The Pals are our enemies, and make it clear in everything they say and do.
MEMRI just came out with a great sample of their organized hatred of us. Hard to refute.
Palestinian Authority Sermons 2000-2003
By: Steven Stalinsky
Introduction
The following report consists of Palestinian sermons from 2000-2003. Each Khatib (preacher) is a paid employee of the Palestinian Authority (PA). The sermons are broadcast live every Friday at noon from mosques under control of the PA and are shown on PA television. Part I of this report includes the common themes of the sermons, such as: calls for the destruction of the U.S., the perceived American Crusader war against Islam, honoring Shahids and the rewards of the martyrs, educating children to martyrdom, and antisemitism, including calls for the killing of Jews. Part II includes Palestinian leaders being questioned by Western journalists about the content of the sermons, and is followed by Part III, the transcripts of the Friday sermons.
Part I: Common Themes
Calls for the Destruction of the U.S.
"Allah wreak vengeance on the Jews and the Americans" is a common theme heard in PA sermons, as with Sheikh Ahmad Abd-Al-Razek's sermon on October 4, 2002. [1] Frequent calls for the destruction of the main allies of the U.S. - Britain and Israel - are also heard. As Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi stated, "Allah willing, this unjust state will be erased - Israel will be erased; this unjust state, the United States, will be erased; this unjust state, Britain, will be erased." [2]
Themes of Arab hatred of the U.S. within sermons often have Islamic historical undertones. For example, the leading Palestinian religious figure, Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri, stated in a sermon on PA radio, "Allah, destroy the U.S., its helpers and its agents. Allah, destroy Britain, its helpers and its agents. Allah, prepare those who will unite the Muslims and march in the steps of Saladin. Allah, we ask you for forgiveness before death, and mercy and forgiveness after death. Allah, grant victory to Islam and the Muslims…" [3] The U.S. and its allies are also commonly referred to as Christian and Jewish Crusaders who must be fought. For example, Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya, speaking at a mosque named after UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, stated, "Allah the almighty has called upon us not to ally with the Jews or the Christians, not to like them, not to become their partners, not to support them, and not to sign agreements with them… Allah, deal with the Jews, your enemies and the enemies of Islam. Deal with the Crusaders, and America, and Europe behind them…" [4]
2003: The Year the American Crusader War Against Islam Began
In the year 2003, a common theme which emerged in PA sermons is that the U.S has begun a Crusader war against the Arabs. Sheikh Muhammad Abu Al-Hunud stated in a sermon on March 28, 2003, "If, God forbid, something happens to Iraq, the aggression and the Crusade will turn tomorrow against the Koran… God forbid, his second assault is on the Koran, [he wants] to change verses and to mess with Allah's book, to Americanize the region, Americanize the religion, Americanize the Koran, Americanize Muhammad's message… To my brothers in Iraq, to the President of Iraq, to the Iraqi leadership, to the Iraqi people… Strike, my brother; may your right arm, oh proud Iraq, be strong… strike Allah's enemies with it. Strike with it the enemies of humanity… from the pulpits of Al-Azhar and other mosques around the world, that any Muslim who does not stand by Iraq and support it against the American-British-Crusaders cruel attack… Allah, grant victory to the Iraqi army… Allah, defeat America and its allies… Allah, purify the Islamic soil from the American and British treason and defilement… Allah, make their possessions a booty for the Muslims, Allah, annihilate them and their weapons, Allah, make their children orphans and their women widows…" [5]
Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris also frequently states that the battle between Muslims and the U.S. is a religious war that has its roots centuries ago. In a sermon on September 5, 2003, he stated, "If we go back in the time tunnel 1400 years, we will find that history repeats itself… Byzantium represents America in the west… America will collapse, as Byzantium collapsed in the west… The Prophet [Muhammad] could, by means of unbroken ranks, conquer Byzantium, the greatest power compared to today's America - and this without a single martyr falling from among the Muslims… The Prophet could, by means of the unity of the Muslim ranks and its awakening, defeat the America of that time, as we will defeat America as long as it supports our enemy, as long as America insists on being against our people and against our cause and our holy places, and against our people and our leadership… Indeed, we consider America to be our No. 1 enemy… America is our No. 1 enemy, and we see it as our No. 1 enemy as long as we learn from the lessons of the Battle of Tabouk [which took place in October 630 AD] :'Make ready for them whatever you can of armed strength and of mounted pickets' [Koran 8:60]. We are prepared and ready, but victory is from Allah…" [6]
