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A Palestinian Plan to Attract Muslims Back to al Aqsa

(Reuters/Tribune - Pakistan) - Muslims have kept up an informal boycott of the walled esplanade called the Temple Mount by Jews and the Noble Sanctuary by Muslims since Israel seized East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan in a 1967 war, saying visits would amount to recognition of Jewish occupation of Palestinian territory. Palestinian and Jordanian officials now want to reverse that. PA President Mahmoud Abbas urged Muslims last February to resume the journeys to Jerusalem to counter what he called Israel's attempts to "Judaize" the city and in solidarity with the Palestinians. Since then, several high-ranking Arab and Islamic leaders have turned up to pray at al Aqsa and - they hope - kickstart a new wave of pilgrimages. Mohammad Ahmad Husein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, issued a fatwa approving the pilgrimages. But a split appeared almost immediately. Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi, a Qatari-based spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and one of the world's leading Muslim preachers, issued his own fatwa against foreign Muslims visiting Jerusalem.
2012-06-22 00:00:00
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