Israel "will put the entire world into a furnace of fierce religious war, which will exterminate everything" threatens PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge
Headline: “Al-Habbash: The settlers’ calls to destroy the Dome of the Rock is a declaration of war”
“[PA] Supreme Shari’ah Judge of Palestine and [PA] President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations Mahmoud Al-Habbash said that the calls of extremist groups of settlers to destroy the Dome of the Rock at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and invade it at the end of this month [May 2022] are tantamount to a declaration of war against the Islamic world, a blow to the Islamic faith, and a blatant violation of international law (refers to a photoshopped image countering calls by leftist organizations to destroy a Jewish community; see note below -Ed.). He added that if these terrorists continue to target the Al-Aqsa Mosque it will ignite the region and the entire world.
In a statement he issued yesterday [May 18, 2022] in response to posts and calls issued yesterday by extremist Jewish groups on social media, with a picture on them of a bulldozer destroying the Dome of the Rock with the date May 28 [2022] – ‘The day of starting the Dome of the Rock’s destruction’ – he added that these calls constitute a blatant and insolent blow to the Jerusalem Noble Sanctuary (i.e., the Temple Mount)…
Al-Habbash emphasized that the Palestinian people will continue to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque and our Jerusalem, regardless of how heavy the sacrifices may be… He added that we will not show lowliness or retreat to the occupation state, but rather determination and resolution that will thwart its plans…
The supreme Shari’ah judge again warned that these kinds of calls will put the entire world into a furnace of fierce religious war, which will exterminate everything.”
The mention of calls to destroy the Dome of the Rock refers to an image that was photoshopped by Director of the Lehava anti-assimilation organization Benzi Gopshtein and posted to his Telegram account on May 17, 2022. The original image was uploaded by Israeli leftist organizations including Peace Now as part of a violent campaign to bus in activists and physically destroy the Jewish community at Homesh west of Nablus in the West Bank, which was previously evacuated in the 2005 Disengagement Plan, “with a bulldozer.” The image shows an excavator vehicle demolishing a structure with the following text: “May 28 [2022], we’re coming to dismantle the outpost in Homesh!”
In response, Gopshtein photoshopped the image by adding the Dome of the Rock as if it were being destroyed by the excavator vehicle and changing the text so that it reads: “May 28 [2022], we’re coming to dismantle the Dome of the Rock!” In an accompanying post on his Telegram account the same day, Gopshtein wrote: "There are things we need to learn from the left…”
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 PA and its leaders misrepresent all of the Temple Mount as an integral part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Therefore, they vilify any presence of Jews on the mount as an "invasion." It should be noted that Jews who visit the Temple Mount only enter some sections of the open areas, and do not enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of the Rock. Israeli police ban Jewish prayer at the Temple Mount because of threats of violence by Palestinians.