The latest salvo in the spiritual and ideological battle for Israel has just been fired by Gaza’s Fathi Hamad, a senior Hamas official and member of the Muslim Brotherhood. In an interview on Al-Aqsa TV on December 12th he said, “We are completely convinced that by annihilating the monstrous state we will be bringing an end to the global security corruption of warmongering, the economic corruption of theft, the media corruption of vice. We do not believe in reconciliation, or so-called peace, with the Zionist enemy. There can be temporary instances of truce, like the Treaty of Hudaybiyyeh, signed by the prophet Mohammad, but to acknowledge the Zionist enemy’s occupation of our land and our holy places is considered haram and constitutes an ideological transgression. Reconciliation with the Zionist enemy can never be a part of Hamas’ agenda or ideology.”1
A litany of anti-Zionist abuse
Only a matter of weeks before, the Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine, President Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, issued an official statement. It emphasised that various states and nations had conspired in the historical injustice that was inflicted on to the Palestinian people, which will only reach its end when the ‘occupation’ is removed from the land of Palestine, and when the State of Palestine whose capital is Jerusalem is established on the Palestinian people’s historical land, so that peace, security, and stability will prevail. He added: “We are convinced that the night of occupation and aggression will pass in the end, of this there is no doubt, and then the believers will rejoice in Allah’s victory.”2
Right at the heart of this battle is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. On Tuesday this week the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, declared, “We affirm, time and again, that the blessed al-Aqsa Mosque, with its 144 dunams (144,000m2) is Islamic and only for Muslims … There is no place for non-Muslims in any way in this mosque, whether through schools, churches, or other places of worship.”3 And this is not new. In September 2015, President Mahmoud Abbas, speaking of Israelis, stated, “The al-Aqsa is ours... and they have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will not allow them to, and we will do everything in our power to protect Jerusalem.”4 Then, in an interview with Israeli television's Channel 2 in October 2015, the Mufti denied that the Temple Mount had ever housed any Jewish temple. The site, considered the third holiest in Sunni Islam and the holiest to Jews, according to the Grand Mufti, was a mosque "3,000 years ago, and 30,000 years ago" and had been so "since the creation of the world"!! 5 Yet the Supreme Moslem Council’s own guide to the site in 1924 states, “Its identity with the site of Solomon’s Temple is beyond dispute” (p.4).
An appetite for slaughter
Sheikh Omar Abu Sara: MEMRI screenshotWhen the broader issue of the land is considered, it is mind-boggling that liberals in the West, even including many churches, are happy to support the slogan “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free”. If only they would listen to what is frequently taught by Palestinian imams! Here’s Sheikh Omar Abu Sara, preaching in Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, in November 2014: “I say to the Jews loud and clear: The time for your slaughter has come. The time to fight you has come. The time to kill you has come…Please do not leave in our hearts a single grain of mercy towards you, oh Jews, because when the day of your slaughter arrives, we shall slaughter you without mercy.”6 (Sheikh Omar Abu Sara; MEMRI screenshot)
Then in October 2015, on Al-Aqsa TV, Gaza, Sheikh Iyad Abu Funan stated, “The sheikhs who preceded me swore on the Quran that not a single Jew would remain on this land and that you would not win any battle. I too swear on the Quran that by Allah the Almighty, who created the skies above and all creatures, who sent us the Quran and the messengers, who created Paradise and Hell, life and death, we will not leave a single Jew on our Islamic land – no child, no adult, no settler, no soldier, nobody of Eastern or Western origin. No Jew will remain on the land of Islam and the Muslims. This is my vow on behalf of the entire Palestinian people, and of the Arab and Islamic nation in its entirety, from East to West. If the enemies do not understand this, they are stupid.”7
Extreme Islamism
Behind all this is Islam itself. We recognise that there is a broad spectrum of adherence, from mild to extreme. Generally, in the West, adherence is mild and our perception greatly affected thereby, apart from our awareness of terrorist incidents. However, research into attitudes in 39 predominantly Muslim countries is instructive. In 2013, the PEW research centre published the results of extensive surveys completed between 2008 and 2012, which showed that those in the Palestinian territories had some of the most extreme attitudes. Between 75 and 90% (depending on the question) believed in national Sharia law, with whippings, amputations and stonings for various misdemeanours, with over two thirds in favour of the death penalty for apostasy from Islam.
A need for the truth
It’s surely time for a ‘Wake Up!’ call. In the light of such considerations, we should redouble our efforts to expose the lies and promote the truth. We also need to intercede ‘for the peace of Jerusalem’ and for the scales to fall from the eyes of ordinary Palestinians, who live in bondage to an inherently cruel system, with corrupt leaders who lie to them. Our God is not only a God of love, He is a God of justice and mercy, fully committed to truth!
Endnotes
1. WATCH: Hamas' Plan to 'Heal the World'? 'Annihilate Israel', United with Israel (Haram is an Arabic word which means “Forbidden”. Haram is the things which are prohibited in the Quran and the Sunnah, things Muslim cannot do)
2. Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 30, 2020; PA: All Israel is “our land Palestine”; All Israelis are settlers; Israel's demise is certain | PMW Analysis (palwatch.org), 17 Dec 2020
3. WATCH: Mufti of Jerusalem wants only Muslims on Temple Mount, worldisraelnews.com, 16 Dec 2020
4. Mahmoud Abbas: Murdering Israelis is "popular peaceful uprising", PMW Analysis (palwatch.org), 1 Dec 2015
5. Muhammad Ahmad Hussein - Wikipedia accessed 17 Dec 2020
6. Preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque Omar Abu Sara to the Jews: "We Shall Slaughter You Without Mercy", MEMRI, 27 Nov 2014
7. MEMRI, 13 Oct 2015
8. Data from: The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society, Pew Research Center (pewforum.org) 30 April 2013