We strongly disagree with the Saudi authorities.  Al Aqsa is the third holiest site for all Muslims; and we must show our presence and attachment to the mosque by visiting it. By visiting Al Aqsa and Jerusalem as Muslims we do not acknowledge the illegal occupation by Israel; however we show our attachment to Al Aqsa and show the importance of it to Muslims. Al Aqsa is one of the three mosques which we can have the intention to visit it.

By choosing not to visit Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem, we are only helping the Zionist to keep the Muslims away for the holy mosque.  Zionists are already spreading propaganda that the Muslims have no roots in Jerusalem or Al-Aqsa; we should not let this happen! It is our right as Muslims to visit Al-Aqsa no matter who is occupying the land. Only by being attached to Al-Aqsa will our children also be attached to it and the whole Muslim Ummah!!

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Saudi authorities: We will punish Al Areefi if he travels to Jerusalem
Thursday, 08 April 2010

"Traveling to countries on which a travel ban is imposed without obtaining a special permission from the authorities leads to penalization."

The official spokesman of Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Passports, Major Badr El Malik, said that any Saudi who travels to a country on which the Saudi government imposes a travel ban will be charged and penalised accordingly.

Commenting on the announcement made by Saudi preacher Dr. Mohamed Al Areefi that he intended to visit Jerusalem to shoot an episode of his show, El Malik said, "We won’t hold him accountable for statements he makes on TV since these could be sheer propaganda… But if the Ministry of Interior verifies that a Saudi citizen actually went to one of the countries on which the government imposes a travel ban, he will be penalized no matter who he is."

In statements that El Malik made to the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan – which it published Wednesday, April 7, he said that "traveling to countries on which a travel ban is imposed without obtaining a special permission from the authorities leads to penalization."

Sheikh Mohamed Al Areefi had announced, through Iqra satellite channel, his intention to travel to Jerusalem next week in order to shoot an episode of his show "Leave Your Fingerprint", although the Saudi authorities ban traveling to Israel.

On his part, the former member of the Interior Ministry’s Advisory Committee, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Yaeesh, said in comments published in the same newspaper that Muslims around the world are eager to visit Al Aqsa Mosque but they don’t go there in protest of Israel’s control of it, as visiting Jerusalem is considered to be a form of recognizing Israel.

Bin Yaeesh explained that warding off evil takes priority over bringing benefits, and that visiting Israel involves great evils, including breaking Muslim unity and accusing Saudi Arabia of standing behind the preacher’s visit to Israel.

Israeli police restrict access to mosque
June 11, 2010

(CNN) -- Israeli police are restricting Friday prayers at Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem following intelligence reports about possible riots in the city, Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Men age 40 and under will not be allowed to pray at the mosque Friday, he said.

When Israeli officials have concerns about possible violence, it is not uncommon for them to limit the access young men have to the mosque.

Hatem Abdel Qader, a Fatah official in Jerusalem, told CNN that such restrictions have become common in recent years.

"This is an excuse that Israel uses for security reasons to prevent the largest number of citizens from reaching the old city and the Aqsa mosque," he said.

Israeli officials have said public safety concerns prompt the restrictions, but Qader said the motivation is religious.

The mosque, which is located on the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem, has been a site of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.

In 1996, dozens of people were killed in rioting related to the mosque.

CNN's Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.

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Zionist religious leaders’ attack on Aqsa mosque
2010/06/13

According to Palestinian news sources Zionist religious leaders attacked Al-aqsa mosque

Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), Through Palestinian reliable sources a group of Zionist religious leaders with coalition of Israeli soldiers has raided Al-aqsa mosque.
These Zionist religious leaders invaded Aqsa mosque by jumping walls.

Dr .Talib Abu Sher has severely condemned this step of Zionist religious leaders.
He said that this attack is evidence of being devoid of moral values. He demanded from Muslim scholars that they should not remain indifferent on this blasphemous act but should take solid measures against Israel. The head of Quds committee has demanded from Muslims that they should take start action against Israel.

Israel excavates near Jerusalem's Old City
By MOHAMMED MAR'I | ARAB NEWS

Published: May 25, 2010 23:45 Updated: May 25, 2010 23:45

RAMALLAH: Israeli occupation authorities began excavation works near Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday, according to Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage.

