Marabouts at Al-Aqsa thwart the attempts to break in
The Israeli police closed on Tuesday morning Dung gate and cancelled the so-called “foreign tourism program” inside Al-Aqsa Mosque because of the presence of dozens of Marabouts inside it who stayed at Al-Aqsa in order to confront the Jewish groups who called for family break-ins of Al-Aqsa on occasion of the “Sukkot” holiday. At around 7:30 a.m. which is the time of “foreign tourism program”, the Marabouts (Jerusalemites and people from 1948 lands) were chanting “With our blood and soul, we will protect you Aqsa”, and they were gathered by Al-Qibali Mosque to confront any break-ins. The police who were present in large numbers and high-rank officers were forced to close Dung gate and prevented anybody from the extremists and tourist groups from entering. The Israeli police detained the IDs of all worshippers who entered Al-Aqsa, but did not impose any extra restrictions on them; education was not affected at Al-Aqsa Schools. The police closed (Lions gate, King Faisal, Ghawanmeh, Hadeed and Qataneen gates) in the early morning hours and then reopened them at around 9:00 a.m.; they also established iron barriers by the gates. The police arrested Mahmoud Abu Ata, Media coordinator for Al-Aqsa foundation for Al-Waqf and heritage, in the early morning hours from inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa.
