Recent Anti-American Sermons by Palestinian Authority Preachers

In the last few weeks the Friday sermons at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and at the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Mosque in Gaza by preachers on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority have included incitement against the United States. The Palestinian preachers likened American activities in Iraq to the deeds of the Mongols, claimed that the U.S. is conducting a Crusade against Islam and Muslims, and that it is also trying to disseminate a forged Koran. The following are excerpts from the sermons:

'Satan's Minions are Planning to Replace the Holy Koran'

On December 3, 2004, Sheikh Ikrimeh Sabri, 'Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian lands' and the senior religious authority in the PA, said:

"… This mad Crusade is not merely a war against the Muslims. It is a campaign of hatred currently [being waged] against the great Islamic religion. [This campaign] is growing in intensity with the aim of distorting the character of Islam, and we have already warned about the dangers of this new Crusade two years ago. A book titled ' Al-Furqan Al-Haqq ' ( The True Furqan ) [1] has recently been published in the U.S., in Arabic and in English. It was distributed to bookstores in the U.S. and Europe, as well as over the Internet, and found its way to many foreign schools in Arab countries.

"Unfortunately, we have not heard any reaction from the Arab and Muslim regimes; it is as though this does not interest them. This forged book, which was named ' The True Koran,' is not the Koran, nor is it the truth. Its aim is to cast doubt on the Holy Koran and on Muslim law and to drive the Muslims away from their religion. What is more, Satan's minions are plotting to replace the Holy Koran with this book… The book is the embodiment of a war of cultures and an ideological invasion against Islam and against the Muslims in a manner that is unambiguous, abrasive, and spiteful, in a desperate attempt to chase [the Muslims] away from the Holy Koran and to draw them away from their religion.

"Muslims! Nation of the Koran! Satan's minions, who prepared ' The True Koran,' planned to declare a new Crusade against Islam and against the Muslims, [which will be waged] through the employment of all manner of the harshest repression – political, economic, and military – against Muslims who stand firm in their faith and are faithful to their homelands.

"The infidel and arrogant United States will attempt over the next three years to weaken the greater Middle East by emptying the Arab region of all military and economic power and by changing the education systems. At the same time, [it will] strengthen Israel, militarily and economically, and will give it a free hand against the Arab countries. The '[Greater] Middle East' plan also includes the establishment of American media outlets and TV channels in Arabic throughout the region in order to force the Muslims to abandon the Holy Koran and to adopt the forged book, ' The True Koran.'" [2]

'How Similar Is Today to Yesterday, when Palestine Fell to the Crusaders and Baghdad to the Mongols'

The Palestinian preacher Hayyan Al-Idrisi said in a Friday sermon at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, on December 10, 2004:

"Iraq and Baghdad are being subjected to a savage attack by the most arrogant, cruelest, and strongest country in the world today – the U.S. They acted like the Mongols – they burned everything they came across, destroyed sown fields, destroyed houses with people inside them, murdered children and men, and opened deadly fire on citizens…

"How similar is today to yesterday, when Palestine fell to the Crusaders and Baghdad to the Tartars [i.e., the Mongols]… Today the Arab countries are divided, the [various] governments are far apart, and are based on oppression and corruption and make use of a band of hypocrites who love falsehood and support corruption. These are virulent regimes that revile, hate, and oppress one another. These regimes are impudent with friends and allies. These are regimes that collaborate with the enemy and with foreign peoples. They have given up their rights, [and then ask their enemies to arbitrate, and ask for mercy from those who humiliated them and made them roll in the dust.

