Sometimes when you think you have heard it all, along comes a new chapter in the growing Arab narrative. A conference, hosted by Palestine Parliamentary Committee, the Arab Parliament and the World Islamic Sciences and Education University was held from April 28-30 in Amman and their closing statement is quite a tall tale.
“The love for the Al-Aqsa is in the hearts of all Muslims, since it is their first qiblah (direction of prayer) and along with Al-Masjid Al- Haram and the Mosque of God’s Apostle, it is one of the three mosques to which Muslims make pilgrimage.
What? My first quibble, is with their “qiblah”- in which direction?
Ok, Muslim men do get out on the streets in Jerusalem, Israel to bow and pray.
But while Jews have for thousands of years faced Jerusalem to pray,
Muslims face Mecca, so that from many places in Jerusalem, Israel,
Muslim backsides, their tail ends, not hearts, are facing their holy Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Who were these enlightening folks:
The participants, who included a group of Muftis, Awqaf Ministers, scholars and intellectuals from the Muslim world, were apprised by Jerusalemites on the situation of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian Holy Sites and the escalating and continuing aggressions and transgression that they are subjected to by the Israeli occupation which strives to Judaize the Holy City and impose its complete control over the Blessed Aqsa Mosque through aggressive practices.
Great, so leaders in the Muslim world say:
“These practices include settlement; land confiscation; demolishing the home of Jerusalemites; excavations that have reached down to the foundations of the Blessed Aqsa Mosque and now threaten to lead to its collapse .
Finally, let us be exact about what Al-Aqsa means:
They added that the Al-Aqsa includes: the Qibli Mosque, the Marwani Mosque, the Dome of the Rock Mosque, the Cave of the Dome of the Rock underneath the Dome of the Rock, the Old Aqsa Mosque, the Khanthaniyah School, the Buraq Mosque, the plazas of the esplanade, its gates, hallways, roads, cisterns, aqueducts and aquifers, inner and outer prayer areas and structures and facilities both above and below the ground. The environs of the Mosque are blessed and are Islamic waqfs and include the Magharbeh Gate Pathway and the Burqa Plaza.
Phew, thought they were going to throw my house in for good measure!
Go look up Burqa Plaza. They want not only the Mosque and the Western Wall, but the Western Wall Plaza and more.
No more ‘end” jokes, as this tale keeps going and growing it is not funny. They want all of Jerusalem and more…