A statistical report issued by the Christian-Islamic Committee to Defend Jerusalem and the Islamic Cooperation organization, showed that excavations under Jerusalem since 1967 have reached 104, 4 of which are under or around the Al-Aqsa mosque, 5 in Silwan, 5 in the Old City, and 8 in other sites, also 57 fossils and tunnels penetrate the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The above mentioned organizations warned of the danger of building a huge Jewish-only cemetery under the ancient cemetery that extends from Mount of Olives to the town Silwan, with an area of more than 1,600 square meters with a depth of 50 meters, can accommodate more than 23,000 graves at a cost of $90 million, the Palestine News Network reported.
The Authority’s report in Jerusalem monitored 29 settlements, 15 in the eastern part and the rest in the western part. In total, there are 43 settlements on 46 thousand dunams aiming to change the nature of Jerusalem through excavations. Al-Aqsa is now surrounded by 105 synagogues. There are 107 mosques in Jerusalem, including 43 in the Old City, as well as 95 Christian churches.
Hanna Issa, Secretary-General of the Christian-Islamic Committee for the Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites, said that the most dangerous statement of US President Donald Trump’s decision, on 6-12-2017, is not only the transfer of the capital, but that the city of Jerusalem is Jewish, denying the Christian and Islamic presence in the city. He indicated that what the Israeli occupation is doing under under Al-Aqsa is building an entire city.
Isa continued: “All of this comes within a programmed framework with the aim of emptying the city of Jerusalem of its indigenous people, creating a new Jewish character, and establishing the greater capital of Israel on an area of 600 square kilometers.”
Representative of the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Palestine, Ahmed Al-Ruwaidi, said that “in the context of media and cultural efforts, we seek to highlight the Islamic and Arab identity of Jerusalem and to address Israeli policies aimed at judaizing” the city. He reiterated the organizations firm commitment to cooperation and solidarity, foremost of which is the issue of Al-Quds, as its central issue for finding a just end to the Israeli occupation.
In turn, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestinian homes, Muhammad Hussein, said, “In all the eras that the Arabs have maintained their presence in Jerusalem, they have proven that Jerusalem is theirs, despite all the nations and invaders that passed through it, because today the Israeli occupation passes through it by building excavations.”
He explained that the excavations began in Jerusalem before 1967, and researchers realize that it started through a British school of archeology that was present in Jerusalem, and the first was in the Wadi Hilweh region, and then continued to demolish the Mughrabi neighborhood, which the Israeli occupation turned into a gateway to aggression most days.
A member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, head of the Jerusalem Department, Adnan Al-Husseini, stressed that the excavations in Jerusalem are part of a large conspiracy within chapters that began in the 1967, and we are seeing the results of this stage through unprecedented occupation practices.
In turn, the Moroccan Ambassador to the State of Palestine, Mohamed Hamzawy, expressed his country’s continued support for the people of Jerusalem, with all legal means available to impose international legal legitimacy, the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem, and the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque, a sincere endowment for Muslims.
Photo: Days of Palestine
Edited for IMEMC: Ali Salam
