Palestine's fatwa council slams UAE normalisation visit to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestine's fatwa council slams UAE normalisation visit to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque
Palestine's fatwa council head Mufti Muhammed Hussain deplored an Israeli-funded UAE delegation to Al-Aqsa Mosque.
2 min read
23 October, 2020
Sheikh Muhammad Hussein compared normalisation visits to raids by Israeli forces [Getty]

The Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council on Thursday condemned visits that were recently carried out by pro-normalisation groups to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque.  

An Emirati delegation’s visit to al-Aqsa took place under the protection of Israeli police and accompanied by officials from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

In the wake of its 88th session, the council’s head Sheikh Muhammad Hussein told reporters: “The normalisation visits are no different than the repeated raids of the occupying Israeli soldiers and settlers, who vandalise the holy mosque under the protection of their soldiers.”

“The holy Al-Aqsa mosque is for Muslims alone and only those who do not strip its Islamic legitimacy are welcome to visit,” Hussein asserted.

However, he added that Arabs who visit under normalisation were “not welcome at the sanctity of the mosque.”

The grand mufti denounced what he described as: “Israeli plans to isolate the city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, as well as the denial of thousands of worshippers from accessing them.”

In August, Hussein resigned from a UAE forum after it announced its support for the Emirati normalisation deal with Israel.

He told a press conference that he had handed his resignation to the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies (FPPMS) following its statement in support of the agreement that aims to establish full diplomatic ties between the UAE and Israel.

Hussein oversees Jerusalem's Muslim holy sites, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“This normalisation is a stab in the back of Palestinians and Muslims, and a betrayal for Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem,” Hussein said at the time.

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