On Sunday, May 15, 2022, the Israeli Occupation Authorities issued an order banning Al-Aqsa Mosque’s preacher Sheikh Ekrima Sabri’s travel for four months on the pretext that his travel would pose a “security threat.”
Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, who heads the Higher Islamic Council in Occupied Jerusalem, confirmed that he received an order signed by the Israeli interior minister banning his travel abroad for four months.
Commenting on his travel ban, Sheikh Sabri affirmed that such measure would not dissuade him from defending the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
“This unjust decision will neither change my position nor prevent or deter me from performing my religious duty towards my people and nation. My defense of the al-Aqsa Mosque will not stop as long as I am still alive,” he added.
Sheikh Sabri’s lawyer Hamza Quttineh also pointed out that the Israeli travel ban came as part of a series of repressive measures targeting his religious and social role in al-Aqsa and occupied Jerusalem as a whole.
“Such a decision came in total violation of the international laws and human rights conventions that clearly protect everyone’s right to freedom of movement,” the lawyer stressed.
Sheikh Sabri has been exposed to systematic persecution by the Israeli occupation authority. He has been arrested, interrogated and banned from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque and travelling to other countries several times before.
