Sinn Féin’s MP has called on the Israeli
government to immediately re-open the Al-Aqsa mosque compound
claiming that the draconian reaction to the killing of two
Israeli policemen amounted to "collective punishment” of the
Palestinian community and a "clear violation of Palestinian
religious freedoms.”
The South Down MP said:
“This is the first time in decades that the holy site has been
closed for Friday prayers and news that the Israeli authorities
plan to keep the compound in lockdown for another 24hrs at least
is highly unusual and should be roundly rejected.
“Closing the holy site will only serve to heighten tensions in
Jerusalem and will do little to deter further violent incidents -
in fact this draconian security response is little more than a
form of collective punishment against the Palestinian community
in Jerusalem and will be rightly viewed as a direct attack on
their religious freedom to worship at their sacred site.
“For some weeks now Israeli authorities have been abusing the
status quo agreement previously reaffirmed with King Abdullah of
Jordan in 2015. Muslim worshippers have been locked out of the
site on a number of occasions whilst Jews entered the site.
Mr Hazzard added:
“I have little doubt that these attempts by Israeli authorities
to occupy the Al Aqsa sacred site is symptomatic of their wider
strategy to compete the occupation of Palestine.
“Israeli authorities should immediately lift this draconian
lockdown on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and return to the shared
agreement of the status quo which allows Palestinians the freedom
to worship freely at their sacred site.”
