Dr. Sultan Barakat, an academic and expert in urban planning, has warned of the serious architectural threats facing Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli occupation policies. He cautions that ongoing structural interference could lead to the mosque’s collapse “at any moment”, stating that Israel is weaponising architecture to gradually erase Al-Aqsa’s Islamic identity and strip it of its religious and political symbolism.
Barakat’s remarks came during the first episode of the podcast “Al-Rihla” (The Journey), hosted by Adel Al-Hamdi. The episode delves into the systematic Israeli efforts to reshape Al-Aqsa, not only through direct military assaults but via spatial and architectural manipulation — a quieter, yet equally dangerous form of aggression.
Subterranean Control: The Battle Underground
According to Barakat, Israel is increasingly focused on underground control through extensive excavations beneath Al-Aqsa, a process that directly threatens the mosque’s structural integrity. Any future collapse, he warns, could be falsely portrayed as a “natural” event, despite being the result of calculated engineering sabotage.
He also highlighted ongoing urban transformation projects surrounding the mosque, designed to sever its connection to the surrounding Arab population — isolating Al-Aqsa from its Palestinian context by reshaping the landscape through Judaizing development plans that disconnect the Old City from the greater Jerusalem area.
Architecture as a Weapon: Erasing Memory Through Design
Barakat firmly stated:
“Architecture is a weapon. Through architectural dominance, Israel is reshaping the public space to fit the Zionist narrative.”
This includes:
- Removing or marginalising Islamic landmarks
- Imposing seemingly “neutral” designs that subtly serve settler-colonial control
- Weakening symbolic elements like the golden dome and secondary domes
The goal is to dilute the mosque’s Islamic character while installing a visual narrative that aligns with Israeli state ideology.
Physical Threat, Symbolic War
Dr. Barakat emphasised that the threat is not merely physical, but also symbolic and political. Israel is working to reframe Al-Aqsa as a “shared heritage site,” stripping it of its status as a sacred symbol of Islamic faith and sovereignty.
He called for:
- Comprehensive scientific documentation of every architectural element of Al-Aqsa
- Global Muslim expert collaboration to protect the site
- Public awareness campaigns, particularly targeting youth, to understand the silent transformation beyond the headlines of political or military confrontation
From Taliban Mediation to Jerusalem: A Stark Contrast
In the same podcast episode, Barakat reflected on his experience mediating between the United States and the Taliban, noting that the Doha negotiations succeeded due to credible regional mediation (from Qatar and Iran) and a serious commitment by all parties to listen and negotiate.
This, he said, eventually led to a U.S. military withdrawal through a politically brokered agreement.
But Barakat lamented that Palestinians currently lack the basic conditions for such diplomacy:
- No neutral and trusted regional mediator
- No accumulated negotiation experience among Palestinian factions comparable to the Taliban
- No consistent or credible diplomatic channel capable of building a fair negotiation track
This absence, he warned, has left Palestinians vulnerable to both material erosion and symbolic dispossession — as epitomised in the battle for Al-Aqsa Mosque.
