Israeli parliament to discuss bill to 'divide' al-Aqsa Mosque

The Knesset (Israel's parliament) is set to discuss on Monday a bill to divide Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews. "The Israelis want to expel the Muslims from Al-Aqsa Mosque to build their Temple Mount," Mufti of Jerusalem Mohamed Hussein told Anadolu Agency. The Knesset's interior and environment committee is set to discuss the bill, tabled by Israeli Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs Eli Ben Dahan, which would allocate time slots and specific locations in which Jews might pray in the Aqsa Mosque compound. The bill was originally drafted by a group of Likud Party activists calling themselves "Manhigut Yehudit" ("Jewish leadership"), led by Knesset Deputy Speaker Moshe Feiglin. "We will stand against any action that aims to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards," Hussein said. "These are Muslim holy sites. Jews have no right to pray there." Nasser al-Rayes, a legal researcher for human rights group Al-Haq, said the bill was part of ongoing efforts by Israel to tighten its control over the occupied city of Al-Quds (Jerusalem). "With this draft law, Israel is implementing the final stage of its scheme to control the holy city," he told AA. "The [Israeli] occupation divided the West Bank into cantons and cut Al-Quds off from its Arab surroundings," said al-Rayes. "Israel has ringed Al-Quds with settlements. Some 1,900 news settlement units will be built in Al-Quds by the end of 2014," he added. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has appealed to the Muslim world to save the Aqsa Mosque and the holy city from "Judaization" by Israel. Addressing an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Sunday, al-Malki accused the self-proclaimed Jewish state of seeking to establish control over the famed Aqsa Mosque. Israel occupied Al-Quds in the 1967 Middle East War. Although Israel later declared the city to be its "united" capital, the international community – including the United Nations – has never recognized the move.