Monarch condemns Israeli attempts near Magharebah Gate, adjacent to Aqsa Mosque’s Western Wall

AMMAN, JIB — King Abdullah on Sunday warned against damaging Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.

At a meeting with a delegation of Arab members of the Knesset, the King condemned Israeli attempts to demolish the road of the Magharebah Gate, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Aqsa Mosque, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

“Any attempts to change the nature of such holy sites [in Jerusalem] and remove its Islamic characteristics are condemned,” the King said.

The Monarch said Arab Israeli leaders play a key role in supporting efforts to revive the peace process.

He added that Jordan was keen to enhance relations with the Arab Israeli leadership to serve the Palestinian cause.

The Jordanian Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs issued a statement urging governments and organisations of the world to “intervene immediately to stop the dangerous Israeli practices, including a plan by the Israeli government to remove a hill near the Magharebah Gate”.

The panel charged that the Israeli move was designed to benefit from the inter-Palestinian fighting in the Gaza Strip.

“This is a flagrant aggression on an Islamic shrine and Jordan's sovereignty over it, a violation of the Jordanian-Israeli Peace Treaty and a challenge for the UN resolutions,” the panel said in its statement.

Also, the Organisation of Islamic Conference and a Saudi-based body of Muslim scholars condemned Israeli work near the Aqsa Mosque.

"The most serious element is plans to excavate under the walls of the Aqsa Mosque and its underground tunnels," the Islamic Jurisprudence Academy said in a statement carried on Saudi state news agency SPA.

"The academy expresses its sorrow about blatant violations of the sanctity of the mosque, whose existence is threatened," said the Jeddah-based academy, which groups prominent Sunni and Shiite clerics from around the world.

Minbar installed

Earlier last week, Religious leaders attended a ceremony to unveil the replica of the Salah Al Din Ayyubi minbar, which was installed in Al Aqsa Mosque on Thursday. A delegation from Balqa Applied University, where the pulpit was built over a period of four years. The creation of an exact replica of the pulpit for Al Aqsa Mosque -  Islam’s third holiest site —  started upon His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives in 2002.  The handmade minbar, finished at a cost of JD1.25 million, is six metres high and 4.5 metres wide, and consists of 16,500 pieces fixed using the dovetail joints technique —  without the use of glue or nails. Several technicians and engineers from Jordan and other countries worked on installing the minbar, which arrived in Jerusalem last week