“Resistance” terror is an internationally guaranteed “legitimate right,” claims Abbas’ advisor
Headline: “Al-Habbash briefs a group of members of the press and thinkers in Belgium regarding the occupation’s violations against the Palestinian people”
“Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash briefed a group of members of the press, thinkers, and influencers in Belgium on the occupation state’s violations against the Palestinian people and its sites that are holy to Islam and Christianity, especially in Jerusalem.
During the meeting, which took place via [the online video conferencing application] Zoom, Al-Habbash said that the world must understand the true historical roots of the tragedy of the Palestinian people, which has been suffering from occupation and injustice for more than 100 years before the eyes of the silent world. He added that understanding the roots of the Palestinian cause is the basis for a justice and comprehensive resolution that will achieve long-awaited peace.
Al-Habbash said that the Israeli occupation has committed and is continuing to commit ethnic cleansing and organized state terror against the Palestinian people, through its war against the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian territories. As proof of this, he brought up the actions of the Israeli occupation and settlers in the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan (refers to evacuation notices served to Arab families illegally living in Jewish owned properties; see note below -Ed.)…
Al-Habbash noted that during its latest aggression against the Gaza Strip (refers to Israeli defensive operation in response to Hamas rocket barrages on Israeli cities; see note below -Ed.), the occupation state destroyed whole families and erased them from the population registry, and it also destroyed towers and residential apartments. He wondered whether the Palestinian people could sit idly by in light of this aggression, and added that resistance to occupation is a legitimate right guaranteed by all the international agreements and conventions.”
Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice. In August 2019 PA Chairman Abbas dismissed all his advisors by Presidential decree. It is unclear what their status is today.
The Sheikh Jarrah protests – Israeli courts have ruled that four Palestinian families living in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Jerusalem are to be evicted because they are living illegally in properties owned by Jews who were expelled in the 1948 Israeli War of Independence. The Palestinian residents were offered to stay if they would pay rent, but they refused and instead appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court. In April 2021 the planned eviction led to clashes between Palestinian residents and Israeli police, which continued into May and served as one of the pretexts for further violent rioting during the Fatah/Hamas Riot and Rocket War 2021. A hearing scheduled by the Supreme Court for May 10, 2021, was postponed following intensified Palestinian riots and unrest both in Sheikh Jarrah and in East Jerusalem in general.