A preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Friday accused Israel of “lying” when it says the Temple Mount is holy to Jews.

The preacher, Mohammed Salim, declared that the compound belongs solely to Muslims, claiming that the proof is in its name “Al-Aqsa” (lit. the extreme). In light of this “fact”, claimed Salim, the question is “how the Jews are lying about their sovereignty and claim that the Temple stood on this mountain?”

Salim stressed that the Muslims are the sole owners of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and that praying in it is the right of Muslims. Control of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the entry of Muslims is a matter of their own and no one has the authority to intervene but Muslims, said he added.

Salim also said that the Jews perform rituals in the area that “defile” the Al-Aqsa Mosque. He claimed that Muslims around the world are completely opposed to Israel’s steps on the Temple Mount, and they demand to restore the situation in the period that existed before the 1967, when the area was under Arab and Muslim rule.

The charge by Palestinian Arabs that Israel “defiles” the Al-Aqsa Mosque is part of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ongoing incitement to acts of terror against Israelis.

In fact, PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas is pushing this incitement himself, having most recently declared that Palestinian Arabs would prevent “filthy” Jews from visiting the Temple Mount.

Abbas repeated his call for religious war over the Temple Mount in an open letter to Palestinian Arab students this July.