PA says no to Hamas mosque sermon

A Hamas lawmaker says security officers from the Palestinian Authority (PA) stopped him from delivering a Friday sermon in a mosque south of al-Khalil (Hebron).

Nayef al-Rajoub, who is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), said late on Friday that after he attended prayers at the Dura al-Kabir mosque, he rose to deliver a Friday sermon, but some PA security officers threatened him and prevented him from speaking.

The lawmaker stated that he demanded the men produce some written order, but they refused.

Al-Rajoub said security forces also detained several worshipers as they left the al-Kabir mosque.

After being blocked and harassed, he went to the al-Mujahid mosque, which lies across the town. “But there, too, I was forbidden and threatened with weapons,” he said.

A PA security source later confirmed this, telling the Ma’an news agency that 10 “troublemakers” were detained.

Meanwhile, in al-Quds (Jerusalem), the Israeli police detained another Hamas PLC member, Sheikh Hamed al-Betawi, who was on his way to pray at the al-Aqsa Mosque. He was later released but ordered not to return to the mosque.