Occupied Jerusalem
- Jerusalemites are talking about the scenes they experienced in the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque this week will not be erased from their memory, and their wounds resulting from the occupation forces' random suppression of them will not heal in the near future because they decided to tie and stay in their mosque to observe i'tikaf in it and protect it from the incursions of extremists.
With the closure of the Mughrabi Gate, the Islamic Endowments Department announced today that the number of intrusions during the last week amounted to 3,670 extremists, under the pretext of what they see as a celebration of the Jewish Passover.
Occupation soldiers prevent women from reaching the courtyards of the tribal prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Jazeera Net)
Inside the squares, and despite the loud music and biblical prayers emanating from loudspeakers in the Al-Buraq Wall plaza in celebration of Easter, the slightest sound or movement issued by the worshipers inside Al-Aqsa Mosque was the most heard, observed, and confusing to the occupation forces, which succeeded in introducing the extremists, but did not succeed in securing a quiet incursion for them.
Old men gathered in groups to recite the Qur’an and recite dhikr and supplications, and steadfastly remained in their seats, unaware of the sudden repression of the occupation forces or the rubber bullets being fired around them.
Worshipers work as a beehive to clean the courtyard and hallway of the tribal prayer hall after every incursion by settlers and the occupation forces (Al Jazeera Net)
Politically permissible intrusion
Others pushed them to break their silence by the repeated extremists’ incursions and the special forces’ targeting of the worshipers in the al-Qibli prayer hall with rubber-coated metal bullets, among them al-Maqdisi Sami Dwaiyat, who shouted at dozens of soldiers, addressing them in Hebrew:
“In the Torah, it is mentioned that storming Al-Aqsa is forbidden in the Jewish religion, but you allow this incursion Politically and following the whims of extremist rabbis, do you allow any Muslim to enter the synagogues? Whoever arrives at your synagogue, you respond with bullets immediately, and in return you defame our holiest places of worship."
Occupation soldiers prevent women from reaching the courtyards of the tribal prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Jazeera Net)
Behind this elderly, the besieged people in Al-Qibli prayer hall continued their “acoustic confusion” activities that they devised this year, and they did not stop provoking the occupation forces stationed in front of them, targeting all of them who looked out of the window of the smashed funeral door with bullets and gas and sound bombs.
One of them wore a Palestinian keffiyeh, another in a black shirt, and a third in a white shirt, and among their heads that peeked out and hid from the window, stones were constantly being thrown, accompanied by the sounds of shouting and shouting.
Al-Mamaraba is Muntaha, an emirate reciting the Qur’an in front of the path of the intruders to Al-Aqsa Mosque (Al-Jazeera Net)
The shrines and the weapon of chanting
“A nation whose leader Muhammad will not kneel, and with our souls and blood we will redeem you, O Aqsa.” And whenever the confrontations intensified, everyone chanted, “Hey, she is, she will be victorious, with God’s help.” And in front of them, dozens of women who are besieged at the southwestern bay respond with the same chants and by reciting the Qur’an aloud.
While a group of them were keen to remain steadfast at this gate, others moved to the other gates in front of which the extremists pass to disturb their tour with continuous takbeer until they exit the door of the chain.
Young men retreating in the Al-Qibli prayer hall looking out from one of its windows and saluting the worshipers in the squares after the withdrawal of the occupation forces (Al-Jazeera Net)
Al-Mamarabiat Sahar Al-Natsheh, who was arrested and expelled from the mosque several times, expressed to Al-Jazeera Net what she feels during the repeated takbeers, saying, "I feel that I have taken something of my right from these extremists because the takbeer hinders their tours, and I noticed that they and their children have become more daring in their incursions, and this is what hurts me because our bond Years ago it was the source of their fear."
Al-Natsheh urged everyone who can reach Al-Aqsa Mosque to go to it, because "an empty house is usually subject to seizure, and so Al-Aqsa must be rebuilt with worshipers throughout the year so that it is not robbed by the occupation forces and extremists."
An elderly Palestinian sits in front of the heavily armed special forces, not interested in bullets or bombs (Al-Jazeera Net)
They leave and we stay
In front of the path of the intruders, the stationed Muntaha Amara, the niece of Sheikh Al-Aqsa Raed Salah, was keen to sit down and recite the Qur’an. They will leave.
“At the end of the period of their incursions, the whole world will see who will leave the Al-Aqsa Mosque and who will remain.. They will leave and will leave and be defeated, and we will remain in our sanctuary, our right, and the path of our Prophet, and it will not exist for non-Muslims here,” Amara added.
Elderly Jerusalemite Sami Dwaiyat addresses the soldiers in Hebrew in front of the tribal chapel (Al Jazeera Net)
With the exit of the last group of intruders and the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Al-Aqsa through the Mughrabi Gate, Muntaha ran with dozens of worshipers to clean the square and the hallway leading to the Qibli prayer hall, and was keen to collect the remnants of sound bombs and rubber bullets.
In the blink of an eye, the al-Qibli prayer hall reappears in its splendid appearance, and an atmosphere of calm and tranquility prevails in its corners in which the worshipers are spread, among them the young man, Muhammad Abu Safiya, who comes from the village of Bidya in the Salfit Governorate in the northern West Bank.
A group of settlers storm Al-Aqsa to celebrate the Jewish Passover (Al-Jazeera Net)
Despite all the inconveniences
Regarding his retreat from last Thursday, which will continue until the first day of Eid al-Fitr, this young man said that he is trying to enjoy the spiritual atmosphere in Al-Aqsa Mosque despite all the disturbances.
He added, "The tribal chapel turned into a real battlefield last Friday.. They used tear gas extensively inside this closed place and fired rubber bullets randomly after smashing the windows. I was lucky to escape and was not arrested, but I was beaten and abused, and here I am responding by continuing the seclusion."
Muhammad's journey back to his village will take about 3 hours to meet after a perilous retreat with his wife and four children, but he confirms that the hours and days he spends in the Al-Aqsa Mosque are the only ones that count from his life.
Muhammad bid farewell to us after his polite refusal to take a picture of him, saying, "I count my presence and my retreat here for the sake of God Almighty, and I fear that my media appearance will be counted in the door of hypocrisy."