Abbas denies Israeli schemes on dividing al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday the Palestinians won't let the Israeli measures in Jerusalem and the Israeli schemes over the temporal division of al-Aqsa Mosque to pass.

Abbas remarks were made in a meeting he held at his office in Ramallah with Palestinian figures and leaders from east Jerusalem, adding "there will be no Palestinian state without east Jerusalem as its capital."

"Al-Aqsa Mosque is ours and all other Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. They (Israelis) don't have the right to dirty it with their feet, we will never let them do it and we will do our best to protect Jerusalem," said Abbas.

Abbas stressed that the Palestinians will knock at every door and they will raise the voice of Jerusalem loudly, adding "I'm not very much worried that something bad would happen to Jerusalem."

Relative calm dominated the eastern part of the city on Wednesday following three successive days of fierce confrontations between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police forces.

The Palestinians have concerns that the Israeli measures in eastern Jerusalem and against the worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque are all aiming at a temporal dividing of the mosque compound between Muslim and Jewish worshipers.

The Palestinians want east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in 1967, the capital of their Palestinian state, while Israel says all the city ios the eternal capital of the state of Israel.

Although Israel annexed east Jerusalem in 1968, but the international community still doesn't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel. Endit