Sheikh Omar Mohamed, President of the Shari’a Appeals Court
Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem is regarded in Islam as one of the holy sites referred to in the Surat al-‘Isra’ (the Qur’anic chapter known in English as ‘The Night Journey’). “Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.” According to the Qu’ran, it is the ‘Land of Raising and Gathering’, and one prayer said at al-Aqsa Mosque is equal to one thousand prayers said elsewhere.
For this reason, it is considered the third holiest site in Islam and an important place for offering prayers. Since 2005, Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have been denied access to the mosque by Israel’s forces under the pretext of security reasons. This amounts to denying Palestinians the freedom to manifest their religion or belief in practice, thus violating a fundamental aspect of the right to freedom of religion.
Sheikh Omar Mahmoud (47) is the President of the Shari’a Court of Appeal in the Gaza Strip. In his capacity as a legal authority and a religious leader, he gives the following insights into the importance of access to al-Aqsa Mosque. He explains: “The al-Aqsa Mosque was the second mosque to be established on earth. It was built 40 years after the first mosque was built in Mecca and it was also the first qibla [the direction towards which Muslims face when offering prayers].
Al-Aqsa is believed to be the place to which Prophet Mohammed travelled on his Night Journey; he prayed there before ascending to Heaven. Therefore it is a holy site. The mosque forms a fundamental part of our doctrine and Shari’a law. The land of Jerusalem and the area surrounding the mosque is considered the land of resurrection. It is not only important for the foundation of Islam but for other religions as well. Al-Aqsa itself is not only a place of worship. There is a school there and a section where girls and women are educated.”
Sheikh Omar draws attention to the fact that several fundamental aspects of the right to freedom of religion are being denied by Israel’s forces, and that these violations go beyond restriction of access: “The actions of IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] in the oPt [occupied Palestinian territory] are a clear violation of various standards for not only Muslims, but everyone else too. First, shelling has affected many mosques in the oPt and also several Islamic heritage sites, such as the graveyards where the companions of Prophet Mohammed were buried. Mosques, such as Quisaria, have been turned into pubs and others, such as Ibrahimi, have been divided into a section for Jews and the rest for Muslims.
There is also construction work being done under the mosque to establish ‘the temple of Solomon’ for the Jews. This should not happen. The rights of Christians have also been violated, as in the case of a church in Bethlehem where Israeli settlers wrote slogans on its walls and occupied it, expelling Palestinians.” In addition, subject to age restrictions, a number of Palestinian Christians are given permits to visit Jerusalem and Bethlehem. This means that some of them are not eligible to apply and are also access restricted from visiting their religious sites. This is an act of discrimination, given that no Muslims are eligible to apply at all.
Israel’s policy of preventing certain groups of Muslims from reaching al-Aqsa dates back to the beginning of the occupation: “The major violation has been denial of access to the mosque for worshipers from Gaza and the West Bank. During the First Intifada, which began in 1987, only some people were allowed to visit Jerusalem after obtaining permits. After the Second Intifada began in2000, a complete restriction and total ban on travel was declared by IOF and nobody from Gaza or the West Bank could travel to perform rituals at Al-Aqsa. This is, however, not the only violation. Even Palestinians with Israeli IDs living in Jerusalem face restrictions based on their age . Sometimes they are allowed or denied access depending on the moods of the soldiers.”
Israel has continuously closed all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for nearly 5 years. The illegal Israeli-imposed closure of the Gaza Strip has steadily tightened since June 2007. Sheikh Omar feels that the restrictions are an infringement on the right to freedom of religion and cannot be allowed to continue: “For Palestinians, it is a complete restriction of access to something very important in their doctrine. Even those who go through Erez crossing to Israel for medical treatment cannot access Jerusalem with the kind of permit they are given.
The irony in this is that foreigners from all over the world can visit the site but Palestinians are not allowed to visit. This is clearly oppression and a violation of the freedom of religion and the right to worship. As Muslims, we have guaranteed freedom of worship for all religions in the Gaza Strip. Nobody has been attacking other people based on their religion [in Gaza] but IOF have committed all kinds of violations in the oPt to stop the freedom of worship. IOF have denied us freedom of movement even for the purpose of worship and this is an injustice towards Muslims. It is very sad that we cannot perform our rituals freely.”
Sheikh Omar asserts that action must be taken by the international community to bring this situation to an end: “At the moment, the only thing we can do is raise international awareness through the media and call on other countries to help us put an end to this. The message of the violations and crimes with regard to al-Aqsa should be conveyed to the whole world. Whether it is the rights of Muslims or Christians being violated, all of it should be put to an immediate end.”
The right of freedom of religion or belief is enshrined in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and has been reaffirmed by the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, which was approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1981.
This fundamental right is also protected by several instruments of international law, including Article 18 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that: “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
