ASIA/HOLY LAND - Solidarity visit of the Heads of Churches to the Mosque of al-Aqsa

Tuesday, 1 October 2013

Jerusalem (Agenzia Fides) - A delegation of senior representatives of the Christian Churches of Jerusalem carried out a visit to the Mosque of Al-Aqsa on Monday, September 30th to publicly express their solidarity with the local Muslim community after the recent provocative actions staged by Jewish settlers near the third Holy Site of Islam. There was also the Catholic Bishop William Shomali (Patriarchal Vicar of the Latin Patriarchate), Anglican Bishop Suheil Dawani and the Armenian Patriarchal Vicar Joseph Kelekian. The delegation – refer sources of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem - was welcomed by Mufti Muhammad Hussein and by the Sheikh Kamal al-Khatib. The Christian and Muslim leaders also signed a joint declaration to denounce the violations against the Mosque and to express alarm before the estate planning processes that jeopardize the plural profile of the Holy City.
On 12 September, the Israeli minister Uri Ariel along with dozens of militants of the settler movement staged a demonstration. In recent weeks there have been clashes between militants of the nationalist right-wing and religious Jewish - who dream of rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem –and Palestinians and Muslims. (GV) (Agenzia Fides 01/10/2013)


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