Occupied Jerusalem – Thousands of Palestinian worshipers performed at Friday dawn the Al-Fajr prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
Despite the Israeli restrictions and cold weather conditions, thousands of Palestinians performed the Al-Fajr prayer with the intention of supporting the “Great Fajr” campaign to pray at the holy sites.
After performing the Fajr prayer, the Palestinians, including families, gathered in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, confirming the Palestinians’ spiritual links to the holy site and rejecting the Israeli systematic Judaization policy.
Every Friday, thousands of Palestinians stream to the Al-Aqsa mosque, the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims, to recite the Holy Quran before performing the Al-Fajr prayer and also the Friday prayer.
The Palestinian worshipers are always provoked, assaulted and detained by Israeli forces stationed at the gates of the mosque and deployed in its courtyards.
The Israeli occupation forces always facilitate and protect the Israeli settlers’ incursions to the mosque which has been intensively allowed by the occupation authorities since 2003, despite repeated objections and warnings by the Palestinian religious authorities as the visits provoke worshippers of the mosque.
In 2021 only, 34,562 settlers broke into the holy site, setting a new record, as in 2020, 19,000 settlers broke into the mosque and 29,700 settlers in 2019, according to Al-Qastal, a Palestinian network hub for Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem.
Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times.
The complex also includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world.
