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<h1 class="gmail-single_title">Israel\u2019s trial of Sheikh Sabri
signals a sweeping assault on Jerusalem\u2019s religious leadership</h1>
<p class="gmail-single_date">Tuesday 18-November-2025</p>
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<p>OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)</p>
<p>Israeli authorities began a new procedural hearing Tuesday
for Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and
head of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem, in what his
legal team describes as a politically motivated prosecution
aimed at silencing one of the city\u2019s most influential
religious voices.</p>
<p>The Israeli Magistrate Court in Jerusalem convened to read
the indictment, which includes three allegations: condolence
speeches delivered by Sheikh Sabri in 2022 in Shuafat Refugee
Camp in Jerusalem and in Jenin Refugee Camp for the slain
Palestinians Udai Tamimi and Raed Hazem, and a farewell sermon
at Al-Aqsa Mosque mourning Palestinian leader Ismail Haneyya.</p>
<p>Sheikh Sabri\u2019s lawyer, Khaled Zabarqa, said the charges fall
within a \u201csystematic political persecution,\u201d noting that the
hearing is procedural rather than substantive.</p>
<p>Zabarqa told Anadolu that the defense team will request
additional evidence to refute the indictment and will seek
another court date to formally respond. He said the case
\u201cextends Israel\u2019s racist political pursuit of Sheikh Sabri and
other Jerusalemite figures to restrict their role and limit
their public influence.\u201d</p>
<p>He added that Sheikh Sabri has faced years of punitive
measures, including travel bans, repeated bans from entering
or preaching at Al-Aqsa, demolition orders targeting the
building where he lived in one of its apartments, and
restrictions on his contact with other Palestinian figures.</p>
<p>Zabarqa noted that the Sheikh has also been the target of an
\u201cextreme right-wing incitement campaign calling openly for his
assassination,\u201d yet Israeli authorities have taken no action
despite evidence submitted to prosecutors.</p>
<p>Before entering the courtroom, Sheikh Sabri said he is facing
threats intended to intimidate him. \u201cThey told me, \u2018Your fate
will be like Ahmed Yassin,\u2019\u201d he said, expressing defiance in
the face of an Israeli campaign he described as an attempt to
silence all defenders of Al-Aqsa amid an aggressive push to
reshape Jerusalem\u2019s identity under Israel\u2019s minister of
national security Itamar Ben-Gvir.</p>
<p>Sheikh Sabri said Israeli authorities are \u201cdeliberately
mixing Islamic religious concepts with political
interpretations that distort their meaning.\u201d He added, \u201cThe
expressions we use are part of our religious duty, and Israeli
authorities have no right to interpret them according to their
political interests.\u201d</p>
<p>He stressed that the charges and threats \u201chave no legal basis
but are attempts to muzzle voices defending Al-Aqsa.\u201d</p>
<p>The Council of Scholars and Preachers in Jerusalem warned
that the trial represents \u201ca dangerous assault on religious
authority in Jerusalem,\u201d emphasizing that targeting Sheikh
Sabri means targeting all the Palestinian religious
leadership. The council said threats against him now include
\u201cexplicit calls for murder,\u201d warning of the consequences of
regional and international silence.</p>
<p>Dr. Ali al-Qaradaghi, secretary-general of the International
Union of Muslim Scholars, condemned the trial as an attempt to
\u201cbreak the spirit\u201d of a figure who has represented \u201cthe voice
of truth and freedom in Jerusalem for decades,\u201d arguing that
Israel is attempting to reshape the city\u2019s religious landscape
by undermining its scholars.</p>
<p>Journalist Khadija Benguena described the trial as \u201can
unprecedented and historic attempt to erase Jerusalem\u2019s
religious identity\u201d by targeting one of the most senior
Islamic scholars in the world, who has preached from Al-Aqsa
for more than fifty years.</p>
<p>The prosecution of Sheikh Ekrima Sabri marks a dangerous
escalation in Israel\u2019s policy toward Palestinian religious
institutions. It is not merely a legal case but an attempt to
intimidate an entire religious establishment and restrict
freedom of expression in Jerusalem.</p>
<p>As pressure intensifies, Al-Aqsa Mosque remains at the heart
of the confrontation, and figures like Sheikh Sabri embody the
last line of defense protecting the Palestinian and Islamic
identity of the holy city. The broader Palestinian and Islamic
world now faces a decisive moment: silence toward this case
may have lasting consequences for the ability of scholars to
protect Jerusalem\u2019s sacred sites.</p>
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