Abu Al-Abed carried a small bag from his home in Bethlehem, in the south of the occupied West Bank, in which they put some simple necessities to help him observe i'tikaaf in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the last ten days of the holy month of Ramadan.
Abu al-Abed does not want to draw the attention of the occupation soldiers to his small bag upon entering Jerusalem at night, through the jungle of displaced Palestinian towns in the northwest of Jerusalem, through which he crossed with dozens of Palestinians on foot for about two hours, because they do not have a permit from the occupation to enter the occupied holy city .
Keep an eye out for the crowd
After much anticipation and follow-up, they boarded a bus that took them to the Old City in Jerusalem, and Abu al-Abed and hundreds of people waited with him until the worshipers entering the mosque were crowded, to walk with them in the crowd so that the soldiers would not stop them if they noticed them.
Abu al-Abd says - to Al-Jazeera Net - that he has to take one garment in his small bag to use it throughout the last ten days of the month of Ramadan, because the large bags attract the eyes of the soldiers at the gates and stop their owners.
In recent years, the occupation has prohibited the presence of retreat worshipers who want to stay overnight inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but hundreds of Palestinians from the West Bank who enter bypass roads from the occupation soldiers to Jerusalem are stationed in the covered chapels, such as the Al-Qibli Mosque, the Marwani prayer hall, and the Bab Al-Rahma prayer hall, as it has doors that can Close it and make the soldiers delude that no one is inside.
This year, the occupation also prevented the active institutions in Jerusalem from bringing breakfast meals to the mosque. This prompted tens of West Bank Palestinians to keep the Suhoor meal, which includes a box of yoghurt, a tomato or cucumber, and some dates, as Ramadan breakfast meals.
Many Jerusalemites and Palestinians in the interior know the conditions of the people of the West Bank in Jerusalem, so they enter meals for them when they come with their families to the mosque, and help them to conduct their lives inside the mosque.
Palestinians sleep in the Marwani Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque after closing the doors on themselves (Al-Jazeera)
The night of the storming
On Friday night, when hundreds of occupation soldiers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it was not easy for the entrants to smuggle - without Israeli permits - so what happened to tens of thousands of other Palestinians fell on them, so tens of them were arrested, detained, assaulted and fined thousands of shekels, and forced to sign papers Deportation from the mosque under threat of long prison.
Abu Al-Abed says that he was forced to leave the mosque and remain hidden in the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem until the hours of dawn, when the mosque was reopened, so he entered with the crowd of worshipers, confirming that dozens of those with him were arrested and taken out of Jerusalem by force.
Abu Al-Baraa entered Jerusalem with about 50 people from the West Bank from the southern Hebron road towards Beersheba, and then returned to the city, telling Al-Jazeera Net, "There is nothing left of the 50 except he is in the Al-Aqsa Mosque." Until the soldiers got out and closed the doors to those who remained inside.
The roofed al-Qibli prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where residents of the West Bank who enter Jerusalem by way of bypass sleep (Al-Jazeera)
An incomparable bond
A group of Palestinians in the West Bank did not want to reveal their names for fear of being arrested or chased, but they spoke of great suffering in entering Jerusalem, saying that their comrades were arrested at checkpoints or in ambushes that the occupation puts on the roads from which they know they can enter Jerusalem.
And whoever manages to cross the checkpoints around Jerusalem, the occupation checkpoints around the Old City, and then around the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he suffers a lot from the services inside the mosque, because the occupation is restricting the overnight stay inside it, as well as the restoration of the bathrooms, so that it keeps a few bathrooms that are forced People wait until two hours for their turn to use them, and some of them wait for long hours to be able to shower after days of sleeping without needs inside the mosque, except for those who provide assistance from other Palestinians.
One of them says to Al-Jazeera Net, "All that we suffer is not equal to the pleasure of staying in Al-Aqsa and Rabat in it, and the nights of Ramadan, prayers, and even it is not comparable to the feeling that in moments of storming you grow up in the face of a brutal occupier who fights you with all the weapons of the earth and is deadly, and you are fighting him with your faith and your bare chest. There is no doubt that repelling the settlers who seek to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem tomorrow, Sunday, must be attended by every Palestinian who can reach the mosque.
And the occupation prevented prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque last year due to the Corona pandemic, and this year it restricted the numbers allowed to enter Jerusalem and reach Al-Aqsa, conditional on obtaining a special permit and receiving the Corona vaccination.