CAIRO: Hundreds of students held demonstrations in front of Cairo University’s main gate on Monday, denouncing attacks on Palestinians by Israeli police in the compound of Al-Aqsa mosque.
The demonstrations were dubbed “Third Intifada for the Aqsa Mosque, by the students who were chanting “We will announce it, Aqsa we are coming.
For the fourth day in a row, Israeli police continued to restrict access to Al-Aqsa mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site – amid tensions in Jerusalem that followed Israel’s decision to build 1,600 new homes for Jewish settlers in occupied East Jerusalem.
Police barred men under 50 from praying at the Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday and on Saturday Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian protestors in the West Bank.
“This drove us as Cairo University students to bring on a third Intifada, said one of the protestors.
The demonstrators shouted “Stop normalization and kick the Israeli ambassadors out of all the Arab countries.
They also chanted slogans against Israeli policy, stressing their solidarity with the Palestinians.
Protestors gathered at around 1 pm which led the university to close its gates.
At the same time, Israel has been warned by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) against any aggression on Islam’s third holiest site.
According to MENA, the PLO Executive Member and Chairman of the Al-Quds affairs committee Ahmed Qurei highlighted Palestinians’ distress over Israel’s actions in Jerusalem in a press conference Monday.
