Muslims, Christians in Jerusalem united against the Israeli excavations

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Palestinian Muslim and Christian figures have highlighted the importance of the Palestinian unity in protecting occupied Jerusalem from the intensified Israeli practices to judaize the city. Dr. Ekrema Sabri, the chairman of the higher Islamic authority in Jerusalem, who was present at the conference, highlighted the dangers that engulf the occupied city and the holy Aqsa Mosque as a result of the Israeli hostile practices and excavations in the city. He pointed to the collapse of a classroom in an UNRWA-run school in the Selwan suburb, which is close to the walls of the Mosque. Patriarch Michael Sabbah, of the Latin Christian Church, stressed that the Palestinian people have clear legal rights in Jerusalem that the entire world is aware of. "Simply speaking, we want our land that was occupied in 1967 to be returned to us to establish our independent state with Jerusalem as its capital", asserted Sabbah, adding that Palestinian unity would play strong and crucial role in achieving this goal. Adnan Al-Husseini, the city's governor, blamed the UNESCO for its "feeble" action in protecting the city's heritage against the Israeli deliberate distortion. For his part, the prominent Palestinian Christian leader archimandrite Atallah Hanna, of the Orthodox Church, underscored that the Israeli war on Gaza was a big conspiracy that is not limited to destroy Gaza and Hamas Movement, but, he added, the brutal war was targeting the entire Palestinian people regardless of their political or religious affiliations. The archimandrite, furthermore, deprecated those who applauded Israeli president Shimon Peres during the Davos forum, stressing that those who applaud criminals are also partners in the crime. The prominent Muslim leader in the 1948-occupied Palestinian lands Sheikh Raed Salah concluded the conference by exhibiting pictures exposing the Israeli conspiracy to demolish the Aqsa Mosque, warning that the Israeli excavations under the Mosque reached alarming levels. He suggested the establishment of an Islamic fund to support the Palestinian Jerusalemites, and the Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.