Temple Mount
Temple MountIsrael news photo: (file)

The deputy chief of the Islamist movement in Israel Kimal Al-Khatib told thousands of children in a Saturday Islamist protest on the Temple Mount that the Jewish Temple will never be rebuilt. His speech was published in the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper Monday morning.

“If the Jews think that their mourning will end and they will rejoice by destroying the Al-Aqsa mosque and building their Temple, we say to them that their dream will not be fulfilled and they will continue to mourn. Al-Aqsa is for Muslims only,” he said.

Al-Khatib was referring to the traditional period of mourning Jews commemorate every summer for the destruction of the Holy Temples on Tisha B'Av (The ninth of the Hebrew month of Av). The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, while the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa mosque were erected in 691 and 705 CE.

The Head of the Islamist movement in Jerusalem, Icharma Savri, also spoke to the assembled children. He previously served as the Chief Mufti of the Palestinian Authority.

“I tell this gathering, swearing by Allah, and in defiance of our enemies. We pass this safekeeping from generation to generation. Al-Aqsa is the safekeeping of the future generations, one after the other, and the children are dedicated to Al-Aqsa. They are the generation which will free it from our enemies,” he said.