Israeli settlers again stormed Al Aqsa Mosque, this Sunday, guarded by Israeli ‘special forces’, Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency reports.According to a worshiper at the mosque, about 15 Israeli settlers stormed Al Aqsa from the Mughrabi gate, during the morning hours, touring its courtyards in the presence of hundreds of worshipers from Jerusalem and pre-1948 occupied lands and, finally, exiting from the door of al-Selsela.
The mosque’s congregation confronted the militant incursion chanting ‘Allahu Akhbar!’ (God is Greatest!), as Israeli police stationed at the gates confiscated the personal IDs of a number of women and some men.
Some of the settlers reportedly provoked the worshipers, in addition, while one tried to climb to the plate Dome of the Rock, making provocative gestures. Al Aqsa guards intervened and the settler was promptly ejected from the courtyards.
‘Students for the Temple’, ‘Women for the Temple’, ‘Hliba’ and other organizations have called upon their supporters to take part in wide raids on the mosque, in preparation for the Hebrew Festival of Lights.
Al Aqsa witnesses almost daily incursions by Israeli settlers and Jewish extremist groups, in their attempt to wield full control over it, imposing a temporal and spatial division of the mosque.
— —
Also in occupied East Jerusalem, Sunday, Israeli authorities notified several Palestinians of orders to demolish their homes in the neighborhood of Silwan, according to local sources.
Witnesses told WAFA correspondence that Israeli police, accompanied by staff from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem, broke into the area and served notices to local residents in regard to the municipality’s plan to demolish their homes, again under the pretext of ‘building without a permit’.
Issuance of construction permits for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, occupied since 1967, has been restricted, WAFA reports, as authorities rarely issue such permits — forcing the majority of the city’s residents to build houses to seek shelter without a permit.
The authorities also impose unreasonable fees, in the case that a permit is issued, for which Jerusalemites tend to evade red tape pertaining to permission procedures.
Since 2004, Israel has demolished hundreds of houses under this pretext, according to Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
Unlike Jewish migrants who enjoy a variety of legal rights and unlimited facilities with regard to construction, indigenous Palestinian residents of the city always find themselves compelled to demolish their homes, upon Israeli notice, and seek a house rental instead.
Related: 06/02/14 Tens of Thousands of Jerusalemite Palestinians Still Lacking Water
12/15/14 Israeli and American Academics Demand US and EU to Sanction Israeli Leaders
Furthermore, thousands of Jerusalemites have also been forced to leave the city, to flee the Israeli restrictions.
Search IMEMC: ‘Israeli Settlement’
