Apr. 19, 2016

• The Internal Palestinian Fight for Jerusalem – Pinhas Inbari
  East Jerusalem has developed an independent political system. The most significant actor on the Temple Mount is an international movement known as the Islamic Liberation Party, or Hizb ut-Tahrir. Other forces in the city include Hamas, Fatah, the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement led by Sheikh Raed Salah, the Muslim Brotherhood which is represented by the former Chief Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Akrima Sabri, Jordan, and Turkey.
  This author met with members of Hizb ut-Tahrir at their mosque in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Safafa, where they explained that if Israel was to withdraw from the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza, they would then enter it and proclaim an Islamic caliphate. Tahrir strives to keep the PLO, which it views as a secular-nationalist movement, out of the mosque plaza and views all Western-type agreements, such as the Oslo agreements, as invalid. Tahrir is opposed to intifadas and believes Jerusalem will only be liberated by the armies of the Muslim caliphate.
  Saudi Arabia has no interest in promoting its status in Jerusalem; the Wahabi kingdom regards the city as a competitor of Mecca. Turkish institutions are directly involved in Jerusalem’s affairs, particularly TIKA, identified with the president of Turkey. This association’s website makes clear that it works in all the territories of the Ottoman Empire to rehabilitate the old Ottoman heritage. The writer is a veteran Palestinian affairs correspondent who formerly reported for Israel Radio and Al Hamishmar newspaper. (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

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