His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday hailed Jerusalemites’ continued perseverance in the defence of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif.

During a meeting with representatives of Jerusalem’s awqaf and leading Palestinian and Jerusalemite figures, attended by His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed, chief adviser for religious and cultural affairs and personal envoy to His Majesty, King Abdullah reaffirmed that safeguarding Jerusalem’s awqaf is a priority and key to protecting holy sites.

His Majesty stressed that Jordan will continue to exert every effort to defend Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and to preserve the historical and legal status quo in the holy city, standing up to any attempts of temporal or spatial division of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif. The King warned of the danger of meddling in the status quo at the holy site.

The recent crisis has made it clear that tensions in Jerusalem have regional and international repercussions, His Majesty noted, adding that the issue of Jerusalem is purely political, rather than security-related.

The King stressed the importance of maintaining coordination with Jerusalemites on any developments and challenges that may come up, noting that Jordan was in constant coordination with the Palestinians during the Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif crisis.

His Majesty also called for intensifying Jordanian-Palestinian coordination on all levels with regards to the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem.

Discussions at the meeting addressed the importance of having Muslims from around the world visit Jerusalem and pray at Al Haram Al Sharif to support Jerusalemites and protect Al Aqsa Mosque and the holy city.

For their part, a number of figures from Jerusalem expressed their appreciation of Jordan’s key role, led by the King, in supporting the perseverance of Jerusalemites, safeguarding Islamic and Christian holy sites, and securing the reopening of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif in its entirety.

The attendees commended the level of Jordanian-Palestinian coordination and the deep ties that the two peoples share, praising His Majesty’s recent visit to Ramallah in support of Palestinians and their just cause.

All must stand with Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to protect Jerusalem and support Jerusalemites, they said, noting that the crisis at Al Aqsa Mosque would have taken a different turn had it not been for the King’s efforts.

The Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem is a red line, they added, stressing that Jerusalemites see His Majesty as their champion, supporting their steadfastness and working to safeguard their holy sites.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, Awqaf Minister Wael Arabiyat, Chief Islamic Justice Sheikh Abdul Karim Khasawneh, and Grand Mufti Mohammad Khalaileh also attended the meeting.