbolically and religiously it is a large part of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Though the Mosque itself is significant for Muslims especially, Palestinians Christians have also protested against Israeli encroachment on the compound/mosque, joining Muslims in prayer as protest.
Recent tensions
The latest violence comes on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr, a day after Israeli police stormed Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and injured 205 Palestinians. Dozens of Palestinians have been injured in Israeli police crackdown on protestors outside the Old City of Jerusalem as tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers prayed at nearby Al -Aqsa Mosque on Islam’s holy night of Laylat al-Qadr.
Israeli forces on horseback and in riot gear deployed stun grenades and water cannon against Palestinian youth who threw stones, lit fires and tore down police barricades in the streets leading to the walled Old City gates.
Tensions have mounted in the city, the occupied West Bank and Gaza throughout the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, amid growing anger about the potential eviction of Palestinians from East Jerusalem homes on land claimed by Jewish settlers.
Israeli border guards have, during the past few days, used skunk water, tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and shock grenades to disperse sit-ins held in support to the families facing eviction in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
At least 205 Palestinians and 18 Israeli officers were injured in Friday’s confrontations, which drew international condemnations and calls for calm.
