Preacher: US hospital in Gaza meant to spy on and attack Palestinians

Official PA TV, Friday sermon by an unidentified preacher at a Ramallah mosque

The preacher tells an allegorical story about people on a ship, a group of whom are drilling a hole in its bottom, and compares the “homeland” to the ship –Ed.

Unidentified preacher: “This leads us to talking about the American hospital on Palestinian land.

This is hypocrisy: On the one hand you besiege the Palestinian people, and on the other hand you claim to be humanitarian.

You stop the aid that was meant for our hospitals in occupied Jerusalem and claim that you will take care of people in another area. This, even if externally it is humanitarianism, internally it is complete corruption, complete crime…

And they say that this [hospital] does not belong to the US government, but rather to [American] civilian organizations.

And we say to them, whether it is America or organizations of the American civil society, it is all under the guidance of America. Honorable brothers, they will not be able to humiliate our people… These behaviors, like [establishing] the American hospital in the territory of the Gaza Strip – it is like making a hole in the ship. This act by the American administration is [tantamount to] making a hole in the ship of Palestine, making a hole in the Palestinian national unity, making a hole in all of the international conventions and norms.

And the end of this hospital will be calamity.

I have looked for and monitored the purposes of the hospital and let me update you on this and prove that it is as far as possible from humanitarian. This hospital will only be open four days a week – how will it be a hospital? This hospital will give treatment through horseback riding – Is this a hospital? ... We do not need these actions, which destroy all of the attempts to return the unity to our people. Every time that our people nears realizing another step forward, some action comes from the occupation, or from the occupation’s helpers, or from the American administration to renew the siege on our people…

Is this humanitarian? The American hospital is unacceptable, at all and in principle, it is occupation upon occupation… It has two gates; a gate to the Gaza Strip and a gate to the occupation. Where will our control of this hospital be? This is an advance post to strike our people, spy on our people, and desecrate the sanctity of our people in the Gaza Strip and everywhere…

The [Hamas-Fatah] rift is a disease and it will pass… and the brothers will return to themselves and there will be a reconciliation, Allah willing, because we are all Muslims and believe in the one God, and we fear for our state and our national interest. And we must not give the enemies of the religion and the enemies of the homeland an opportunity. The [PA] government deserves thanks for deciding at its last meeting to operate the Turkish hospital as a response to this American step. There is a Turkish hospital in the Gaza Strip… and the Palestinian government has decided to operate this hospital with all of its staffs and equipment, Allah willing. Our people in the Gaza Strip is part of us.”