Yair Barack, a former Israeli soldier returned Thursday a key to one of many gates on the historic Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after stealing it over 56 years in the past.
The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem printed a video displaying its Director-General Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib receiving the important thing from Barack.
In the video, Barack stated he was a part of the Israeli battalion that fought on the East Jerusalem entrance, including that a lot of his comrades died throughout the conflict in 1967.
“I arrived at the Al-Mughrabi Gate (in the western corridor of Al-Aqsa Mosque) … and when I looked at the left side, I found a key. I don’t know why I put my hand on it and took it,” he stated.
“I put the key in my pocket, and since then, I’ve had it in my possession,” he added.
Barack stated that after 40 or 50 years, he started feeling uncomfortable that the important thing was nonetheless with him “simply because I stole it and I now decided to return it.”
“Now I am here. I returned the key that I had stolen. I returned it to its owners … and this is what Israel should do – to return the Palestinians their land, rights, respect, independence, freedom and security,” he added.
He stated that after returning the important thing, he felt he “did the right thing.”
His handing again of the important thing got here in sharp distinction with Israeli settlers, who together with scores of Israeli officers, joined a “flag march” to rejoice their occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967.
Commenting on the controversial march, he stated this is without doubt one of the worst days within the yr for him, including he stopped celebrating “flag day” a very long time in the past.
The Flag March is staged by Israeli settlers yearly to mark what they name the unification of Jerusalem, in reference to Israel’s occupation of town in 1967.
“I was part of it that day. I wished I didn’t do it, which is occupying Jerusalem,” he stated.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem throughout the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed your complete metropolis in 1980 in a transfer by no means acknowledged by the worldwide neighborhood.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
