The Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB) continues to follow with great concern the repeated provocations by Israel’s occupation authorities against Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem.
Such provocations are part of wider attempts to form a new status quo on the neighborhoods streets and squares of the Old City while in the process encouraging incursions from some of the most extreme right-wing Zionist organizations into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Forum strongly opposes the actions of the Israeli occupation authorities in this context and is concerned that state-violence against Palestinians will continue to increase as we approach the 28th of Ramadan this year which coincides with what is known to Zionists as ‘the Hebrew Jerusalem Day’.
The Forum calls on members of the Palestinian community the general Arab and Muslim community and supporters of freedom and justice in Britain to organize any possible forms of protest demonstration and solidarity to express the unequivocal rejection of these hostile measures. At this time we must collectively stand side-by-side with the victims of the attacks in Jerusalem which have resulted in hundreds of injuries and numerous arrests.
Amidst Arab and international silence (except for tacit condemnation by select countries) the Forum also calls on people of conscience in the Arab and Islamic world and elsewhere across the globe to raise their voice loudly in solidarity with the people of Jerusalem and to boycott the media organizations and institutions that are trying to distort their image and the reality of events. In this light it is important that collective efforts are made to increase engagement with new media platforms that raise awareness of the gravity of the state-violence occurring against Jerusalem’s land people and sanctities.
Undoubtedly attacks by settlers and the occupation on the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the continuous attempts to change the features of the Holy City will have serious repercussions on the region at large; Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine and it is the third of the Two Holy Mosques.
The Forum calls on the British government to denounce the Israeli attacks on Palestinians work to prevent settlers’ provocations against Palestinians (especially during the blessed month of Ramadan) and to reject Israeli plans to intensify settlement operations across the city.
As Palestinians we feel untold pride in the heroism of the defenseless young men of Jerusalem who have risen against the attacks being directed towards them and who have proven that they are loyal guardians of the city and its sanctities. They have signaled clearly that Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa are red lines; we as people of conscience must heed their call and organize to offer them our utmost solidarity and support.
