Ramallah: Jerusalemites are furious at the appearance at Cannes Film Festival of Israeli far-right cultural minister Miri Regev in a dress emblazoned with an image of Al Haram Al Sharif, including Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
According to Dr Hanna Eisa, Secretary General of the Christian-Islamic Commission to Support Jerusalem and the Holy Sites, Regev was sending out an extremely dangerous message as Israel prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the “liberation” of the holy city.
“The woman’s appearance in this dress implies Israel’s categorical rejection of all international efforts to reach a peaceful settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” he told Gulf News. “This is a vicious provocation to Muslim and Christian sentiments around the world.”
Dr Eisa said the controversial dress had sparked a wave of outrage around the Occupied Territories as the Israelis were reaching the final stage of attempts to Judaise the eastern part of Jerusalem and Al Haram Al Sharif while trying to win the backing of the international community with fake Jewish narrative.
The Palestinian Ministry of Information in Ramallah said the dress incident on the red carpet at a major international cultural function was as act of severe goading, and urged Arab and Muslim ministers of culture to condemn Regev’s provocative display.
The ministry said the Israeli minister’s attitude was not only a vicious violation of international rules and conventions, but also a systematic racist defilement aimed at perpetuating the brutal treatment of the Palestinian public.
The images of Muslim and Christian holy sites on Regev’s dress prompted a tide of controversy on social media networks, with tens of thousands from Arab and Muslim countries condemning the baiting.
Al Haram Al Sharif houses both Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock.
The Palestinians want occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, whereas the Israelis are seeking to establish the entire city as their own undivided eternal capital, refusing to negotiate any Palestinian sovereignty in the holy city.
Observers believe the status of occupied East Jerusalem was the main reason for the total breakdown of peace talks between the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and Israel in April 2014.
Israel seized eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the Golan Heights during the Middle East Six-Day War in 1967.
