CAIRO (Press TV) – Egypt’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood has criticized a visit by the country’s top cleric to occupied city of al-Quds that caused a stir among the Egyptian public.
The Islamic party on Thursday reacted to the visit by Grand Mufti Ali Goma’a, calling the trip to the Israeli-occupied city a "catastrophe" that undermined the Palestinian cause.
The move by Egypt's highest religious authority sent waves of outrage across the post-revolution nation, which remains strongly opposed to normalization of ties with Israel.
Goma'a visited the al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Wednesday for the first time, along with Jordan's Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed, who is King Abdullah II's cousin and adviser on religious affairs.
The cleric justified his visit, saying it was aimed at showing solidarity with the Palestinians, who want Israel to give them back control of occupied East al-Quds.
"Visiting Jerusalem increases one's feelings of rejection of (Zionist) occupation and injustice and helps strengthen the (Palestinian) cause," Goma'a said.
He also argued that the controversial visit was made without obtaining Israeli visa and under the full supervision of the authorities in Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994 and was given custodianship of Muslim holy sites in al-Quds.
But the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party said it "categorically rejects” the visit “whatever the reasons."
It was "unacceptable that this visit takes place after the revolution" that toppled Western-backed dictator Hosni Mubarak’s regime last February, stressing that the former regime’s strong ties Israel “failed to impose normalization on the Egyptian people."
The revolution "has led to an agreement between the popular and official positions rejecting all ties with the Israeli entity as long as it continues the occupation, colonization and siege of Gaza," the statement noted.
His visit is a "catastrophe and a blow to the national struggle that succeeded in defeating all attempts at normalization (with the occupying regime) in the past," it regretted.
Last year, Egyptian protesters attacked the Israeli Embassy in Cairo setting fire to the Israeli flag.
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, during the presidency of Anwar Sadat, but the majority of Egyptians consider Israel as an enemy.
Egyptian Grand Mufti Ali Goma’a explains the reason behind his latest visit to al-Quds at a press conference in Cairo.
