PA Minister of Religous Affairs: Closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of an Israeli plot to "divide it by times and areas" which may lead to a religous war, calls to carry out "Ribat" at the mosque
Headline: "Ida'is: Closing the Al-Aqsa Mosque for the first time in 67 years is a new plot for its division"
"[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida’is said today, Thursday [Oct. 30, 2014], that the closing of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces today, for the first time since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, is nothing but a new plot to divide it by times and areas. He called to pay a lot of attention to this dangerous step, which harms the Muslims' exclusive rights to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from a religious, political, and legal perspective...Ida'is added: 'The actions that Israel has been taking for a long time, such as bills regarding sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque, forbidding the broadcast of the call to prayer, and harming the Murabitin (i.e., those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), hitting them, and expelling them from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, are pushing the region to violence and igniting tempers, in an attempt to establish a religious war that will include the whole region...' Ida'is demanded of the faithful that they carry out Ribat at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and break this oppressive step [of closing the mosque], which reflects religious persecution against the Muslim faithful."
"Division according to areas and times" refers to a proposed law (May 2013) being reviewed in Israeli Parliament that would allow for both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount, what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The law seeks to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. However, Israeli PM Netanyahu has stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, which means Jews are allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but cannot pray there or engage in any type of worship.
"[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida’is said today, Thursday [Oct. 30, 2014], that the closing of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli occupation forces today, for the first time since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, is nothing but a new plot to divide it by times and areas. He called to pay a lot of attention to this dangerous step, which harms the Muslims' exclusive rights to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, from a religious, political, and legal perspective...Ida'is added: 'The actions that Israel has been taking for a long time, such as bills regarding sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque, forbidding the broadcast of the call to prayer, and harming the Murabitin (i.e., those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), hitting them, and expelling them from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, are pushing the region to violence and igniting tempers, in an attempt to establish a religious war that will include the whole region...' Ida'is demanded of the faithful that they carry out Ribat at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and break this oppressive step [of closing the mosque], which reflects religious persecution against the Muslim faithful."
"Division according to areas and times" refers to a proposed law (May 2013) being reviewed in Israeli Parliament that would allow for both Jews and Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount, what the Palestinians call the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza. The law seeks to designate separate prayer times and areas of the site for Muslims and Jews. However, Israeli PM Netanyahu has stated on many occasions that the Israeli government has no intention of changing the status quo on the Temple Mount, which means Jews are allowed to enter the Temple Mount, but cannot pray there or engage in any type of worship.