Al-Azhar Urges International Organizations to Maintain Legal Status of Jerusalem

Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb speaks during an inter-religious meeting with Pope Francis at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb speaks during an inter-religious meeting with Pope Francis at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
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Al-Azhar Urges International Organizations to Maintain Legal Status of Jerusalem

Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb speaks during an inter-religious meeting with Pope Francis at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
Grand Imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb speaks during an inter-religious meeting with Pope Francis at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 4, 2019. REUTERS/Tony Gentile

Al-Azhar called on all international bodies and organizations to “preserve the legal status of the city of Jerusalem, to affirm its identity and to intervene immediately to stop the attacks by the Israelis.”

In a statement released on Sunday, Al-Azhar warned of continued Israeli plots to Judaize Jerusalem and change its Arab identity, and called on the international community to take immediate action to stop Israeli assaults against the city and its sacred places.

Al-Azhar also condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by hundreds of Israeli settlers under Israeli police protection on Sunday. The Jewish settlers broke into the holy site from Bab El-Maghareba gate and performed religious rituals.

In March, Al-Azhar condemned the repression by the Israeli occupation forces of peaceful demonstrations and marches organized by the Palestinian people on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of “Land Day” and the “Marches of Return.”

Al-Azhar then stressed its full support for the Palestinian people “in their legitimate struggle for the restoration of their occupied land and their valiant uprising against the policy of land confiscation and Judaization pursued by the occupation forces,” affirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.



Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
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Berri to Asharq Al-Awsat: Resolution 1701 Only Tangible Proposal to End Lebanon Conflict

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut. (AFP file)

Politicians in Beirut said they have not received any credible information about Washington resuming its mediation efforts towards reaching a ceasefire in Lebanon despite reports to the contrary.

Efforts came to a halt after US envoy Amos Hochstein’s last visit to Beirut three weeks ago.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the reports as media fodder, saying nothing official has been received.

Lebanon is awaiting tangible proposals on which it can build its position, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The only credible proposal on the table is United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, whose articles must be implemented in full by Lebanon and Israel, “not just Lebanon alone,” he stressed.

Resolution 1701 was issued to end the 2006 July war between Hezbollah and Israel and calls for removing all weapons from southern Lebanon and that the only armed presence there be restricted to the army and UN peacekeepers.

Western diplomatic sources in Beirut told Asharq Al-Awsat that Berri opposes one of the most important articles of the proposed solution to end the current conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

He is opposed to the German and British participation in the proposed mechanism to monitor the implementation of resolution 1701. The other participants are the United States and France.

Other sources said Berri is opposed to the mechanism itself since one is already available and it is embodied in the UN peacekeepers, whom the US and France can join.

The sources revealed that the solution to the conflict has a foreign and internal aspect. The foreign one includes Israel, the US and Russia and seeks guarantees that would prevent Hezbollah from rearming itself. The second covers Lebanese guarantees on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Berri refused to comment on the media reports, but told Asharq Al-Awsat that this was the first time that discussions are being held about guarantees.

He added that “Israel is now in crisis because it has failed to achieve its military objectives, so it has resorted to more killing and destruction undeterred.”

He highlighted the “steadfastness of the UN peacekeepers in the South who have refused to leave their positions despite the repeated Israeli attacks.”