Christian man prays with Jerusalem Muslims in act of solidarity

Religious tensions have risen in Jerusalem as Israeli police have barred men under 50 from entering Jerusalem’s Old City for Friday Muslim prayers. Israeli police put metal detectors at entrances to the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following an attack nearby that killed two policemen.

In the midst of it all, Nidal Aboud, a Christian stood among thousands of Muslims as they offered Friday prayers in the Wadi el-Joz neighbourhood outside the Old City of Jerusalem.

The moment of interfaith cooperation was captured in a photograph by CNN and has been published in local media and shared widely on social media.



The 24-year-old Palestinian said he wanted to stand with Muslims in solidarity. "I had a dream since I was a child. I wanted to spread the world with love. I wanted to be the one who plants love in people's hearts," Aboud told CNN.

A Christian man prays alongside Muslims outside the Old City of Jerusalem during mid-day prayers on Friday. pic.twitter.com/ixvdcpkNIY

— Oren Liebermann (@OrenCNN) July 23, 2017

Holding a bible with a cross around his neck, he said he didn't feel out of place. "I asked my Muslim friends for their permission to pray between them. They were asking me to stand beside them," he said.

"My motivation was to stand in solidarity with my Muslim brothers and in solidarity with our Palestinian issue against the [Israeli] occupation and its policies against our holy sites, whether it's the mosque or the church."

Israeli authorities have also installed metal detectors outside the mosque and Aboud said he would refuse to walk through a detector if one were placed outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City.



He is urging Christians to unite with Muslims against the blatant unfairness they are facing and even asks Jews to stand against the Israeli occupation. Aboud sees his act as a way of bridging the religions of the region. "I see it as a sign from God that my dream came true to be the ambassador of goodwill between religions."