Israel Bars Al-Aqsa Mosque Preacher for 4 Months

Arab World

January 26th, 8:13am

Ramallah – Asharq Al-Awsat

Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher. (AP)

Israeli authorities have banned Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher, for four months. The move was in retaliation to the cleric’s violation of a one-week ban days earlier. Israeli forces stormed Sabri’s house on Saturday and handed him the notice. Last Sunday, Israeli authorities informed him of the order to stay out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque for a renewable period of one week. He defied the order and entered the mosque along with worshipers to perform prayers on Friday. Activists and clerics staged a rally on Saturday to support Sabri, who declared that “no power in the world” can bar him from performing prayers at al-Aqsa. “We will not accept such an unjust, terrorist and illegal policy,” he stressed. Sheikh Najeh Bakirat, director of Al-Aqsa religious endowments, deemed the latest Israeli decision as directed against the Palestinians. There is no place for the Israeli forces in sacred sites and Al-Aqsa, he stressed. He vowed that the ban will be relentlessly confronted.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2099951/israel-bars-al-aqsa-mosque-preacher-4-months