Abbas’ PA and Fatah endorse continued conflict at the Temple Mount
Abbas’ PA and Fatah endorse
continued conflict at the Temple Mount,
encouraging “Ribat”
- religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic -
claiming it is to “protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque”
Abbas to university students:
“We will continue to stand firm and carry out Ribat in Jerusalem and its surroundings until Judgement Day”
[Fatah Twitter account and Syrian Fatah Facebook page, Aug. 17, 2015]
PA calls on “the Palestinian people...
to stand as one protecting Jerusalem
and it’s Al-Aqsa [Mosque], to carry out Ribat in it,
and to come out against the plot to Judaize it”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 29, 2015]
Fatah: “We will defend [Al-Aqsa] to our last breath”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
Fatah: Need for “sacrifices” to “redeem” Al-Aqsa
to prevent Israel’s “Judaization”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
PA Mufti: Israeli “attack” on Palestinian holy places
and the Al-Aqsa Mosque
turns region into “a ticking bomb
and heralds an impending religious war”
Palestinians must “help [the Mosque]
and stand as a stable dam
against the plots being woven to harm its sanctity”
and the Al-Aqsa Mosque
turns region into “a ticking bomb
and heralds an impending religious war”
Palestinians must “help [the Mosque]
and stand as a stable dam
against the plots being woven to harm its sanctity”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs:
“The Israeli occupation’s goal
is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque...
establish the alleged Temple in its place...
and to incite a religious war”
[Official PA TV, July 26, 2015]
by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
During the summer, the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have repeatedly encouraged continued conflict on the Temple Mount, endorsing riots and calling for Palestinians to “protect” and “defend” the Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning of an impending “religious war.”
The PA promotes religious hatred and creates tension by repeating the libel that Israel is destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. The PA reiterates this false accusation as pretext and justification for the use of violence against Israelis and Jews who visit the Temple Mount. The PA and Fatah refer to any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount - what they refer to as “the Noble Sanctuary” - the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings - as an “assault,” an “attack,” and an “invasion.”
The following are examples of PA and Fatah officials urging Palestinians to come to Jerusalem and the Mosque to “carry out Ribat” - religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic - and to “protect” and “defend” it.
In July, PA Chairman Abbas wrote to new university students that Palestinians will continue to carry out Ribat “until Judgement Day,” suggesting that “victory” “might be here soon.” His Fatah movement published the letter on Twitter in August:
The PA promotes religious hatred and creates tension by repeating the libel that Israel is destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. The PA reiterates this false accusation as pretext and justification for the use of violence against Israelis and Jews who visit the Temple Mount. The PA and Fatah refer to any presence of Jews on the Temple Mount - what they refer to as “the Noble Sanctuary” - the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings - as an “assault,” an “attack,” and an “invasion.”
The following are examples of PA and Fatah officials urging Palestinians to come to Jerusalem and the Mosque to “carry out Ribat” - religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic - and to “protect” and “defend” it.
In July, PA Chairman Abbas wrote to new university students that Palestinians will continue to carry out Ribat “until Judgement Day,” suggesting that “victory” “might be here soon.” His Fatah movement published the letter on Twitter in August:
“In the name of Allah the Merciful and Compassionate,
‘And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good.’ (Quran, Sura 29:69, translation Sahih International)
Allah the Supreme spoke truth
We will continue to stand firm and carry out Ribat in Jerusalem and its surroundings until Judgement Day. Then the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah, and will say: ‘When is it [Allah’s victory]? It might be here soon.’
July 30, 2015”
[Fatah Twitter account and Syrian Fatah Facebook page, Aug. 17, 2015]
Last week, on the anniversary of an arson attack in the Al-Aqsa Mosque by a deranged Australian Christian in 1969 that the PA adamantly accuses Israel of planning, Fatah spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan urged Palestinians to continue carrying out Ribat “regardless of the cost”:
“Our resolute people will continue to carry outRibat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) in its homeland, and to protect the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] until Judgement Day, regardless of the cost.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 22, 2015]
Earlier in the summer, the PA government itself called on Palestinians “to protect” Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque and “carry our Ribat,” while warning that Israel’s “policy” would lead to “a religious war”:“The [PA] government warned that if the Israeli government continues its current policy regarding Jerusalem and its holy sites, this would definitely cause the entire region to go up in flames, and drag it into a religious war.
