Al Aqsa Mosque’s longest-serving imam defies Israeli ban

In a climate of fear deepened by the Gaza war, an 86-year-old Muslim cleric has emerged as Israel’s most outspoken critic in Jerusalem. The longest-serving imam of Al Aqsa Mosque and the former mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, has been banned from entering the sprawling compound in the Old City since last year. The government also imposed a travel ban on him earlier this year after he spoke against it during a lecturing tour that included stops in Tunisia, Algeria, Turkey and Malaysia. Also, this year, he had to leave his long-time home in the Old City after authorities issued eviction orders for him and other tenants, because the building was “illegally built”.