1 September 2010 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Turkey-based charity the Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There) Association is distributing 3,000 hot iftar meals during the last 10 days of Ramadan at Masjid al-Aqsa in Palestine, the third holiest site for Muslims on the face of the earth.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque (literally translated as The Farthest Mosque) or Al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Arabic, commonly refers to the southern congregational mosque that is part of the complex of religious buildings in Jerusalem known as Al-Haram al-Qudsi al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) to Arabs and Muslims. However, the whole area of the noble sanctuary is considered Al-Aqsa Mosque according to Islamic law; it is known as Har HaBayit (Temple of the Mount) to Jews and Christians.In addition to its iftars in the courtyard of Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem, Kimse Yok Mu has been busy with aid efforts in the impoverished Gaza Strip. It has distributed food packages to 500 families, fruit and vegetable packages to 200 families and brought hot iftar meals to 1,500 families at their homes throughout Ramadan. In Gaza, Kimse Yok Mu is partnered with the Peace Association in order to carry out its aid campaigns. Gaza Peace Association President Dr. Nasser Elsadi says that Ramadan has been better this year than the previous one, as there is no war raging at present. However unemployment in the blockaded strip is still a serious problem. “Needs are still numerous in Gaza. There are orphans here, and people who have been maimed in war. Poverty and unemployment are still continuing. Aid always comes to us from the Turkish people. Aid brought here through Kimse Yok Mu is taken to the orphans and the disabled first. The families who are receiving aid this Ramadan keep the donors in their prayers. We believe that these prayers will reach their recipients,” he said.
