The Future of Al-Aqsa Mosque In the Light Of Trump’s Deal of the Century

Abstract

U.S. President Donald Trump declared his long-awaited and debated Middle East ‘peace plan,’ the so-called ‘deal of the century,’ in January 2020, standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He promised to keep Jerusalem as Israel's undivided and united capital with recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank. With regards to al-Aqsa Mosque, the plan puts forth the Zionist prospect and point of view, while undermining the Islamic importance of the area. It reduces the area of al-Aqsa Mosque to one single building of the Mosque’s compound and in practical terms, it intends that the whole area of al-Aqsa Mosque (al-Haram al-Sharif) be transformed to allow open access for prayer for visitors of all faiths and thus to end Muslim control over the site of one of Islam’s holiest mosques. The plan would, in practice, lead to three main changes that would undo the centuries-old status quo completely: the transfer of the site to Israeli sovereignty, the repealing of Jordan's apparent custodianship over it, and the expiry of the ban on non-Muslim prayer. This, in turn, would give Israel full control over the site of al-Aqsa Mosque compound, something it could not achieve during the 1967 occupation of the city. Such changes would not only mean that Muslims lose further access to their mosque, but would also allow people of other faiths, particularly Jews, to share the site with Muslims in preparation for a full Jewish monopoly over the site and the building of a Jewish temple on its site.