Israel Leaves No Room for Peace in Jerusalem This Ramadan
What is happening in Sheikh Jarrah?
Perhaps you have seen the structures in the picture above before; perhaps you know what they are and what they mean to billions of Muslims around the world. But in case you don’t: There, in the heart of Jerusalem, is the third most holy place to more than 1.8 billion Muslims around the globe. This place is Al-Aqsa Mosque, it is not just the structures, it is the whole area that the Jewish name Temple Mount. At Al-Aqsa Mosque, Muslims have been praying and worshiping their Creator over there for more than a millennium. Full of intricate and glittering work of Islamic architecture, this site has witnessed the prayers and pleas of Muslims for hundreds of years.
The site is especially significant in our current holy Islamic month of Ramadan, a month where Muslims fast all day and pray into the night, seeking Allah — God — in all that they do. Al-Aqsa Mosque calls to the Muslims in its area and those who can reach it, being a site of the congregational night prayers of the month. Its beauty and its place in the Islamic faith, as the Prophet’s first direction of prayer, makes all those who can seek its shade and its history
But those are the key words…” Those who can.”
Sadly, reaching Al-Aqsa has become just a dream for many Muslims because of the Israeli Apartheid. While many can argue the details and the history, there remains the fact that in the eyes of many countries in the world, Israel has occupied the Palestinian territories; and it’s not just Muslim or Arab countries that think that. Yet, this is not the best time to explain it all. The focus of this article is merely what has been happening during this holy month that is about to reach its end, for there has been no peace in Jerusalem this month, and it is a tale that needs to be told.
Restrictions On Muslim Prayers
Prayer within the area of the al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the dearest acts to Muslims in Ramadan, but it has not been an easy task this month, nor has it been for many years. The Israeli police have enforced restrictions on the Palestinians, including extra inspections on their every entry to the Mosques, in normal streets, and they have pressured Muslims so…
