by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
In the course of his visit to
Israel and the Palestinian Authority next week, as a matter of
protocol, Pope Francis, the most senior figure in the Catholic Church,
is scheduled to meet with Israel's two chief rabbis as well as the most
senior religious figure in the PA, the Mufti Sheikh Muhammad Hussein.
What Pope Francis may not be aware of, is that the Mufti has an ongoing
record of vicious Antisemitic hate speech, which has been condemned
internationally. In 2012, the Mufti preached that it is Muslim destiny
to kill the Jews. On another occasion, in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, he taught
that Jews were "enemies of Allah," and in another speech he said that
the souls of suicide bombers "tell us to follow in their path."
In his 2012 speech at a Fatah
celebration in East Jerusalem, the Mufti linked the extermination of
Jews to "Palestine," and claimed that Israelis know this religious war,
"Jihad," is coming and are trying to protect themselves by planting a
special tree that will hide them from Muslims when they come to kill
them.
Moderator at Fatah ceremony: "Our war with the descendants of the apes and pigs (i.e., Jews) is a war of religion and faith. Long Live Fatah! [I invite you,] our honorable Sheikh."
Palestinian Authority Mufti Muhammad Hussein: "47
years ago the [Fatah] revolution started. Which revolution? The modern
revolution of the Palestinian people's history. In fact, Palestine in
its entirety is a revolution,
since [Caliph] Umar came [to conquer Jerusalem, 637 CE], and continuing today, and until the End of Days. The reliable Hadith (tradition attributed to Muhammad), in the two reliable collections, Bukhari and Muslim, says:
since [Caliph] Umar came [to conquer Jerusalem, 637 CE], and continuing today, and until the End of Days. The reliable Hadith (tradition attributed to Muhammad), in the two reliable collections, Bukhari and Muslim, says:
'The Hour [of Resurrection] will not come until you fight the Jews.
The Jew will hide behind stones or trees.
Then the stones or trees will call:
'Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.'
Except the Gharqad tree [which will keep silent].'
Therefore it is no wonder that you see Gharqad [trees] surrounding the
[Israeli] settlements and colonies. [Gharqad trees] surrounding,
surrounding and surrounding. That's the Palestine we are talking about,
with the beginning of the Jihad and the continuation of the Jihad with
the struggle and the procession of the Martyrs." [Official PA TV, Jan.
9, 2012]
It is unknown whether the
Mufti knew in advance that the moderator would refer to the Jews as
"descendants of monkeys and pigs," and declare that the Palestinian -
Israel conflict "is a war of religion and faith." However - as can be
seen in the video - the Mufti did not hesitate, retract or condemn the
statement, asserting instead that Palestinians are destined to
exterminate the Jews.
When Palestinian Media Watch publicized this hate speech, the Mufti's words were condemned by Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, the British Foreign Office, the European Union and many others. (See condemnations of the Mufti's hate speech below.)
In another sermon the Mufti called the Jews "enemies of Allah" who "have even deviated from their humanity." [Al-Aqsa Mosque forum, June 25, 2010]
The Mufti also promotes hatred by rejecting Jewish rights in Jerusalem by denying that a Temple ever existed in Jerusalem:
"In
truth, there never was a Temple in any period, nor was there, at any
time, any place of worship for the Jews or others at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
site (built on the Temple Mount, 705 CE)." [Official PA TV, Jan. 5,
2012]
In addition, the Mufti makes a point of publicly rejecting Christian tradition, teaching that Jesus was not a Judean, but a Palestinian who preached Islam.
Click to view the Mufti calling Jesus "a Palestinian par excellence" and claiming that Jesus and his mother Mary were Palestinians.
The Mufti has also issued religious rulings presenting women as subservient to their husbands, declaring on PA TV that "in
general, a woman must [only] leave home at the discretion of her
husband," and that a woman must not refuse her husband's demand to have
sexual relations:
"It's his right [to have sex]... it is his right. This woman may not and has no right to deny him this right, especially during the permissible time, which is nighttime." [Official PA TV, Aug. 12, 2012]
Clearly,
the Mufti's preaching of Antisemitic and genocidal ideology will
destroy any chance for peace. As long as Jews are portrayed as Allah's
enemies destined to be killed by Palestinians, peace talks are
irrelevant. Adjusting a border or signing a peace treaty will not erase
the stigma attached to the Jews by the PA's most senior religious
leader.
In
spite of the Mufti's call to exterminate Jews and the subsequent
international condemnations, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas did not remove
the Mufti from his office, nor did he demand a retraction.
Palestinian Media Watch is
confident that the Pope, a symbol of peace and tolerance, will not
knowingly honor a Palestinian religious leader who promotes hatred and
intolerance. PMW is confident that should Pope Francis choose to meet
with the PA Mufti, he will do his utmost to impress on the Palestinian
religious leader the necessity of retracting his promotion of genocide
of Jews by Palestinians and the abhorrent nature of those opinions.
The
following are a few of the condemnations of the Mufti's hate speech
that were expressed immediately after PMW publicized his speech in 2012.
EU statement condemns hate speech by Jerusalem Mufti:
EU statement condemns hate speech by Jerusalem Mufti:
"The EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemn the Mufti of Jerusalem's inflammatory speech on January 9 at a rally marking the 47th anniversary of Fatah's founding...
In line with Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the EU firmly rejects 'any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence'."
[http://bit.ly/1qRwgW6, Jan. 28, 2012]
British Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt condemns Mufti's hate speech:
"I condemn the
inflammatory words used by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and others at a
recent event marking the 47th anniversary of the Fatah movement. To
refer to the Jewish people in such a way and to talk of killing Jews is
anti-semitism, pure and simple."
[http://bit.ly/1p8P4vm, Jan. 23, 2012]
Excerpt from the Associated Press on the Mufti's statements:
"The
Palestinians' top Muslim cleric faced sharp Israeli criticism Sunday for
a speech in which he quoted a religious text that includes passages
about killing Jews in an end-of-days struggle."
[Associated Press, Jan. 22, 2012]
Excerpt from Reuters that includes a condemnation by PM Netanyahu:
"Israel
condemned the Palestinians' top cleric on Sunday for reciting, at a
meeting of the dominant U.S.-backed Fatah faction, a passage from Muslim
scripture that called for the killing of Jews....
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has argued peacemaking has been
blighted by incitement against the Jewish state from some Palestinian
officials, said of the mufti's sermon: 'This is a very serious offence
that all the countries of the world must condemn.'
He said he had asked Israel's attorney-general to open a criminal investigation."
He said he had asked Israel's attorney-general to open a criminal investigation."
[Reuters, Jan. 22, 2012]
Click to view the full articles from the Associated Press and Reuters
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