Al Aqsa is still under continued attack

In remembering the arson attack on Al Aqsa 43 years ago

(CHICAGO 08/17/2012) — As we mark the 43 years since Dennis Michael Rohan set fire to Al Aqsa mosque that destroyed the 800-year-old minbar of Salahuddin; it is of utmost importance that we remain vigilant about the Zionist Entity’s ongoing efforts to destroy the third holiest site in Islam.

On Aug. 21, 1969, Rohan, walked into al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, doused the pulpit with gasoline and set it ablaze. In the stroke of one match an Australian Christian citizen — who had been living in a Kibbutz and wanted to help the Jews rebuild their temple thereby hastening the arrival of the Messiah — set fire to Islam’s third holiest site and its first Qibla.

Though this attack is now 43 years old and other egregious acts occurred during the ensuing years, Al Aqsa is in danger like never before. Extremist Jewish settlers, backed by Israeli Occupation Forces and police swarmed the Al Aqsa compound several times, preformed Jewish prayers there under the Israeli flags they unfurled. Soldiers forcefully removed worshipers while they were praying, and an extremist group released a video, whose chilling message said that Jewish children were ready to build the so-called Third Temple on top of a destroyed Al Aqsa mosque.

But most troubling for Muslims are plans by the Jerusalem Municipal Authority to turn the grounds of the Al Aqsa compound into a public park. Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein claims Jerusalem belongs to Israel and therefore the Al Aqsa compound must be open to the public as a park, according to published reports. His comments reflect the Zionist intention to “Judaize” Jerusalem by erasing the vestiges of Palestinian Muslim and Christian ties to the holy city through the demolition of homes and religious sites, the construction of settlements, and flattening entire neighborhoods to turn them into Jewish-only parks.

Israeli officials currently are in the process of destroying Umayyid Caliphate palaces just south of the compound.

You won’t hear about this in the mainstream media. The American Muslims for Palestine is the only Islamic organization working to bring the Palestinian narrative to the American public. AMP pledges we will redouble our efforts to bring to light this issue and many others so we can help influence a change in our government’s foreign policy in the Middle East. AMP pledges we will not stop until the job is done and freedom and justice reign in Palestine.

But we need your support. We cannot do this alone.

Will you join us in our mission by donating generously? Will you help us build a national grassroots movement that will pressure elected officials to cease this country’s unconditional support of Israel and instead uphold the values of liberty and justice we as Americans so firmly believe in?

It’s easy and doable. For as little as a cup of coffee, you can pledge $1 a day. Your donations help us place books about Palestine in public libraries; educate high school and college students and train them to be the next generation of leaders, and to send our informational materials to every member of Congress and to the general public.

Time is of the essence. Al Aqsa is being threatened like never before. Let’s join together to ensure terrorist Rohan’s dream of Al Aqsa’s destruction never comes true.