Date: October 10, 2021
Ref: 124/2021
Press release
ICSPR calls on the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities towards protecting the holy sites in the Palestinian territories, especially in the occupied city of Jerusalem
The International Commission to Support Palestinians’ Rights (ICSPR) follows-up with concern and condemnation the escalation of Israeli violations in the occupied city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, in continuation of the set of Israeli procedures and practices based on implementing the policy of Judaizing Jerusalem, and the spatial and temporal control of Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the last of which was the decision of the Occupation Court on October 6, 2021, which issued a decision permitting the “silent prayer of the Jews” in Al-Aqsa Mosque as a legitimate act that can’t be criminalized, and it considered that the author “Rabbi Aryeh Lebo” will commit to this, therefore the occupation police ordered to enable him to storm Al-Aqsa to perform prayers. This constituted a wanton disregard for the feelings of millions of Muslims, and involved a grave breach of international legitimacy resolutions related to Jerusalem, foremost of which are Security Council resolutions that stress the need to preserve the status quo in the Holy City
According to the data, the occupation police later appealed the aforementioned court’s decision, given the escalating repercussions of the court’s decision, which in turn considered the appeal, and upheld “the right of Jews to silent prayer,” and considered that Rabbi “Aryeh Lebo,” did not abide to make the prayer silent, and prevented him from storming Al-Aqsa.
ICSPR sees the decision as a serious and dangerous step, as it turned the issue of Jewish prayer in Al-Aqsa from a policy of the occupation police to a judicial decision, where the previous court decisions in 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2020 had considered prayer at Al-Aqsa “a right for the Jews” in terms of principle, but it left the assessment of this to the occupation police. This was violated by the new decision after it intervened in the assessments of the police. ICSPR renews its condemnation of the imposition of the decision by force on the occupied holy city, and stresses that these violations would not have accelerated if they weren’t for the international silence and American bias, and warns against attempts to impose the sovereignty of the occupation on the holy city and obliterating its Arab identity, which is a serious violation of the historical and legal status in the occupied city and its sanctities, in contravention of the principles of international legitimacy and international humanitarian law, and all international resolutions related to the Palestinian issue. Therefore:
- ICSPR calls on the international community to intervene to obligate the occupation authorities to the legal and moral rules imposed by international conventions and United Nations resolutions related to preserving the special and historical status of the Holy City, including confronting and rejecting the measures imposed by the occupation authorities against the city of Jerusalem its sanctuaries and its inhabitants.
- ICSPR calls on the Arab and Islamic countries, the League of Arab States, and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to start international, political, diplomatic and legal moves to pressure the occupation to immediately stop the Judaization of the Holy City, including calling for urgent and exceptional meetings to form an Arab and Islamic position on the escalation of the occupation crimes against the occupied city of Jerusalem and its sanctities.
- ICSPR believes that normalization and the silence of international, Arab and Islamic states regarding what is happening in Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, give the occupation authorities a green light to continue violating the rights of the Palestinian people, and to move forward with its plans and crimes against the Holy City.
- ICSPR stresses that the recent judicial procedures regarding allowing Jews to pray in Al-Aqsa, come in support of the Israeli plans that seek to annex occupied Jerusalem and expand the scope of settlement there, in violation of the resolutions of legitimacy and the provisions of international law and human rights law, and the Rome Charter establishing the Criminal Court International.
- ICSPR calls on the Palestinian Authority to internationalize the issue of occupied Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, including working to mobilize the official and popular diplomatic energies in a way that exposes the occupation state as a racist regime, in order to boycott and hold the occupation accountable for its crimes against the Palestinians, and the Holy City in particular.
- ICSPR calls on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Ahmed Khan, to complete the opening of an independent and impartial investigation into the escalating crimes of the occupation against the city of Jerusalem and its holy sites, as it is the most effective way to reduce the level of tension, given the symbolism of the holy city in the hearts of millions of Palestinians.
