Abbas concluded: “Al-Aqsa is ours and so is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre . . . They [the Israelis] have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet.” In Gaza, the head of koranic studies at the Islamic University of Gaza Dr Subhi Al-Yaziji declared: “The Jews of Palestine are fair game today — even the women.” These sentiments rated barely a mention in the British press, even though such racism is routine from senior Palestinian Authority members. By contrast, had Netanyahu said “We don’t want any filthy Arab feet on Jewish land” there would — rightly — have been a global outcry.
Two weeks later came the start of the “knife intifada” — the wave of cold-blooded stabbings, car-rammings and shootings of mostly unarmed civilians, including women, by mostly young Palestinian men, and many of them close to Al-Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount. The attacks mirror the Jerusalem knife attacks on Jews by Arabs in 1920, also influenced by “statements of hatred and incitement against the Jews”, according to Israel’s official memorial to murdered Jews.
To the PA Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, the morning after two Israeli civilians were stabbed to death in October was “fragranced by the blood of the Martyrs”, according to her Facebook page. Another PA leader implied he considered the stabbings to be legitimate self-defence. Abbas has refrained from condemning them outright.
Twice more did Netanyahu repeat that the status quo of the Al-Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount would not change. He also reprimanded any minister who said it should change and he banned politicians from visiting the site. He has also agreed to a Jordanian proposal to install 24-hour cameras to prove to Palestinians that the government has no intention of changing the status quo.
Whatever else may be said about Netanyahu he is not stupid. Like all his predecessors, he understands that to change the status of Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount would be seen as an act of incendiary provocation on a regional, if not global, scale. As the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of MI5, has said, it would have “implications for the Palestinians and for Muslims everywhere in the world”. That is why Shin Bet actively monitors Jewish extremists who want to blow up Al-Aqsa, and why the Netanyahu government has sought to restore calm.
So why, in the midst of this religiously inflamed bloodshed, and despite Netanyahu’s unequivocal assurances, did Mr Qadir add to the anger of British Muslims here by tweeting a picture of an Orthodox rabbi with the caption: “This is Sick:- Killing Palestinian resistance a ‘religious duty.’”?
His tweet highlighted a report of the Chief Rabbi of the ancient Israeli town of Safed, Benzion Mutzafi, who said no mercy should be shown to Palestinian stabbers once cornered. The rabbi said it was a “religious duty” that they should be killed. Another right-wing rabbi said, “Hold his head down to the ground and hit him until his last breath.” Other rabbis, however, have emphasised that mercy should be shown. One thing, however, is surely clear: anyone who suddenly plunges a knife into the person next to them is a murderer. What was “sick” was to suggest that stabbers should be seen as “resistance fighters”.
Two weeks later came the start of the “knife intifada” — the wave of cold-blooded stabbings, car-rammings and shootings of mostly unarmed civilians, including women, by mostly young Palestinian men, and many of them close to Al-Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount. The attacks mirror the Jerusalem knife attacks on Jews by Arabs in 1920, also influenced by “statements of hatred and incitement against the Jews”, according to Israel’s official memorial to murdered Jews.
To the PA Governor of Ramallah and El-Bireh, the morning after two Israeli civilians were stabbed to death in October was “fragranced by the blood of the Martyrs”, according to her Facebook page. Another PA leader implied he considered the stabbings to be legitimate self-defence. Abbas has refrained from condemning them outright.
Twice more did Netanyahu repeat that the status quo of the Al-Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount would not change. He also reprimanded any minister who said it should change and he banned politicians from visiting the site. He has also agreed to a Jordanian proposal to install 24-hour cameras to prove to Palestinians that the government has no intention of changing the status quo.
Whatever else may be said about Netanyahu he is not stupid. Like all his predecessors, he understands that to change the status of Haram-al-Sharif/Temple Mount would be seen as an act of incendiary provocation on a regional, if not global, scale. As the head of Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of MI5, has said, it would have “implications for the Palestinians and for Muslims everywhere in the world”. That is why Shin Bet actively monitors Jewish extremists who want to blow up Al-Aqsa, and why the Netanyahu government has sought to restore calm.
So why, in the midst of this religiously inflamed bloodshed, and despite Netanyahu’s unequivocal assurances, did Mr Qadir add to the anger of British Muslims here by tweeting a picture of an Orthodox rabbi with the caption: “This is Sick:- Killing Palestinian resistance a ‘religious duty.’”?
His tweet highlighted a report of the Chief Rabbi of the ancient Israeli town of Safed, Benzion Mutzafi, who said no mercy should be shown to Palestinian stabbers once cornered. The rabbi said it was a “religious duty” that they should be killed. Another right-wing rabbi said, “Hold his head down to the ground and hit him until his last breath.” Other rabbis, however, have emphasised that mercy should be shown. One thing, however, is surely clear: anyone who suddenly plunges a knife into the person next to them is a murderer. What was “sick” was to suggest that stabbers should be seen as “resistance fighters”.
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