Keep protest to Aqsa guardianship bill

Ahmad Kazemzadeh (expert in ME affairs):

Zionist regime of Israel in the past decade has barred Palestinians younger than 50 from arriving at the al-Aqsa mosque for observing prayers, depriving most Palestinians from their natural and religious right of religious practice.

The barring policy is normally executed in the holy month of Ramadan or whenever the Palestinian-Israeli dispute over the occupied al-Quds ('Jerusalem') and the al-Aqsa Mosque gets an upsurge. During the time, Palestinians are aspirant of taking to the mosque so that they could send a strong political message to the Zionist occupiers while observing their prayers. Fear of the same message has prompted the Zionist regime to impose age restrictions on the Palestinian worshippers.

In the same vein, the Zionist regime has been pushing for the past six decades for a change in the Islamic texture and demographic situation of the Quds city in a bid to alter its Muslim identity. The trend of the campaign however has become ever more sensitive at present as the campaign is getting closer to a final stage that may be called "a last shot."

The Zionist regime apparently sought to fire the last shot on February 25 when it tabled a bill in its parliament on stripping the Palestinian and Jordanian guardianship over the al-Aqsa Mosque. The bill was shelved for the moment after it faced angry protests. The Arab-language members of the parliament walked out in protest. The Jordanian parliament too mulled expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to the country in case the bill was approved. The Arab League staged a snap meeting in Cairo where the Arab diplomats demanded the UN to consider the case. The Islamic Cooperation Organization too issued a statement of warning.

The reactions have apparently been effective. The Zionist regime's record shows that it first assesses the likely reactions before embarking on a project. Nevertheless, a suspension of the bill would depend on how the protests would continue; the Israeli regime would retable the bill in case of a recess in the size of relevant protests. Muslims besides the rest of the international community are then urgently supposed to keep protesting the bill.

The Israeli regime is close to take total control over the Quds amid its expansionist measures in the occupied city. It also has shown to be willing to impose one-sided decision on the Palestinians in such vital issues as the fate of al-Quds. These would further add to the urgency of the Muslim stance.