Occupied Ramallah-PT

 The vast majority of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and across the Green Line (Israel) have strongly rejected calls by the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA) to denounce prominent Islamic scholar Sheikh Dr. Yousuf al-Qaradawi for speaking up against suspected collusion between Israel and the PA leadership against Hamas.

The PA ministry of Waqf and Islamic Affairs circulated a special anti-Qaradawi sermon to be read throughout masjids in the West Bank on Friday, 15 January. However, the vast bulk of imams refused to read the sermon, arguing that they would not say anything that went against their conscience. Palestinian sources said the imams were risking punishment or sacking at the hands of the Fatah-run ministry.

In the al-Khalil (Hebron) region, Ahmed (not his real name for security reasons) said he would never ever be a parrot for Israel’s and the CIA’s agents who are trying to undermine our religion in order to appease and please the United States and the Zionist regime.”

They want us to insult Sheikh Qaradawi. But we all know and the entire Muslim world knows that even Qaradawi’s shoes are purer and have more credibility than these people’s hands, faces, and hearts.

I would not even use Mahmoud Abbas and Sheikh Qaradawi in the same sentence. Abbas is a contemptible and shameful Zionist agent who has been collaborating and colluding with Israel against his own people as we saw in Gaza last year while Sheikh Qaradawi is a man unmatched in his dedication to Muslim causes, especially the Palestinian plight.

Hence it is beyond chutzpah to see these little men trying to besmirch the great Islamic leader’s image.”

In Ramallah worshipers forced the PA-appointed imam at one of the local masjids to disembark and leave after he started criticizing Sheikh Qaradawi for speaking up against the alleged PA collaboration with Israel, especially during last year’s blitzkrieg against the Gaza Strip.

Many of the worshipers left the masjid as PA security personnel stormed the premises to maintain calm and protect the PA-appointed imam.

In Nablus, similar incidents took place all over the city, with worshipers resorting to chanting Allahu Akbar (God is the most great) instead of listening to provocative sermons insulting Sheikh Qaradawi.

“The dogs keep barking while the caravan keeps moving,” said one imam from southern Hebron, without elaborating. The imam did not name Abbas or his Fatah party, but worshipers understood that he was referring to them.

If you hurl a stone at the barking dogs, they will keep barking, so the right thing to do is to go on and not pay attention to these contemptible creatures.”

Meanwhile, several commentators have lashed out at the PA for daring to offend a figure as highly respected throughout the Arab world as Sheikh Qaradawi.

Abdul Sattar Qassem, a professor of political science at the Najah University in Nablus, described those assaulting Sheikh Qaradawi as “little men, hoodlums, midgets and dirty tongues.”

“Sheikh Qaradawi is a banner of our Umma (worldwide Muslim community). He is a prominent religious scholar who combines vast religious knowledge, honesty and morality. He never flinched from defending the various causes of the Muslim Umma everywhere. He is a true Mujahed (fighter for truth and justice), but his Jihad is not with the sword, but with the word. He is an intellectual giant whose status and stature won’t be affected by these midgets.”

Qassem called those who dared attack Qaradawi “people bereft of basic morality and human decency.”

“As a Palestinian, I feel offended by these insults directed against one of the greatest Muslim scholars of our time. I believe the vast bulk of the Palestinian people resent and reject these insults outright. I strongly and unhesitatingly condemn these canards. As a Palestinian, I am proud of an Umma that sired a great luminary like Sheikh Qaradawi who does not hesitate and does not flinch from telling the truth without fearing hostile reactions. I apologize to Sheikh Qaradawi on behalf of the Palestinian people for what these ignoramuses are doing.”

Dr. Ibrahim Hamami, a London-based Palestinian intellectual and commentator also lambasted Fatah’s ignoramuses for insulting Sheikh Qaradawi.

“I do not know what crime the reverent Sheikh has committed by defending the Palestinian cause and denouncing those who collaborated with the Zionist entity against the Palestinian people. Was the Sheikh supposed to endorse the manifest treason of the PA regime against the people of Gaza? Was he supposed to tell Abbas and his cohorts and chorus that it was ‘Okay’ and fine to try to exonerate Israel of the horrible crimes it committed against the children of Gaza and the people of Gaza?”

Hamami described the PA Minister of Waqf, Mahmoud Habbash, as the ‘Sheikh of Satan.’

“This is a man who is trying to serve his master (PA Chairman Abbas) by attacking Sheikh Qaradawi for telling the truth and for exposing PA conspiracies and plots against the people of Gaza.”

A few weeks ago, Sheikh Qaradawi was quoted as saying, “Those proven to have colluded and collaborated with Israel against the Gaza Strip should be stoned to death in Mecca.”

Qaradawi did not mention Abbas or any other Palestinian official by name, but it was widely understood that he was alluding to the Ramallah-based PA leadership.

During the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, during which thousands of civilians were killed and maimed, it was reported consistently that certain PA officials were urging Israel to murder the leaders of Hamas and re-occupy the Gaza Strip in order to enable the American-backed Fatah regime in Ramallah to retake the coastal territory against the wishes of its citizens.

One report then alleged that one PA official even asked the Israeli army to murder Palestinian civilians en masse “because these people deserve to die for having voted for Hamas.”

Sheikh Qaradawi is considered one of the world’s leading Sunni Muslim scholars. He is reputed for his vast knowledge and moderate religious stance.

He is also known for his uncompromising position against the Israeli occupation of Palestine as well as the American/Western onslaught against the Muslim world, including the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Al-Qaradawi is widely detested by Israel and the Zionist lobby in Washington and has been repeatedly denied entry to some European countries for his support for armed Muslim resistance against foreign occupiers in such countries as Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Sheikh also consistently supported Palestinian martyrdom operations against Jewish oppressors, saying that a foreign military occupation was essentially an act of rape and that like any rape victim, the Palestinian people and all other victims of occupation and oppression were duty-bound to fight for freedom and justice.