Thousands of Muslims demonstrated across the Middle East this Friday in support of the Palestinians and against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, fearing that the conflict could spread to the entire region.
From Jordan to Yemen, Muslims took to the streets this Friday after weekly prayers. At Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for Muslims and Jews, Israeli police only allowed entry for prayers for the elderly and children to avoid the possibility of demonstrations, usually attended by thousands of people on a typical Friday .
Police eventually expelled a group of young Palestinians from the Old City after refusing them entry to the sprawling hilltop prayer complex. Some worshipers over 50 were also denied entry. “We cannot live, we cannot breathe, they are killing everything good in us,” said 57-year-old Ahmad Barbour, after being prevented from praying by Israeli police. “Whatever is forbidden to us is allowed to them,” he added.
WATCH: A large number of people gather in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq in support of Palestine pic.twitter.com/5XkVu4aygJ
– Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) October 13, 2023
The Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of tension for Muslims and Jews, with conflicting demands and recurring violence. Al-Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam and is located on a site known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
Thousands of people gathered in Tahrir Square in central Baghdad today for protests called by influential Shiite cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr.
Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Iraq. pic.twitter.com/QYg8TABZPb
– DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) October 13, 2023
“May this demonstration … terrorize the great evil, America, which supports Zionist terrorism against our loved ones in Palestine,” Sadr said in an online statement.
In Hamas-backed Iran, demonstrators protested by burning Israeli and American flags while shouting: “Death to Israel”, “Death to America”, “Israel will be condemned” and “Palestine will prevail”.
In the Yemeni capital Sana’a, controlled by Iran-backed Huthi rebels who are still at war with a Saudi-led coalition, live television footage showed protesters in the streets waving Yemeni and Palestinian flags.
Thousands gather in Yemen in solidarity with the Palestinian people #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/R0MtRs5dVl
– PALESTINIAN ONLINE (@OnlinePalEng) October 13, 2023
In Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, some worshipers stepped on American and Israeli flags after prayers in a sign of disrespect.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday, dubbed Operation ‘Storm al-Aqsa’. Hamas has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and is classified as a terrorist group by the European Union, the United States and Israel.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip from the air, in an operation dubbed “Iron Swords”.
Source: DN
