Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi stressed on Wednesday that Israel is consolidating its illegal occupation of East Jerusalem, building settlements, annexing land, confiscating property, placing restrictions on Jerusalemites, and severing Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory—implementing a plot that targets the city's identity, history, present, and future.
اضافة اعلان
Speaking at the ministerial meeting dedicated to supporting Jerusalem and its holy sites, held in the capital Amman, Safadi added that Israel is violating the sanctity of Islamic and Christian holy sites and besieging freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians.
Safadi continued: "Christian clergy suffer from the savagery of extremism, while churches confront attempts to seize their assets and lands through illegal laws enacted by Israel, in violation of international law, which categorically states that no occupier has sovereignty over occupied land."
Safadi emphasized that provocative Israeli policies target the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif through unprecedented, systematic attacks that are increasing in frequency, severity, and reckless arrogance in an attempt to undermine its Islamic identity and alter the historical and legal status quo of the blessed mosque, which in its entirety is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.
"The Israeli government is carrying out its illegal measures in Jerusalem and its holy sites within the framework of a general policy to entrench the occupation in the West Bank and kill the two-state solution, which remains the sole path to achieving a just peace. It is pushing the West Bank to the brink of explosion, violating the cease-fire agreement in Gaza, and obstructing the implementation of the U.S. President’s plan to achieve stability in the Strip," Safadi said.
Safadi underscored that the Arab-Israeli conflict has never been a religious one, pointing out that the root cause of the conflict is Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land and its denial of the Palestinian people's right to freedom and statehood in their historical homeland.
Safadi warned that through Israel's violations of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and its attempts to undermine its identity, the Israeli government is driving toward igniting a religious conflict that could trigger calls for global jihad to protect one of the three holiest sites for nearly two billion Muslims.
He continued: "This danger is too vast to contain if it explodes; therefore, we sound the alarm and call on the international community to act decisively and clearly to stop Israeli violations in Jerusalem and its holy sites, end policies that consolidate the occupation in the West Bank, destroy hope for a just peace, prevent stability, and prolong the catastrophe in Gaza—denying the entire region and its peoples the right to live in security and peace."
He urged the international community to act before it is too late so that Jerusalem—which holds a special status in the three monotheistic religions—can be a city of harmony and a gateway to peace as it ought to be, rather than an arena of oppression and injustice as the occupation has made it.
Addressing the participating ministers, Safadi added: "We gather today to express our unified vision and firm stance in the face of the danger threatening Jerusalem and its holy sites, working to confront it through joint action and collective steps to expose provocative, escalating Israeli practices, clarify their danger, and mobilize an effective international stance to halt them and achieve a just peace under which an independent Palestinian state and Israel live side-by-side in security and stability."
Safadi affirmed that sovereignty over Jerusalem is Palestinian, and guardianship over its Islamic and Christian holy sites is Hashemite, but protecting Jerusalem and its holy sites is an Arab, Islamic, and international responsibility. "Thank you."
The meeting of Foreign Ministers of Arab member states of the Arab Ministerial Committee tasked with international action to confront illegal Israeli policies and measures in occupied Jerusalem convened in Amman on Wednesday, alongside the Secretary-General of the Arab League, and the Foreign Ministers of the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye, and Malaysia.
The meeting examines conditions in Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites to formulate a joint stance against illegal, escalating Israeli measures targeting the identity of Jerusalem and its holy places.
In addition to Jordan, the committee includes the Republic of Tunisia, the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of Iraq, the State of Palestine, the State of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Kingdom of Morocco, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.
