- Lifting of the ban is "bullying, arrogance, and Zionist ISIS-ism"
- "The prime minister [Netanyahu] of the extremist right in the occupation state has committed a complete war crime against the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, and particularly at the Al-Aqsa Mosque"
"The excavations that the occupation institutions are conducting underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque... are advancing in a systematic and planned manner up to the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the establishment of their alleged Temple"
Abbas' advisor on religious affairs said that the presence of Jewish Israeli MPs in Jerusalem and on the Temple Mount, "defiles" the Islamic holy sites and in particular the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Earlier this month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rescinded his previous ban on Israeli Parliament members visiting the Temple Mount - which had been in place for nearly three years as a precaution against violence - and allowed them to visit once every three months.
The prime minister of the occupation state is engaging in bullying, arrogance, and Zionist "ISIS-ism" against the members of our people and its holy sites, both in Jerusalem and Hebron, by giving relief, support, and protection to the break-in campaigns of the extremist Jews into the holy sanctuaries in Jerusalem and Hebron, to [the sanctuaries'] defilement, and to the attack on the Muslim worshippers, who have the right to manage their holy sites with complete freedom and without the interference of the tyrannical occupation authorities."
Al-Habbash further threatened that "a continuation of the crime mentality led by the occupation government will drag the entire region and the world into a religious war whose results will be disaster for everyone."
A similar statement by Abbas in 2014, when he claimed Jewish presence on the Temple Mount was "defiling" the Islamic holy site, and called on Palestinians to "prevent them in any way," launched a terror campaign in which 12 Israelis were murdered in the following month. Abbas' call was broadcast again repeatedly by PA TV and radio in December 2017.
"The occupation state is attempting to invest efforts through all its branches - the security, political, and religious branches - in order to establish a false racist reality at the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Palestine, but this is in vain because their false narrative lacks historical, heritage, and cultural facts in Palestine."
Headline: "National condemnation of Netanyahu's decision to allow Israeli Parliament members to invade the Al-Aqsa Mosque... Al-Habbash: Zionist ISIS-ism"
Al-Habbash warned that 'A continuation of the crime mentality led by the occupation government will drag the entire region and the world into a religious war whose results will be disaster for everyone.' He warned Netanyahu not to be deceived by the prevailing situation of inertness and internal disputes in some of the Arab and Islamic states, or by the American administration's criminal decisions against Jerusalem, into passing a criminal policy against the members of our people and their holy sites."
The article's mention of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision regarding the Temple Mount refers to a move in early July 2018, when Netanyahu rescinded his previous ban on Israeli Parliament members visiting the Temple Mount - which had been in place for nearly three years - and allowed them to visit once every three months.
In the resolution UNESCO refers to the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, only as "Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif," and presents it only as a "Muslim holy site." The resolution condemns "escalating Israeli aggressions" and Israeli "violations" at the site, and calls on Israel "to respect the integrity, authenticity and cultural heritage of Al-Aq?a Mosque/Al-?aram Al-Sharif... as a Muslim holy site of worship." The resolution likewise refers to the Western Wall Plaza as the "Al-Buraq Plaza 'Western Wall Plaza,'" adding quotation marks to the Jewish name for the site.
"Supreme Shari'ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas'] advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that 'The occupation state is attempting to invest efforts through all its branches - the security, political, and religious branches - in order to establish a false racist reality at the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Palestine, but this is in vain because their false narrative lacks historical, heritage, and cultural facts in Palestine.
In response to a group of extremist settlers engraving what is called 'the Ten Commandments' on the stones of the holy site of Hebron (refers to unconfirmed Palestinian reports that Jews engraved the Ten Commandments on a door of the Cave of the Patriarchs -Ed.), Al-Habbash said that this attack is considered a dangerous escalation in the series of daily attacks against the holy sites in Jerusalem and Hebron. This crime represents theft and forgery of our Islamic-Palestinian heritage at our holy sites and our mosques in broad daylight.
He added that the series of Israeli crimes against the holy sites has severely escalated due to occupation [Israeli] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to allow the Israeli Parliament members to invade the Al-Aqsa Mosque plazas and defile them (i.e., he lifted his ban on visits; see note below)."
On the same matter, [PA] Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories, preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, [and Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman] Muhammad Hussein warned that the excavations that the occupation authorities are conducting in the region of the Umayyad palaces... are disastrous. He predicted that all of the Islamic structures in the region would be undermined, and afterwards would be destroyed in order to change the holy city's identity and completely Judaize it. Mufti Hussein noted in a statement yesterday [July 17, 2018] that the occupation authorities are pretending to search for the foundations of their alleged Temple, and emphasized that this is becoming most dangerous for the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."