Saudi Arabia condemns extremist provocations at Al-Aqsa Mosque, tearing up copies of Qur’an in The Hague

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the repeated provocative practices carried out by a group of extremists at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. It also strongly denounced the attempt of an extremist group to tear up copies of the Holy Qur’an in front of a number of embassies in The Hague, in the Netherlands.

The ministry expressed Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of the repeated provocative practices carried out by a group of extremists at Al-Aqsa Mosque under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces. It voiced the Kingdom’s regret over the practices of the Israeli occupation authorities that undermine international peace efforts and contradict international principles and norms in respecting religious sanctities.

The ministry reiterated the Kingdom’s firm position to stand by the Palestinian people, as well as to support all efforts aimed at ending the Israeli occupation and reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, and thus enabling the Palestinian people to establish their independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

While denouncing the tearing up of the Holy Qur’an, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated the Kingdom’s total rejection of such hateful and repeated acts, saying that these cannot be accepted under any justifications. “Such acts clearly incite hatred and racism, and directly contradict international efforts seeking to spread the values of tolerance, moderation, apart from rejecting extremism, and undermining the necessary mutual respect for relations between peoples and countries,” the ministry said in a statement.