The Jewish Temple Institute announced that it will hold a festival in the Islamic Umayyad palaces area to the south and southwest of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem on 26 March.

The Jerusalem-based Department of Waqf and Islamic Affairs said in a statement on Thursday that the Temple Institute announced on its website that it will organise the massive festival, noting that it has received approval from the Israeli police.

The department added that the Institute “has already started preparations for the festival by setting up the Holocaust altar and cooking utensils and offerings to present them next Sunday; a day before the festival”.

The department reiterated that the Umayyad palaces and all that surrounds the Al-Aqsa Mosque are an integral part of the Islamic Waqf, which is a pure right for Muslims, and no one has the right to attack or change its function.

“This is a Judaization step that will not be tolerated. It is rejected because silence about it will give the settlers the green light to crawl into the Al-Aqsa Mosque” it said.

The statement warned the Israeli police of moving forward with the festival saying it will provoke the Muslims feelings.

On Thursday, as many as 82 Jewish settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque under the Israeli police protection.

Source: Quds Press International News Agency
Translated by: Middle East Monitor
In collaboration with the Palestinian Media Forum