Analysts and experts in the joint statement relating to the US and Israel mediated by establishing diplomatic relations between the UAE and Bahrain understanding of partitioning and go on. Experts warn that the statement violates al-Aqsa’s status quo.
The report by the NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem (TJ) said the statements marked a “radical change in the situation” and had “far-reaching and explosive consequences”. According to the status quo approved by both parties in 1967, only Muslims are allowed to pray inside the Haram Sharif, also known as the 14-hectare Al Aqsa Mosque complex. Non-Muslims are allowed to visit here but prayers are not allowed. In an official announcement in 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the status quo.
However, an item included in the recent agreements between Israel and the Gulf Arab states indicates that this status quo will no longer exist. A joint statement issued by US President Donald Trump on August 13 stated that “all Muslims arriving peacefully can visit and pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and other holy sites in Jerusalem should be open to believers of all faiths, as stated in the Vision for Peace.”
However, the TJ report states that Israel defines al-Aqsa as just a mosque, as stated in the statement. According to Israel, Haram Sharif, which is not a mosque structure, is defined as “one of the other holy places in Jerusalem” and will be open for prayer to all religions, including Jews.
‘The choice of this vocabulary is not random or misleading, and is a covert attempt to open the door to Jewish prayer in al-Aqsa, but nothing can be seen intentionally, thereby radically changing the situation.’ The same statement was repeated in the agreement with Bahrain announced on Friday.
“It is very clear that the mosque is not under Muslim sovereignty,” al – Aqsa, a Palestinian lawyer who specializes in Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera. “Once the UAE has accepted such a provision, it has agreed and given the green light to Israeli sovereignty over the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Sabark said. “According to Statusco, which was formed after the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967, the whole move is within the jurisdiction of Jordan and the new move is a blatant violation of Statusco,” he said.