On another occasion, on March 21, 2003, Sheikh Mudeiris called President Bush a "dwarf" and a "Pharaoh" who would be defeated in Iraq: " …Allah drowned Pharaoh and those who were with him. Allah drowns the Pharaohs of every generation. Allah will drown the little Pharaoh, the dwarf, the Pharaoh of all times, of our time, the American President. Allah will drown America in our seas, in our skies, in our land. America will drown and all the oppressors will drown. Oh, people of Palestine, Oh, people of Iraq. The Crusader, Zionist America has started an attack against our Iraq, the Iraq of Islam and Arabism, the Iraq of civilization and history. It opened a Crusader Zionist war against Iraq. If Iraq is defeated, if the nation [of Islam] is defeated in Iraq - this will be our last breath of life... This is a Zionist Crusader war. It is not I who say this, it was the little Pharaoh [Bush] who announced it when he stated that this was a Crusader attack… You all know about the slap in the face which Iraq gave America at the time of the first invasion, when Iraq gave a knock out [punch] to America, the result of which was that Pharaoh the father [George Bush, Sr.] lost the presidency. This is a mark of shame on this family and therefore Pharaoh the son returned to power in order to take revenge. The only way to remove the shame is to topple down the Iraqi regime… This is also a religious war. What is the connection between Iraq and the Crusaders' wars? Just as Palestine is sacred so is also the land of Iraq, because the Prophet said so… America will be destroyed, Allah willing, and Palestine, Iraq, and the Middle East will become a cemetery for oppressors…" [7]
Shahids & the Rewards of Martyrdom
Sermons often call for Palestinians to become martyrs, or Shahids. Within the sermons, it is told that those who become a Shahid feel no pain and receive rewards in the afterlife, such as 72 black-eyed virgins. Family members of the Shahids are also praised in sermons. As Sheikh Isma'il Aal Radhwan stated, "[Even when] a martyr's organs are being chopped off, and he turns into torn organs that spread all over, in order to meet Allah, Muhammad, and his friends, it would not be [considered] a loss… This is the honor given to our martyrs, the martyrs of the Islamic nation, who were killed due to their loyalty to Allah... The sacrifice of convoys of martyrs [will continue] until Allah grants us victory very soon. The willingness for sacrifice and for death we see amongst those who were cast by Allah into a war with the Jews, should not come at all as a surprise… Oh believing brothers, we do not feel a loss... The martyr, if he meets Allah, is forgiven with the first drop of blood; he is saved from the torments of the grave; he sees his place in Paradise; he is saved from the Great Horror [of the day of judgment]; he is given 72 black-eyed women; he vouches for 70 of his family to be accepted to Paradise; he is crowned with the Crown of glory, whose precious stone is better than all of this world and what is in it…" [8]
The virtues of martyrdom are the subject of many of Sheikh Ibrahim Mudeiris's sermons: "Blessings to those who wage [Jihad] with their body… Blessings to our Shahids who sacrifice their souls easily for the sake of Allah… B lessings to the happy Shahids within the entrails of the green bird in Paradise. Blessings to the Shahids whose sins are forgiven with the first drop of their blood." [9] On another occasion, he stated, "Know that a Shahid [who falls] on this land is considered more than one Shahid someplace else. Yes, there are traditions that a Shahid here [in Jerusalem] is worth 70 Shahids in a place other than this good land…" [10]
Regarding the rewards of the martyrs, Sheikh Mudeiris stated in a sermon on May 2, 2003: "No preacher or sermonizer has right to begin his words without blessing all our Shahids… The Jews cannot influence the actions of our youth and children. But for you, Allah has chosen Shahada… Allah had honored our youth… by choosing you and by choosing from among you the Shahids… Is the Shahid dead like other dead, which requires us to offer condolences and mourn with his family, friend and relatives? Or is the Shahid enjoying virtues and the ability to perform miracles, which gives us the right to congratulate the Shahid and his family?... We have the right to congratulate the Shahids' families, and not extend condolences and sorrow of our Shahids, if they [sacrifice themselves] to Allah… But the Shahid is spared the agony of death. This is one of the miracles of the Shahid. Is it not enough that the Shahid weds 72 black eyed [virgins]?... When the Shahid sees the grace of martyrdom and death for the sake of Allah he will wish to return to this world to be killed in it ten times… The Shahid - is it enough for him that he does not feel the blow of the sword or the pain of death or of the killing rather, as one of you feels a [wasp] sting…" [11]
Palestinian Mufti Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri also praises martyrdom in his sermons: "We tell them: in as much as you love life - the Muslim loves death and martyrdom. There is a great difference between he who loves the hereafter and he who loves this world. The Muslim loves death and [strives for] martyrdom. He does not fear the oppression of the arrogant or the weapons of the blood-letters. The blessed and sacred soil of Palestine has vomited all the invaders and all the colonialists throughout history and it will soon vomit, with Allah's help, the [present] occupiers." [12]
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