The government saluted its people standing firm, and the Ribat fighters (i.e., Murabitin, those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), who are protecting the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] with their chests and their hands, and called on the Palestinian people, with all its parts and its popular and official institutes, wherever it may be, to stand as one protecting Jerusalem and it’s Al-Aqsa [Mosque], to carry out Ribat in it, and to come out against the plot to Judaize it.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 29, 2015]
The PA Mufti used similar rhetoric promoting religious hatred when he stated that Israel’s “attack on Palestinian holy places” is turning the region into “a ticking bomb”: “PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein: ‘The continued attack on Palestinian holy places, and especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, turns the region into a ticking bomb and heralds an impending religious war... The continued aggression against the Mosque could lead to a massacre, as happened on previous occasions, and to results whose implications cannot be imagined.’ ... He [the Mufti] called on all Palestinians... to come to [the mosque]... to stand as a stable dam against the plots being woven to harm its sanctity.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida’is stated on PA TV that Israel’s goal is the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and building the alleged Temple, and that Israel wishes to “incite a religious war” in the Middle East:PA Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is: "The Israeli occupation’s goal is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque using rabbis and groups of extremist Jews, and to establish the alleged Temple in its place... Israel challenges and provokes the feelings of Arabs and Muslims. When Israel attacks the places holy to Islam and Christianity - and even trees, stones, or the dead are not safe from these attacks - it essentially wants to incite a religious war in the entire Middle East region. It strives for religious war, and it is the one adding fuel to the flames... I say to the patient and resolute Palestinian people, and to the people of Jerusalem who are protecting the holy places: Feel good about the honor [of carrying] Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic)."
[Official PA TV, July 26, 2015]
Click to viewPA Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash “warned of the repercussions of the invasion of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque” and accused Israel of “supporting terror and creating anarchy in the region by igniting a religious war that will harm everyone.” [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf stated that Fatah will “defend” the Al-Aqsa Mosque “to our last breath” and “warned of the inherent danger” of Israel’s plans and its intention to “take over” the mosque:
“Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf warned of the inherent danger of the plans of the Israeli occupation state, which are aimed against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and intended to take it over... He emphasized that the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is an integral part of the tenets of our faith and our basic national principles, and we will defend it to our last breath. Assaf stated... that Al-Aqsa is under unprecedented Israeli attack, as seen in the recurring daily invasions... [and] warned that the occupation government ‘s goal is to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque through these invasions, to impose Israeli sovereignty on it, and to divide it according to areas and times on the basis of the Zionist historic and religious claims regarding this holy place.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
Likewise, the Fatah movement expressed its support for those who carry out Ribat, stating that the Al-Aqsa Mosque needs to be “redeemed... through sacrifices” to prevent Israel’s “Judaization” of it, “no matter how many sacrifices it takes”:“The Fatah movement emphasized the Arab identity of Jerusalem and its holy places to Islam and Christianity, and [the need to] redeem the Al-Aqsa Mosque through sacrifices. This is in order to prevent the implementation of the [Israeli] plan to Judaize it, and to [have] the invading settlers take it over... Fatah saluted the Palestinian Murabitin’s (i.e., those who carry out Ribat, religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) resolve in the Al-Aqsa Mosque...It stressed that the movement’s fighters, together with the Palestinian people, are ready to take action against the [Israeli] plot and to protect the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and all the holy places in Jerusalem - no matter how many sacrifices it takes.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
These calls for “protecting” the Al-Aqsa Mosque are identical to the rhetoric used by PA officials in the last months of 2014, during which Palestinians murdered 11 Israelis using guns, knives, and cars, and wounded dozens.Palestinian Media Watch documented similar incitement expressed by the PA Mufti, Abbas' Advisor on Religious Affairs and the PA Minister of Religious Affairs earlier this year.Assaf also praised the “Ribat fighters” who have thwarted Israel’s plan to “invade” the Mosque:
