Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Islamic and Christian Leaders Condemn Barak Obama's Reference to Jerusalem as the Undivided Capital of Israel

Islamic, Christian Leaders Criticize Obama for Remarks on Jerusalem

Date: 11 / 06 / 2008  Time:  21:16
Ramallah - Ma’an -

Palestinian Supreme Judge Shaikh Tayseer Al-Tamimi and Bishop Atallah Hanna urged Palestinians to unite on Tuesday, and condemned remarks by US presidential candidate Barak Obama referring to Jerusalem as the "undivided" capital of Israel.

Speaking at a press conference at the Palestinian Information Ministry's media center in Ramallah, Al-Tamimi and Hanna reaffirmed that Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinian people.

The press conference, staged by the Christian-Islamic Front for the Defense of Jerusalem, was intended to publicize a report about the status of Jerusalem and its holy sites.

The report states that Israel, supported by its "retrieval" impossible.

The two leaders said they appreciated the Algerian National and Islamic call to make Jerusalem the final headquarters of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference along with keeping the current headquarters on hold.

The report highlights Israeli construction and excavation in the area of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam and a Palestinian national symbol.

The Islamic-Christian Front says that Israel has allocated 17.5 million shekels for the construction, ignoring concerns from archaeologists, religious figures, and Palestinians in general.

Awkaf warns of Zio-American systematic scheme to judaize Jerusalem

[ 12/06/2008 - 10:35 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The Awkaf (endowments) ministry in the PA caretaker government in Gaza has warned of an accelerating Zionist scheme to judaize the holy city of Jerusalem with full American backing.

In a press release on Wednesday, the Quds committee in the Awkaf ministry said that the new Israeli settlement drive on Mount of Olives in Ras Al-Amod suburb poses "grave danger" on occupied Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque, where the new project overlooks the Aqsa.

It charged that the new scheme fell in line with a systematic, American-backed plan to judaize the holy city and impose a new demographic Zionist majority on it.

The committee appealed to the Arab and Islamic countries to urgently act to confront the Zionist attempts, and underlined that Israel was planning "to demolish what is left of Islamic, historical sites in the vicinity of the Aqsa Mosque and occupied Jerusalem".

It also asked Muslims all over the world to display solidarity with the occupied holy city and the Aqsa.