Writer and political activist Lama Khater said, “We live in the shadow of a battle whose title is Al-Aqsa, and we must realize that our loyalty to the blood that was shed on the road to Jerusalem requires permanent victory for Al-Aqsa and defending it on an ongoing basis, not on a seasonal basis.” 

Khater called for maintaining the continuity of the pilgrimage and the stay at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and confronting the persistence of the occupation’s aggression and the extensive settler incursions during the so-called Hebrew “Passover.”

Khater continued, saying in a press statement: “In light of the widespread threats facing Al-Aqsa, and the frenzied calls for either incursions or the slaughter of sacrifices, it is necessary to realize the seriousness of the current moment,” stressing that these violations are one of the manifestations of the occupation’s persistence in its aggression against the holy sites.

Khater pointed out that the occupation has committed all forms of massacres and violations in Gaza, is waging a fierce settlement war in the West Bank, and is exploiting the war to carry out the largest criminal campaign against prisoners, and therefore it is not unlikely that it will continue to change the reality in Al-Aqsa.

She explained that the occupation is imposing more restrictions on the Palestinians, in exchange for allowing the settlers to implement a large part of their plans against Al-Aqsa Mosque.

She stated that the real victory for Al-Aqsa is to return things to their origins, and to consider any aggression or intrusion by any Zionist as a serious violation, and not to believe that the red line is the slaughter of sacrifices.

Khater noted that there are arenas that can attract permanent visitors to Al-Aqsa, and they are represented by the people of occupied Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian interior, in addition to the arena of the West Bank, which can respond to the occupation’s aggression against the holy sites, as the young men of Hebron and Jerusalem did recently.

She stressed that defending Al-Aqsa should occupy the mind of every Palestinian and every Muslim, and that one issue should not be preoccupied with another.

Lama Khater concluded her statement by saying: “Defending the holy sites is a Palestinian duty first and foremost, and also a duty for all Muslims in all parts of the world.”