Temple Mount
Temple MountiStock

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem and a preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, called for Friday to be declared a “day of rage” in support of the Prophet Mohammed and in protest against attempts to harm Mohammed’s honor.

In a statement, Sabri said that Muslims oppose illustrations that deliberately harm the Prophet Mohammed, and that the public is therefore called upon to come to the Al-Aqsa Mosque to express its protest.

Meanwhile, a group of Palestinian Arab clerics also issued a joint statement calling on the Arab and Islamic countries to expel the French ambassadors until it apologizes for the publication of the cartoons, and to stop imports and exports from and to France.

The call comes amid controversy over cartoons of Mohammed in France following the October 16 beheading of teacher Samuel Paty in a suburb of Paris after he showed cartoons of the prophet in class.

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a firm stance against Islamism in the wake of the attack and has strongly defended the right to publish cartoons of Mohammed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has led the charge against France, questioning Macron’s mental state last week. In response, France recalled its ambassador to Turkey for consultations, a first in French-Turkish diplomatic relations.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, compared between Holocaust denial and cartoons that insult the Prophet Mohammed.

“The next question to ask is: why is it a crime to raise doubts about the Holocaust? Why should anyone who writes about such doubts be imprisoned while insulting the Prophet (pbuh) is allowed?” tweeted Khamenei.