Agencies - Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, the head of the Islamic Movement, stated Friday that the Zionist attempts to pressure Palestinians through demolishing their homes in occupied Jerusalem would never force them to recognize the Zionist occupation as a Jewish state.

During the Friday Khutba (sermon) in Umm Al-Fahm, sheikh Salah highlighted that the Palestinian people would not compromise their Arab and Islamic historical presence in the occupied Palestinian lands.

“This land has been and will continue to speak Arabic, and whatever your are trying to Judaize the names [of Palestinian streets, neighborhoods and areas], your attempts will be doomed to failure,” he said addressing the Zionist occupation authority (ZOA).

The Islamic Movement head also deplored the Zionist decision to remove the word “Nakba” (catastrophe) from school textbooks, stressing the Palestinian people would stop commemorating this occasion only when the occupation ends and five million refugees in Diaspora return to their homeland.

In a related context, Hamas lawmaker Ali Al-Romanin played down on Saturday the Zionist decision to change the Arab names of streets and areas in Jerusalem and the occupied lands into Jewish ones.

“The fate of this land is to revert to its rightful owners, who are the Palestinians and their steadfastness is the only thing which determines this fate, not names written on the signs,” Romanin said.