ANKARA
The Union of the NGOs of the Islamic World has condemned Israeli security forces’ raid on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque and called for joint action from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Arab League countries.
The president of the Union, Ali Kurt condemned in a written statement the Israeli raid on Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“An effort should be exerted to unite Islamic world,” Kurt said.
Tension has been running high in East Jerusalem since Israel closed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound last week following the shooting of an extremist rabbi in West Jerusalem.
The closure of Al-Aqsa, along with the killing of a young Palestinian man suspected of shooting the rabbi, fueled angry protests by Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
Israeli security forces had raided the Jerusalem mosque and fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets Wednesday following clashes with Palestinian protesters.
The mosque is located on a site holy to both Jews and Muslims in the divided city.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said that Israeli soldiers entered Al-Aqsa for the first time within 47 years.
Speaking in Vienna Kurtulmus said: “The whole world is watching and nothing will be done (to end the violation), you will see.”
In addition, Palestinian activists punctured a hole in 700 kilometer-long wall which separates Israel and the West Bank, in celebration for the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
An activist, who did not want to be named, said: “This wall is the expression of racial separation in the modern era.”
The Israeli government started to build the wall for security reasons in 2002.
Meanwhile, Israeli police forces killed one Palestinian in Israel’s northern district of Nazareth, claiming he attacked them.
www.aa.com.tr/en