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"The sad thing is that the Arab nation knows that the U.S. did not invade Iraq in order to liberate its people from an oppressive regime. The history [of the U.S.] proves that it has supported, and still supports, dictators and corrupt regimes in the Third World. Our governments and peoples know that the U.S. came in order to capture the oil resources and to help Israel obliterate whatever was left of the national spirit that called for the liberation of Arab lands from the occupiers. It also came in order to strengthen the power bases that support it and to intimidate countries that do not fall in line with it. The U.S. came under the pretext that it is fighting evil and spreading democracy and freedom, but everyone knows that the U.S. heads the list of evildoers in the world. There is no place left against whose citizens the U.S. has not fought, and it has already murdered millions. It declares that it is ceaselessly fighting terrorism, but it is the U.S. that is generating terrorism. This is state terrorism, which is far worse than any other terrorism…" [3]

'The U.S. Made Good on Its Threats, Conquered Iraq, Stole Its Treasures, Murdered Its People, and Tore Its Unity Asunder'

The Palestinian preacher Yusef Abu Sneina said, in a Friday sermon at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, on December 17, 2004, that:

"… The media recently reported that the U.S. intends to invade Iran… Iran is standing alone against the aggressive policies of the U.S., since the [Arab] rulers are looking out for their personal interests and not for the future of the Islamic peoples. The U.S. pronounced Iran, Iraq, and North Korea to be the axis of evil. It made good on its threats, conquered Iraq, stole its treasures, murdered its people, and tore its unity asunder… Iran must be strong and present hard-line positions, and must not give in to American hegemony, for if Iran grows weak it will become easy prey." [4]

'We Have a Huge Blood Feud to Avenge with the British Government and People, Which We Will Not Forgive or Forget'

In a Friday sermon broadcast on December 17, 2004, by PA TV from the Sheik Ijlin Mosque in Gaza, PA preacher Ibrahim Mudeiris said:

"Oh Muslims, the enemies of Islam are fighting us, our morality, our faith, our religion, our economics, our holy places, and our rights. Their tyranny does not prevent them from declaring their hostility towards Islam and the Muslims.

"Various articles have been published in the press about the declarations of many high-ranking enemies of Islam and enemies of this [Muslim] nation, who are planning how to eradicate Islam. One of them said: 'Islam can be eradicated only if the four [following things] are eradicated: The Koran, Al-Azhar, Friday, and the Hajj'… Why are they fighting the Koran? Because the Koran is the law of this nation and the source of its strength and glory. Why [are they fighting] Al-Azhar? Because it is the source of inspiration and knowledge, and it provides education to the Muslims and produces religious scholars.

"In a report of a U.S. committee which appeared a few months ago … there is [a part] relating to war against Egypt. They fought the existence of the noble Al-Azhar, and the existence of the Mufti of Al-Azhar. Why is there a mufti in Egypt? Why does Al-Azhar have a sheikh? One is enough, that's [what was written] in the report… They are fighting the Friday, which is an opportunity for Muslims to convene, because they don't want Muslims to have a banner calling for Muslim unity [or for Muslims to have a chance] to gather, even in mosques.

"As for the Hajj, why do the enemies of Islam fight the Hajj and view it as an enemy? Because the Hajj is the greatest Islamic gathering on earth. [People] heed it not according to instructions from the U.S. and the West and not according to instructions from the Zionists, but according to the instructions of Allah, the Lord of Heaven and Earth." [5]

'The Jews are a Cancer Spreading in the Arab and Muslim Nations'

In a sermon at the Sheikh Ijlin Mosque in Gaza on January 7, 2005, Sheikh Mudeiris said:

"The Jews are a cancer spreading in the body of the Arab nation and the Islamic nation, a cancer that has spread and reached the Arab institutions, the villages and the refugee camps. It has reached Arab and Islamic cities, where [they] make investments. This is an economic invasion. [They] are investing in South-East Asian countries which were destroyed as a result of corruption and defacement by the Jews and the Americans…

"The U.S. calls for liberty and democracy so much that we hate the word 'democracy.' We hate the word 'democracy' because it provides legitimacy to our torture and abuse… The honor of our brothers and sisters is being violated, the honor of women and youth is being violated, they are being tortured with electrical shocks and dogs. Entire villages have been destroyed, with all their residents, in the name of democracy and liberty. What the people of the Jahiliyya [6] did was much less severe than what is being done in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Muslim countries…" [7]