Palestinians in quandary about new visitors from Gulf
Palestinians and Jordanians are working to ensure that Gulf visitors to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Palestinian half of Jerusalem abide by the same rituals and traditions that all Muslims have practiced when visiting the holy sites.
Palestinians have for years been urging Muslims, Christians and others to visit the holy city of Jerusalem as a public expression of support to the Palestinian cause and the people of the holy city. This call, which was initiated by late Palestinian political leader Faisal Husseini, used the concept that visiting those in jail doesn’t mean recognition of the jailer. The same phrasing has been repeated numerous times since to justify visits to the occupied territories by citizens of countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel, especially in sporting events.
A meeting of top Muslim scholars and intellectuals in 2014 led to a consensus on a fatwa (religious edict) to end a ban of Muslim visits to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem while under Israeli occupation.