The foundation said in a press statement that the "new excavations are concentrated in the site of Birkat Al-Sultan (Al-Sultan's Pool,” adjacent to the western wall of the Jerusalem's Old City). The pool was a source of water supply to Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, the foundation said.

It added that the "Israeli authorities sized control of the Islamic and historic site since the 1948 war and destroyed parts of it." According to the foundation, the Israeli authorities turned parts of the site into a national park.

The foundation warned of the risks and consequences of these excavations and tunnels on the foundations of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

It added that the new excavations are part of Israeli efforts "to find any proof of the alleged Second Temple under Al-Aqsa Mosque and to Judaize Jerusalem." and."

The foundation said that the Israeli authorities "failed since it started its excavations to prove Jewish presence in the holy city or that the Temple ever existed." The foundation stressed that the "new excavations in the Old City are provocations for Muslims." It urged Arab and Islamic states to take action to stop it.

Endowments minister: Muslims should visit Jerusalem
Author: Ahmed el-Beheri

Palestinian Endowments Minister Mahmoud al-Habash has renewed the Palestinian Authority's invitation for Egyptian Endowments Minister Mahmoud Hamdi Zaqzouq to visit Jerusalem.

Zaqzouq welcomed the invitation, saying that he has called for Muslims to visit Jerusalem and pray at Al-Aqsa mosque more than 13 years ago. Such visits uphold the Islamic claim to Jerusalem and do not represent a form of normalization of relations with Israel, the endownments minister said.

Visiting Jerusalem highlights the city's Islamic status and its belonging to more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide--not only Arabs--Zaqzouq said. He added that slogans and speeches alone are not enough and more must be done to prevent Israel from implementing its plans to 'Judaize' Jerusalem.

Zaqzouq went on to say that visits to Jerusalem should help expose Israel to international public opinion, because if Israel denies access to visiting Muslims the entire world will see how stubborn and opposed to the freedom of worship Israel is. In addition such visits help increase the sales of Muslim traders in Jerusalem, according to Zaqzouq.

Meanwhile, el-Habash said that all Palestinian leaders would like to see Muslims coming to Jerusalem: "The residents of Jerusalem would like to see their fellow Muslims from all over the world standing by them. That will boost their morale in the face of the oppression they are facing."

The two ministers agreed that Jerusalem should be evoked in religious discourse in the Islamic world. They also called for reviving the old charitable waqf tradition, where proceeds were dedicated to Islamic holy places in Jerusalem.

Zaqzouq also expressed readiness to facilitate the enrollment of Palestinian preachers in training courses organized by Al-Azhar, and agreed to dispatch preachers and Quran reciters to Ramallah during Ramadan and to examine the possibility of dispatching preachers to Palestine all year round.

News @ AsiaOne

Rabbis visit Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound

Move likely to infuriate Palestinians. -AFP

Mon, May 10, 2010
AFP

JERUSALEM - Ultra-nationalist rabbis on Monday visited Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews, in a move likely to infuriate Palestinians, police said.

Police authorised the visit and escorted the rabbis, a spokesman said. The 43 rabbis, most of them West Bank settlers, were also accompanied by two far right-wing MPs, the YNet News website reported.

The controversial visit was staged ahead of Jerusalem Day on Wednesday, when Israel celebrates its capture of Arab east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War.

The vast compound, which dominates the Jewish Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, is the third most sacred for Muslims.

The site of the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, it is the most sacred for Jews.

'The rabbis' visit is meant to remind us of the essence of Jerusalem Day - it is not the Western Wall that is our souls' desire, but what lies beyond it the Temple Mount, the site of our Temple,' YNet quoted MP Uri Ariel as saying.

Jews are forbidden from praying at the site and, because of their own religious restrictions, many choose not to visit the site. Those who do are viewed with suspicion by Muslims and risk being pelted with stones.

Muslims are intensely sensitive to any perceived threat to the status of the compound and many believe Jews are determined to build a new temple on the wide esplanade.

Jewish fringe groups have vowed to build a third Temple, but Israeli political and religious authorities have repeatedly dismissed the idea.