Hamas deplores Israel’s ban on events marking Jerusalem as Arab cultural capital

Hamas deplores Israel’s ban on events marking Jerusalem as Arab cultural capital

The Hamas Movement on Saturday strongly denounced the Israeli occupation authority for barring the Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem from holding events marking the designation of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009 and arresting the organizers, stressing that such arbitrary actions are aimed to obliterate the Arab and Islamic identity of the holy city.


In a press statement received by the PIC, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum underlined that the Israeli ban on celebrating this Arab cultural occasion is one of the Israeli schemes aimed to isolate Jerusalem from its Arab and Islamic extension and depth and turn it into a capital of the racist and extremist Hebrew state.


Barhoum added that any attempt to restrict the freedom of the Palestinian people and destroy their culture would be doomed to failure, highlighting that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinian people and is engraved in the Arab and Muslim conscience.


The spokesman also deplored ex-PA chief Mahmoud Abbas for alleging that Hamas prevented events celebrating Jerusalem as the Arab cultural capital in Gaza, pointing out that such statements are inflammatory and unfounded.


He underscored that many events and activities marking this cultural occasion had already kicked off two weeks ago in Gaza and are still ongoing.


In the same context, the high national committee for the celebration of Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture for 2009 categorically denied that there is a ban on holding events on this occasion in Gaza.


The committee also expressed its dismay at Abbas for using the Israeli ban on holding events marking Jerusalem as the Arab cultural capital to accuse his rivals in Gaza of preventing the celebration of this occasion.