“For a while, Israel has been trying to turn these invasions into a regular event, and to some extent it has succeeded. However, it met with resounding failure [in its attempt] to defeat the Palestinian, Jerusalem, and Fatah movement Ribat fighters who stand firm and protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their bare chests.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
Fatah’s Secretary in Jerusalem Adnan Ghaith “stressed that the Fatah movement will not sit idly by in the face of the series of Israeli crimes in Jerusalem and its holy sites. He wondered: ‘If we do not act for the Al-Aqsa Mosque, for what will we act?’” [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 28, 2015]PA Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is also encouraged further riots and violence when he “called on anyone who can reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque to carry out Ribat in it, in order to deter the settlers from invading the Mosque.” [WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 28, 2015] When visiting Amman, Jordan, Ida’is “called on all Muslims in the world to act quickly to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to talk about Jerusalem and its importance in their Friday sermons, lectures, and conferences, to mention it specifically in prayers, and to support and aid its Ribat fighters.”
The PA minister also reiterated the PA’s claim that only Muslims have the right to the Mosque and the area surrounding it, thus disregarding the right of Jews to the Temple Mount:
“Ada’is stated that the Zionist plans to Judaize Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque will not be actualized since only Muslims have any right to the Mosque, including its plazas, (i.e., the Temple Mount) corridors, and all parts of it, and that Jerusalem will remain Islamic, and the occupation will not negate its identity, no matter what it does.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
PMW has documented other PA officials declaring that only Muslims have the right to the Temple Mount.The following are longer excerpts of the statements mentioned above:
“The Fatah movement emphasized the Arab identity of Jerusalem and its holy places to Islam and Christianity, and [the need to] redeem the Al-Aqsa Mosque through sacrifices. This is in order to prevent the implementation of the [Israeli] plan to Judaize it, and to [have] the invading settlers take it over. An announcement by the [Fatah] Information and Culture Commission today, Sunday [July 26, 2015] stated: ‘While Fatah declares a general call into action to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem from the plan of Judaization - under which the occupation state is using its extremist settlers as a spark that would increase tension and turn the conflict into a religious one - it reemphasizes that support of Arab Jerusalem and its holy places is support of Palestine and the Arab-Palestinian national identity, as well as support of the concepts of peace embodied by the holy places of Islam and Christianity in the holy city...
Fatah saluted the Palestinian Murabitin’s (i.e., those who carry out Ribat, religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) resolve in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and their defiance to the invasion of settlers into the Noble Sanctuary of Jerusalem. In addition, it praised the citizens’ resolve and their resistance to the armed soldiers of the occupation ... It stressed that the movement’s fighters, together with the Palestinian people, are ready to take action against the [Israeli] plot and to protect the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and all the holy places in Jerusalem - no matter how many sacrifices it takes.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
Headline: “Al-Habbash: ‘Jerusalem is the key to the solution and the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is not alone”
“Palestine’s Supreme Shari’ah Judge and President [Mahmoud Abbas’] Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash warned of the repercussions of the invasion of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque by Jewish extremist organizations, led by [Israeli] Minister of Settlements (i.e., Agriculture and Rural Development) Uri Ariel, and under protection of the occupation forces. [He noted that the occupation forces] attacked the worshippers who stopped the invasions, and that as a result, dozens of them were arrested and injured.
In his announcement today [Sunday, July 26, 2015], Al-Habbash warned the decision-makers in the occupation state not to take advantage of any Jewish extremist organizations’ actions against the holy city and holy places for the purpose of establishing facts on the ground that would lead to the division of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque [between Jews and Muslims] according to space and time. He demanded that the international institutions and legislative bodies take deterrent measures and impose sanctions on the state of Israel for supporting terror and creating anarchy in the region by igniting a religious war that will harm everyone.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
“PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein: ‘The continued attack on Palestinian holy places, and especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, turns the region into a ticking bomb and heralds an impending religious war...
The continued aggression against the [Al-Aqsa] Mosque could lead to a massacre, as happened on previous occasions, and to results whose implications cannot be imagined.’ He held the occupation authorities fully responsible...
He [PA Mufti Muhammad Hussein ] called on all Palestinians who are able to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque to come to it more during the week in order to help it and to stand as a stable dam against the plots being woven to harm its sanctity.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 26, 2015]
PA Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is on PA TV program Today's Topic: "The Israeli occupation’s goal is to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque using rabbis and groups of extremist Jews, and to establish the alleged Temple in its place... Israel challenges and provokes the feelings of Arabs and Muslims. When Israel attacks the places holy to Islam and Christianity - and even trees, stones, or the dead are not safe from these attacks - it essentially wants to incite a religious war in the entire Middle East region. It strives for religious war, and it is the one adding fuel to the flames. As everyone knows, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a matter that involves the faith of a billion Muslims everywhere. I say to the patient and resolute Palestinian people, and to the people of Jerusalem who are protecting the holy places: Feel good about the honor [of carrying] Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic)." The tradition of the Prophet is enough for you: ‘Groups of people from among my faithful will remain faithful and will overcome their enemies...’ The crowds that flocked to the Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan are a message to the Israeli occupation that we will sacrifice everything we have to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the holy city. If the Israeli occupation deludes itself and imagines that what happened (i.e., the physical division and division according to time) in the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) will happen at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, it is not possible. The scream of the Palestinian woman, and the screams of children on the Al-Aqsa Mosque plaza truly express that this child will sacrifice himself to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to protect a part of his faith and the holy city which Allah sanctified.’”
[Official PA TV, July 26, 2015]
Headline: “Assaf: ‘The Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is part of the tenets of our faith and our basic principles, and we will defend it to our last breath.’”Fatah spokesman Ahmad Assaf warned of the inherent danger of the plans of the Israeli occupation state, which are aimed against the Al-Aqsa Mosque and intended to take it over, in the shadow of Arab countries’ preoccupation with their internal affairs. He emphasized that the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] is an integral part of the tenets of our faith and our basic national principles, and we will defend it to our last breath.
Assaf stated in an interview with Radio Mawtiny (i.e., the radio station of the Fatah Information and Culture commission) today [July 27, 2015], Monday, that Al-Aqsa is under unprecedented Israeli attack, as seen in the recurring daily invasions, as part of the policy of exchanging roles - sometimes [by] the Israeli occupation forces, and sometimes the settlers under the protection of the occupation army. Assaf warned that the occupation government ‘s goal is to take over the Al-Aqsa Mosque through these invasions, to impose Israeli sovereignty on it, and to divide it according to areas and times on the basis of the Zionist historic and religious claims regarding this holy place...
Assaf expressed sorrow regarding the Arab and Islamic silence, and stated: ‘A number of years ago, invasion of the Al-Aqsa Mosque was an unusual event that would shock the Arab countries and the world. For a while, Israel has been trying to turn these invasions into a regular event, and to some extent it has succeeded. However, it met with resounding failure [in its attempt] to defeat the Palestinian, Jerusalem, and Fatah movement Ribat fighters (Murabitin - those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic) who stand firm and protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque with their bare chests. In addition, he noted that President [Mahmoud] Abbas is acting on all levels and calling all the international bodies in order to stop and foil the plans of the occupation government.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
“During his meeting with the preacher and great scholar and Islamic thinker Dr. Muhammad Rateb Al-Nablusi in Amman, Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida’is called on all Muslims in the world to act quickly to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to talk about Jerusalem and its importance in their Friday sermons, lectures, and conferences, to mention it specifically in prayers, and to support and aid its Ribat fighters (i.e., Murabitin - those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic).
Ida’is stressed that all the Muslims in the world who are able to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque should do so, in order to come to its aid and stand as a steadfast dam against the plots being woven against it and to foil the attempts of the extremists to harm its sanctity. Likewise, he emphasized that it’s necessary to act to expose the activities of the extremist occupation through the Arab media, in order to place the Palestinian issue and the Al-Aqsa Mosque high on the list of priorities of Arab and Islamic countries.
Ada’is stated that the Zionist plans to Judaize Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque will not be actualized since only Muslims have any right to the Mosque, including its plazas, (i.e., the Temple Mount) corridors, and all parts of it, and that Jerusalem will remain Islamic, and the occupation will not negate its identity, no matter what it does.”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 27, 2015]
“[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida'is stated that the increased Arabic and Islamic presence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque stops the plans of the occupation government and the settlers at the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and in the holy city, and prevent their implementation.
In an interview to the Mawtiny radio station today, Tuesday [July 28, 2015], Ida’is called on anyone who can reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque to carry out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) in it, in order to deter the settlers from invading the mosque.
He warned of the international silence in the face of the occupation’s crimes in Jerusalem, stating: ‘The international silence gives Israel a green light to commit its crimes against our people. Every day it adds a new crime to its list, and aspires to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque according to areas and times.’”
[WAFA (the official Palestinian news agency), July 28, 2015]
Headline: “Fatah Secretary in Jerusalem: ‘We will not sit idly by in the face of the occupation’s crimes at the Al-Aqsa [Mosque].’”
“Fatah Secretary in Jerusalem Adnan Ghaith, said that the invasions, attacks, destruction, and abuse taking place at the Al-Aqsa Mosque prove the criminal intent of the occupation government...
Adnan Ghaith stressed that the Fatah movement will not sit idly by in the face of the series of Israeli crimes in Jerusalem and its holy sites. He wondered: ‘If we do not act for the Al-Aqsa Mosque, for what will we act?’
He added that ‘the time has come to rein in this occupation with its evil intentions toward the Al-Aqsa Mosque,’ and called on the international community to obligate the occupation state [Israel] to cease its series of crimes against Jerusalem."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 28, 2015]
“During the [PA] government meeting yesterday [July 28, 2015]... it stressed that the daily attacks against the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] and the worshipers are part of the crazed attack being led by the Israeli right and the settlers, under the Israeli government and its army’s protection and in flagrant complicity with them, in order to impose new facts on the ground. The [PA] government warned that if the Israeli government continues its current policy regarding Jerusalem and its holy sites, this would definitely cause the entire region to go up in flames, and drag it into a religious war.
The government saluted its people standing firm, and the Ribat fighters (i.e., Murabitin, those carrying out Ribat, religious conflict/war to protect land claimed to be Islamic), who are protecting the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] with their chests and their hands, and called on the Palestinian people, with all its parts and its popular and official institutes, wherever it may be, to stand as one protecting Jerusalem and it’s Al-Aqsa [Mosque], to carry out Ribat in it, and to come out against the plot to Judaize it.”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 29, 2015]
Headline: “The occupation continues its efforts to Judaize the Al-Aqsa [Mosque], and calls for a popular uprising in support of the Mosque”
“Chairman of the [independent organization] the Supreme Muslim Council in Jerusalem Ikrima Sabri stated: ‘The Islamic public throughout the world remembers the burning of the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] on Thursday morning, Aug. 21, 1969, committed by the criminal Michael Denis Rohan, and planned by the despicable Israeli occupation...’
Regarding this, Fatah’s Spokesman in Jerusalem Raafat Alayan stated: ‘Our resolute people will continue to carry out Ribat (i.e., religious conflict/war over land claimed to be Islamic) in its homeland, and to protect the Al-Aqsa [Mosque] until Judgement Day, regardless of the cost.’”
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 22, 2015]
Michael Denis William Rohan - deranged Australian Christian who set fire to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969. For years, the Palestinian Authority has falsely accused Israel of setting the fire.The Supreme Muslim Council was the institution in charge of Muslim affairs during the British Mandate. It was reestablished in 1967. The Council is not an institution under the PA but an independent organization.