57th Year of Al Aqsa Burning: ‘The Fire Continues’ Ekrima Sabri Warns
CrossFireArabia- August 20, 2026
The ex-Mufti of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, affirmed that the fire that engulfed the mosque in 1969 has not been extinguished, for it continues till this day, with its scope expanding, targeting the entire city of Jerusalem, its geography, demographics, and its Arab and Islamic identity.
On the anniversary of the Al-Aqsa fire, which falls on Friday, Sheikh Sabri explained to Sanad News that the flames that consumed parts of the Qibli prayer hall 57 years ago are now taking on more complex forms through systematic Israeli policies targeting the Palestinian presence, tightening the noose around its residents, and threatening homes with demolition to forcibly impose a new reality.
He pointed out that what is happening in the neighborhoods and areas surrounding the mosque is a direct continuation of that historic fire, adding: “In 1969, the flames were visible inside the mosque, but today the fire is wider; we see it in the homes threatened with demolition, in the families facing displacement, and in the attempts to change the face of Jerusalem.”
He explained the danger does not stop at home threatened here and there, or a family being targeted. He said today “every Jerusalemite home is being threatened with demolition and every family is threatened with displacement..”
He stressed the Al-Aqsa Mosque is not merely a building separate from its surroundings, but it is an integral part of the city’s history, and that targeting the surrounding towns is a direct attack on its status and identity.
Sheikh Sabri warned against treating the anniversary of the fire as just a historical event to be commemorated once a year. He emphasized that the essence of the crime remains present and ongoing as long as there are Israeli dangers that threaten the holy sites and the city.
He said the Palestinian people and the Arab and Islamic nations must keep the issue of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa active in their consciousness and actions, and not to allow the ongoing attacks to become normative or accepted as facts on-the-ground.
“That fire which has since been consuming the Arab identity of the city and the mosque will only be extinguished by the will and steadfastness of the Palestinian people. Fire can burn stone, but it cannot burn the identity of Al-Aqsa, the memory of Jerusalem, or the will of a people clinging to their land.”
On 21 August, 1969, the Australian extremist Denis Michael Rohan stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Al-Ghawanimah Gate and set fire to the Qibli prayer hall. The fire consumed a large part of the mosque, including the pulpit of Saladin, which holds immense historical and cultural value.
Despite attempts by the Israeli occupation authorities at the time to provide an excuse for the crime and claim the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit, technical and engineering reports prepared by Arab engineers definitively proved it was deliberate and premeditated.
That incident sparked widespread international condemnation, with the UN Security Council issuing a resolution condemning it. It also ignited widespread anger in the Arab and Muslim worlds, leading to the establishment of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (now the Organization of Islamic Cooperation).
Rehabilitation and restoration work on the Qibli prayer hall began a year after the fire and continued until 1986, while a temporary iron pulpit remained in the mosque until 2006, when a new pulpit was installed that was exactly identical to the historical pulpit that was set on fire.
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