Fatah supports Islamic edict
prohibiting land sales to "enemies"
- Those who sell land to "the occupation" are "the occupation's contemptible agents" and "bats of the night"
- PA's Fatwa Council: The land is "Islamic property," whoever sells it "has sold his soul to the devil," and "must be fought against at all levels"
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
Abbas' Fatah Movement endorses the PA's fatwa, or religious edict, prohibiting the transfer or selling of land to Israelis/Jews and encourages Palestinians not to violate it.
Fatah has announced that selling land to Israelis/Jews constitutes "high treason against the religion, the homeland, and the people." Thereby the movement repeats the PA Mufti's ban on selling land documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Fatah, which is supposedly a secular movement, also used religious language, warning that violating this prohibition would even have implications after death, in "the world to come":
"The Fatah Movement emphasized that the sale of properties and lands to the occupation or their illegal transfer to dubious sources constitutes high treason against the religion, the homeland, and the people, and that 'whoever does this decrees upon himself shame and disgrace in this world and in the world to come.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 14, 2018]
A Fatah official went even further, stating that "the occupation's contemptible agents" who sell or transfer land to Israelis/Jews are "bats of the night" and the opposite of those Palestinians "who are sacrificing their lives for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque":
"Fatah Revolutionary Council member and [Fatah] Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi said: 'There are those who are sacrificing their lives for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in order to defend its status and its Arabness, and on the other hand there are bats of the night - the occupation's contemptible agents - who sell their conscience and their religion and betray Jerusalem for money, which will turn into a curse on their heads.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 14, 2018]
Earlier this month, the PA's Fatwa Council again emphasized this prohibition on selling land to "the Israeli occupation" - also referred to as "the enemies" - and stressed that the land is considered "Islamic property":
"The Council emphasized in its 168th meeting, led by [PA] Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and [Palestinian] Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, that Palestine is kharaj (i.e., taxable land in Islam) and waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) land, whose lands and properties it, according to religious law, is forbidden to sell or to facilitate the transfer of ownership over to enemies. This is because from a religious legal standpoint it is considered Islamic public property and not personal private property according to the fatwas that have been published by the religious legal scholars of Palestine and the Islamic world."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 12, 2018]
The council noted that anyone violating this ban has "sold his soul to the devil" and "must be fought against at all levels":
"The Council added that anyone who cooperates with this crime conspires against the Palestinian land, cause, and people, has sold his soul to the devil, must be fought against at all levels, and his family must renounce him."
In 2014, PA Chairman Abbas amended PA law and "instituted life imprisonment with forced labor for the clandestine transfer, leasing or selling of lands to a hostile country or its citizens."
The following are longer excerpts of the statements against selling land to Israelis/Jews:
Headline: "The [PA] Fatwa Council reemphasized: Handing real estate and lands over to the occupation constitutes a religious prohibition"
"The Palestinian Supreme Fatwa Council reemphasized the fatwa (i.e., Islamic legal ruling) that prohibits handing real estate and lands in Jerusalem or any other Palestinian land over to the Israeli occupation.
The Council emphasized in its 168th meeting, led by [PA] Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and [Palestinian] Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, that Palestine
is kharaj (i.e., taxable land in Islam) and waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) land, whose lands and properties it, according to religious law, is forbidden to sell or to facilitate the transfer of ownership over to enemies. This is because from a religious legal standpoint it is considered Islamic public property and not personal private property according to the fatwas that have been published by the religious legal scholars of Palestine and the Islamic world.
The Council said that the sale, handing over, or facilitation of the transfer of ownership to the occupation through mercenary mediators constitutes high treason against the religion, homeland, and ethics. It added that anyone who cooperates with this crime conspires against the Palestinian land, cause, and people, has sold his soul to the devil, must be fought against at all levels, and his family must renounce him after the [PA] Security Forces have taken measures against him. This is so that it will constitute a lesson for anyone who thinks about relinquishing any bit of this blessed land."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 12, 2018]
Headline: "Fatah: An illegal transfer or sale of properties and lands to the occupation is treason against the religion and homeland"
"The Fatah Movement emphasized that the sale of properties and lands to the occupation or their illegal transfer to dubious sources constitutes high treason against the religion, the homeland, and the people, and that 'whoever does this decrees upon himself shame and disgrace in this world and in the world to come.'
Fatah Revolutionary Council member and [Fatah] Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi said: 'There are those who are sacrificing their lives for Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and in order to defend its status and its Arabness, and on the other hand there are bats of the night - the occupation's contemptible agents - who sell their conscience and their religion and betray Jerusalem for money, which will turn into a curse on their heads.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 14, 2018]
