Israelis rally plan over al Aqsa mosque access upsets Palestinians

Israeli rightists and Knesset Members of Parliament have given calls to split worship hours at the Al Aqsa Mosque and will hold a rally Wednesday. The calls have upset Palestinians since Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site, has recently been the target of repeated violations by Jewish settlers, angering Palestinian Muslims, according to Palestinian news agencies. Jewish organizations have called for organizing a march and mass rally at the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday, demanding free access to and prayer in the Muslim holy site. Senior rabbis and politicians will participate in the rally including Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, paratrooper and founder of the Temple Institute, the extremist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, and Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Moshe Feiglin, in addition to journalists and members of the right-wing Likud party. This Israeli attempts to storm Al Aqsa mosque came in light of the Israeli calls to divide the mosque and impose a new status quo. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Monday said the absence of an international response to repeated Israeli violations of the Aqsa Mosque served to encourage further escalations by Jewish settlers. On Monday, scores of Jewish settlers stormed the Aqsa Mosque compound in the holy city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem). According to the ministry statement, Israel is using Jewish holidays as justification to step up attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque as part of efforts to "divide" the holy site. The Foreign Ministry also condemned calls by the Jerusalem Municipality for a march on the mosque by extremist Jews and calls by a committee within the Knesset (Israel’s parliament) to ascend the so-called "Temple Mount" on September 24. It also denounced a call by Knesset member Moshe Feiglin to expel all Aqsa Mosque guards and employees. Palestinians accuse Israel of waging a campaign to 'Judaize' the holy city, which contains both Islamic and Christian religious sites, including the Aqsa Mosque. While Israel says Jerusalem is its "united and eternal" capital, Palestinians insist that Al-Quds must be the capital of any future Palestinian state.