CAIRO, March 27, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – Denying participation in a talked-about conference of the three monotheistic religions on sacred rights in Al-Quds (occupied East Jerusalem), Al-Azhar said on Sunday, March 27, that Jews have no religious rights whatsoever in the holy city.

“There is nothing called sacred rights in Al-Quds,” Sheikh Fawzi El-Zefzaf, chairman of Al-Azhar's Interfaith Dialogue Committee, told reporters.

“Al-Quds is a Palestinian right that should be given back to the Palestinians,” he stressed.

Mohammad Abu Ghadir, professor of Hebrew in Al-Azhar University, agreed.

“Excavations and geological research have proved that Jews didn't have any right to claim sacred places in Al-Quds,” he said.

“Israeli archeologists didn’t even manage to prove that the “wailing wall” is part of the so-called Temple of Solomon,” Abu Ghadir added.

“Unfortunately, the world mistakenly believes that Jews do have sacred sites in Al-Quds like Muslims and Christians because of Israel’s heavy media campaigns that distorted historical facts.”

Al-Azhar, the highest Sunni authority in the Muslim world, categorically denied that it will take part in the reported conference.

“Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Mohammad Sayed Tantawi has not received any invitation of that kind,” an official source said.

He underlined that Al-Azhar's stance remains unchanged as it rejects talks with Jews over Al-Quds “because it is a very thorny issue that has not been yet resolved” on the political arena.

Sheikh El-Zefzaf said his committee has not got the faintest idea of such a meeting.

Some media reports suggested that preparations were underway to organize a conference grouping Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders on the religious rights of each faith in the holy city.

Zefzaf further said that Muslims cannot engage in a dialogue with Jews in view of the ongoing Israeli aggressions on the Palestinians.

“If you want to sit and talk religion you should stop aggressions first against sacred sites, which is not the case with the Israelis, who frequently attack Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said.

Manei Abdel Halim, the dean of Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence College in Al-Azhar University, said no one can deny the Jews their religious rights as long as they are not trespassing the rights of the other.

“But Israel is trying now to claim rights at the expense of Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Islam's third holiest site, Abdel Halim added.

“Muslims should step in and protect their mosque and have the lead in Al-Quds.”

On Wednesday, March 16, Israel's Channel Two television showed a video of Jewish rabbis and far-right extremists discussing ways to occupy the Aqsa compound at a secret meeting in the Old City in Al-Quds.

In recent months, sources in the Israeli Shin Bet security service have expressed concern regarding possible missile or air bombing attack by individuals or groups on the compound.

Archeologists have also warned that ongoing Israeli excavations weakened the foundations of Al-Aqsa mosque, cautioning it would not stand a powerful earthquake.

A part of the road leading to one of the mosque’s main gates collapsed in February, 2004, due to the destructive Israeli digging work.

Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque, represents the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because of its religious significance for Muslims.

Jews claim that their alleged Haykal (Temple of Solomon) exists underneath Al Haram Al Sharif.

Al-Haram Al-Sharif was the first Qibla (direction Muslims take during prayers) and is the third holiest shrine after Al Ka'ba in Makkah and Prophet Mhuhammad's Mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.