Al-Aqsa preacher Sheikh Ikrima Sabri said that the decision of the Israeli occupation authorities to prevent him from traveling for a period of 4 months, will not change his position in defense of the Blessed Mosque.
He added in his intervention, Monday, with the evening program on Al Jazeera Mubasher, "This unjust decision will not change my position, and will not prevent me from performing my religious duty towards my people and my nation."
"My defense of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque will continue as long as I live," he added.
On Sunday evening, the occupation authorities handed Sheikh Sabri a travel ban for four months.
The office of Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, said that Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked had justified her decision, saying that it constituted "a real danger to the security of the state."
Sheikh Ikrima described the decision to ban him from traveling as arbitrary, unjustified and illegal, pointing out that this did not affect his attitudes towards Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.
He added, "We are continuing our message and our positions defending Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, which Israel considers terrorism. We also thank all media outlets, including Al-Jazeera, which conveys the true image of the occupation approach inside our occupied lands."
Sheikh Ikrima made it clear that he will not resort to the judiciary due to the ineffectiveness of the law in Israel, noting that the decision to ban him from traveling was issued under military instructions.
He continued, "These moody military decisions are issued specifically to please the extreme Jewish right."
He pointed out that the decision is a kind of repression and intimidation of Jerusalemites from criticizing the occupation policy until they surrender to the reality that it is trying to impose on them.
Hamza Quttineh, Sheikh Ikrima's lawyer, said that the decision to prevent him from leaving the country comes as part of a series of arbitrary prosecution measures against the sheikh, and within the framework of combating his religious role as the preacher of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Islamic Council, and his social role in the city of Jerusalem and in the world in general.
Lawyer Quttineh added, “This arbitrary and unjust decision violates international laws and human rights conventions, and in particular violates the human right to free movement and movement, and takes place within administrative procedures that do not take into account human rights or the right to defense, nor the simplest standards of justice or humanity.”
The Israeli occupation authorities have previously prevented Sheikh Ikrima Sabri from traveling more than once in the past years, and have also prevented him for months from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque.