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Occupied Jerusalem – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio triggered outrage during his visit to occupied Jerusalem, where he stood alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Al-Buraq Wall of Al-Aqsa Mosque and took part in Zionist rituals. The pair also inaugurated a 600-meter settlement tunnel running beneath the Old City, ending near the Wall’s foundations—a project critics say is part of Israel’s systematic attempt to Judaize Jerusalem.

Netanyahu lavished praise on Rubio as an “extraordinary friend,” hailing the visit as proof of the “unbreakable U.S.-Israel alliance.” The optics were deliberate: a senior American official wearing a yarmulke at a Muslim holy site under occupation. Analysts stressed that the event was less a religious observance than a political ritual, signalling Washington’s alignment with Israel’s religious-nationalist agenda.

The timing raised eyebrows. The ceremony unfolded just as Arab and Muslim leaders meet in Doha to address Israel’s attack on Doha last Tuesday. Many viewed it as a calculated provocation.

Palestinian analyst Ahmed Al-Hila said the visit aimed to consolidate Israel’s Judaization project while sending a message of contempt toward Arab efforts at unity. “This confirms Washington’s blatant bias toward Israel,” he argued, urging Muslim leaders to take independent measures to defend Al-Aqsa, their first qibla.

Media scholar Liqaa Maki called the images of Rubio at the Wall “carefully staged propaganda,” meant to show the world the depth of U.S. backing for Netanyahu at a moment of heightened criticism. Researcher Saeed Al-Haj added that the visit, coming days after a failed Israeli strike in Doha, amounted to a declaration of “unlimited U.S. support” regardless of Israel’s actions.

Israeli affairs expert Muhannad Mustafa said the tunnel inauguration was part of a wider colonial strategy to assert Israeli control over Al-Aqsa and erase its Islamic identity. Political analyst Sari Orabi described Rubio’s presence as a “direct message of endorsement,” underscoring Netanyahu’s indifference to global isolation so long as Trump and Washington stand firmly by his side.

Trump’s Religious Crusade

The Netanyahu–Trump partnership extends beyond Jerusalem’s streets. In Washington, Trump has been advancing a project to redefine America’s identity on explicitly religious terms. At the Museum of the Bible, he told a gathering of his Religious Liberty Commission that the Department of Education would issue new guidance “protecting the right to prayer in our public schools, and it’s total protection.”

“We’re defending our rights and restoring our identity as a nation under God,” Trump declared. “To have a great nation, you have to have religion. I believe that so strongly. As president, I will always defend our glorious heritage, and we will protect the Judeo-Christian principles of our founding.”

Observers see these moves as two sides of the same coin: Trump’s rhetoric at home and Netanyahu’s colonial projects abroad feeding into a broader religious-nationalist agenda. Kuwaiti professor Abdullah Al-Shayji described Rubio’s symbolic acts in Jerusalem as a “mandatory ritual” for American officials, a testament to the dominance of Zionist influence over U.S. policy.

“The image says it all,” he remarked, “a painful reality where Washington defers to Netanyahu’s project of Judaization, framing the conflict not only in political terms but as an unfolding religious war against Muslims.”

 Source: Quds News Network + US News Sources