WAM JERUSALEM: More than thirty thousand Palestinians in the Old City of Jerusalem have received food aid from the UAE's Red Crescent Authority (RCA) through the Hasseki Sultan Tekke near the Aqsa Mosque.

Sheikh Azzam Al Khateeb Al Tamimi, director of Jerusalem Awqaf (endowments) said RCA has been feeding the poor in Jerusalem and Al Aqsa area through the hospice for years now.

The Haseki Sultan Tekke is a charity kitchen for the needy in Jerusalem which was built by the Ottomans. During the month of Ramadan, dozens of families from Jerusalem and the surrounding areas flock to the 500 year-old Tekke to receive their food donated by charities, he noted.

Al Tamimi expressed gratitude for the UAE donors and RCA in particular for the generous support to the poor in the Holy City.

Hasseki Sultan Imaret was an Ottoman public soup kitchen established in Jerusalem to feed the poor during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent. The imaret was part of a massive Waqf complex built in 1552 by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan (Roxelana), the wife of Sultan Suleiman. This soup kitchen was said to have fed at least 500 people twice a day The Hasseki Sultan waqf complex was constructed at the height of the Ottoman era. In addition to the soup kitchen, the complex consisted of a mosque, a 55-room pilgrim hospice, and an inn (khan) for travelers.

WAM/MMYS