The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on the State Department to demand that the Israeli apartheid government end its unprecedented ban on Muslim worshipers entering Al Aqsa Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam, during the month of Ramadan.
Israel has kept Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem closed since the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, while allowing only about 50 worshippers to pray at Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank.
SEE: Israeli restrictions at Al-Aqsa, Ibrahimi mosques ‘violate freedom of worship’
In a statement, CAIR said:
“We strongly condemn the Israeli government’s ongoing and unprecedented closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Banning Palestinian Muslims from worshipping at one of the holiest sites in Islam during the holy month of Ramadan is just the latest evidence that the Netanyahu regime is not only at war with the Palestinian people, but with Islam itself. Al-Aqsa Mosque does not belong to the Israeli apartheid government, which does not have the moral or legal right to prevent worshippers from praying there. Our nation must demand that Israeli lift this illegal blockade, as well as various restrictions on Palestinian Christians, before they lead to even more conflict and chaos in the Holy Land.”
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com