Egyptian Religious Endowments Minister Mohammed Hamdi Zaqzuq called Thursday for Muslims from around the world to visit Jerusalem, according to AFP. If millions of Muslims begin to go on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, as they do to Mecca, “we can show the whole world that Jerusalem is something that concerns all Muslims,” said Zaqzuq.

Muslims claim the Al Aksa mosque on the Temple Mount as Islam's third most holy site, following Mecca and Medina. However, most Muslim countries are officially at war with Israel and do not allow visits to the area, and relatively few Muslims visit the city.

Egyptians are among those who generally refuse to visit Jerusalem, or any other part of Israel.

Zaqzuq called for visits to Jerusalem at the present time, “even with Israeli visas.” If enough Muslims visit Jerusalem, “the whole world, and Israel, will have to accept this reality, which is that Jerusalem is for the Muslims and they will not give up on it,” he said.

Zaqzuq said he had been criticized for his proposal and accused of seeking normalized ties with Israel, a charge he denied.

Jerusalem was a primarily Jewish city until the War of Independence, when Jews were driven out of the Old City by invading Muslim forces. The city was split following the war, with the Old City and much of the eastern part of the city falling under Jordanian control, while the remainder of the city became Israel's capital. Jordan forbade Jews to visit areas under its control, and Jewish holy sites were vandalized or neglected.

The city was reunited in 1967 during the Six Day War. Israel annexed the Jordanian part of the city and declared the entire city Israel's eternal capital. The Palestinian Authority has bitterly protested the move, saying the eastern part of the city, the Old City and the Temple Mount should be divided from the rest of the city and given to the PA as the capital of a new Arab state.