Quds, birthplace of divine religions (7)

Welcome to the 7th episode of Quds, Birthplace of Divine Religions. In the previous program, you heard a brief history of Palestine until its occupation by the Zionists with the help of Britain.

You also heard the way Palestine was occupied and the Zionist Israeli regime was set up in the heart of Islamic lands. In the course of these developments, Quds and Al-Aqsa Mosque have enjoyed a special status. The Zionists, as the greatest imposters in the world, have tried through distorting and twisting historical facts, to introduce al-Quds as their ancestral land but history bears witness to the opposite of their claim. Historical books and documents clearly show that most residents of Bayt ul-Moqoddas (al-Quds) have always been Arabs. In the 13^th and 14^th centuries, the Arab population of the city was over 40,000 and after the liberation of al-Quds in the battel of Hattin, Muslims constituted approximately 70% to 80% of the total population.

In the battle of Hattin in 1181, the European Crusaders were defeated by Salahuddin Ayyubi and al-Quds was liberated from the occupation of the Crusaders. Regarding the Christians of al-Quds, historical sources say that most of them have Arabic origin. There were very few Jews in al-Quds during the Islamic era, and they arrived in the city following the signing of a peace treaty and receiving of guarantee during the rule of the second caliph. Under the treaty, the Jews were not allowed to stay in al-Quds but since they penetrated in the city under the pretext of serving al-Aqsa Mosque, Umar bin Abdul Aziz ended the presence of Jews in this sacred city. The Arabs in al-Quds have always been here since old times and even during the occupation of this city by Europeans so that all of the remaining monuments in al-Quds are Arabic, and these works are seen in every part of the city.

During the Islamic period, the scientific, cultural and civilizational presence of Muslims in al-Quds was so spectacular that scholars from all Islamic regions gathered in al-Quds. Examining the Jews and Zionists’ claim on the historical record of Jewish presence in al-Quds, we find out that they hide the times and periods of al-Quds history. In particular, they ignore the long Islamic rule from the seventh century until the full occupation of al-Quds in 1967. Al-Quds was under Islamic rule for more than twelve and a half centuries. Hence, it must be said that the Zionist claims that al-Quds has been the capital of Jews for over three thousand years is illegal and not valid. This claim was made with the obvious forgery of history. Prior to the fabrication of the usurper regime of Israel, the leaders of Zionist movement wished to occupy al-Quds once and forever. For example, one of the Zionist ringleaders by the name of Alfred Mound who was the British Minister of Labor in 1922, promised the Jews in a forum, saying: "The day that we are rebuilding the temple of Solomon is very close, and in the future I will devote my life to the renewal of this building. I'm going to build it on the ruins of al-Aqsa mosque.” On July 7, 1920, British General Boles, military ruler of Palestine, reported to the British regime: "Abraham Isaac, chief rabbi of British mandate for Palestine and the vice president of the Zionist population formally asked the British vassal government in Palestine to transfer the entire al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque to them."

In Jewish encyclopedia, under the heading of Zionism: The Jews are seeking to concentrate their forces and expel their enemies from al-Quds and make it the headquarters of their command. Head of the “Guards of Wailing Wall,” wrote on the August 6, 1939 issue of Weekly Palestine: This al-Aqsa Mosque of Muslims which has been built on Solomon's Temple belongs to the Jews. Thus it is quite clear that the Jews, before the setup of their usurping regime in Palestine, had always been seeking to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque (the first Qibla of Muslims), because the rabbis propagate that they should build Solomon's Temple on the ruins of al-Aqsa mosque and take out the Torah which is buried beneath the Mosque. Since its establishment in 1948, the Zionist regime put a few goals on its agenda concerning al-Quds. Among these goals was the complete occupation of al-Quds and Judaization of the city by changing its Islamic fabric and the transfer of the regime's capital from Tel Aviv to al-Quds.

In order to achieve these sinister goals, the Zionist regime took actions such as occupation of the lands of Arabs, destruction of Islamic sites, intimidation of Arab residents along with political, economic and social pressures. The first efforts for construction of Jewish settlements in al-Quds started from mid-19th century and by 1930, 24 Jewish settlements were built. During its mandate on Palestine, Britain handed over a large part of the lands located in the governorate of al-Quds to the Jewish agency and prevented any construction in eastern part of the city.

After 1967, the Zionist regime through occupying al-Quds was seeking to expel Arabs from the country and Judaize it by constructing settlements especially in eastern al-Quds, because the historical and sacred monuments are mainly located in the eastern part. Since 1987, another phase of confiscation of al-Quds lands and construction of settlements began which persists till this day. This phase started by then Zionist Crime Minister Ariel Sharon with the occupation of a building belonging to Arabs in the Islamic neighborhood of this city. Since 1967, 32 Arab villages were occupied and destroyed and Zionist settlements were built on the ruins. Over 38500 Jewish settlements were built in eastern al-Quds, while at the beginning of occupation by Britain in 1917, the rate of Arab ownership in al-Quds was over 90% of al-Quds and the Jews comprised only 4% of the city’s population.  After the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967, the Zionist regime based on its expansionist policy, began one of its Judaizing schemes in the form of settlement in al-Quds. Therefore, after seizure of the lands of Palestinians, the Jews have created three belts of Jewish settlement to encircle and separate al-Quds from the West Bank. The first belt was drawn around the old town and its surrounding to the western part of the city, which was built as a Jewish quarter and a national park was constructed inside the city's historic fabric; while in the eastern and southern parts of the city, a commercial center was built inside the belt.

The third belt was created with the goal of blocking al-Quds on the basis of Israeli proposals and its Judaization. The purpose of the plan has been to empty the Arab neighborhoods from their inhabitants and replace them with Zionists. Thus, by 1996, about 71% of the Eastern al-Quds had been confiscated 31% of which were confiscated under the pretext of public interests and the rest 40% under the pretext of green space. It was also declared that any construction is prohibited in these areas; but after a while, the permission for building was given to the Jews in those areas whereas it has always been forbidden for the Arabs.

FK/RM/ME