On the 31st anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Mosque massacre, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas stated the following:
We restate our commitment to protect and defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the 31st anniversary of the Al-Aqsa massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupation, motivated by Israeli settler groups who thought the Al-Aqsa compound was an easy prey and that the chance had come up to lay the foundation stone for their alleged temple.
As Israeli settler organisations are trying to make history repeat itself by desecrating the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation government, we reiterate that the Palestinian citizens of the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948 are ready to defend the Al-Aqsa complex and that Israeli measures provoked by a hateful ideology against holy sites will backfire.
We call on all Palestinians everywhere to head to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and prevent hordes of Israeli settlers from conducting their so-called silent prayer, which intends to prove the religious delusions of the Israeli settlers and the right-wing government that they might have a foothold at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Attempts to impose temporal and spatial division at the Al-Aqsa compound will have damaging consequences for the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinians fought a heroic battle to defend Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque during the 2000 Al-Aqsa Intifada.
We urge the Arab and Muslim nations to raise their voices in support of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and use Friday sermons as a platform for calling for liberating the Al-Aqsa and renounce normalisation, which has become a poisonous dagger in the back of the mosque.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque belongs to all Muslims by right; every Muslim has a duty to defend it and protect its sanctity.
Hamas Movement
Friday, 8 October 2021
