In an article in the daily Filastin, which is close to Hamas, Palestinian journalist Ghassan Al-Shami claimed that, because of their deceptiveness, cunning, and killing of prophets, the Jews have been a hated nation from time immemorial. He said the Jews were the cause behind fitna (internal strife) among Muslims, and that throughout history, they had plotted to destroy every country they had inhabited – even those which had welcomed them – and that this explained their expulsion from many of these countries.
The following are excerpts:[1]
Ghassan Al-Shami[2]
"The Jews have been a hated nation since the earliest generations, when [they were known as] 'the People of Israel', and [since] they killed the prophets and broke their promise to their own prophet, Moses, and did not help him... The noble Koran is the best testimony to this. Also, the Jews killed more prophets than any other nation. The minute they heard of the arrival of our honorable Messenger, Muhammad, in this world, they sought him out in order to kill him...
"Moreover, the Jews bear a great grudge against Islam and the Muslims. Because of their offensive traits, their deceitfulness and cunning, the Prophet could not abide them, and therefore fought them and expelled them from the city of Medina. Were we to survey the annals of history, we would find that the Jews are the cause of the fitna [internal strife] in the world of Islam today. [Indeed,] they have been the cause of [this] fitna since it began, in the days of Caliph 'Othman bin 'Affan... [and] they are behind all the events that followed this grave event [i.e. the fitna under 'Othman]...
"Throughout modern history, the Jews used ploys to take control of every country they inhabited, and this is why [they] were expelled by the kings of Britain and France. In 1290, Britain's King Edward I issued a royal edict ordering to expel the Jews from Britain, while the Christian clergy 'scoured' the land and incited the people against the heretical Jews. Consequently, some 16,000 Jews left Britain for France, where they did not consent to live peacefully. They became a serious liability there, due to the many problems they caused King Phillip 'The Fair,' leading him to issue a royal edict banishing them from France in 1306. The Jews were banished to Spain, where they were treated well by Arabs and Muslims and began to plot how to exploit this in order to achieve their ends.
"At the start of the 16th century, the Jews began emigrating to Arab countries that were under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, which had opened its gates to them. Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II issued an edict ordering that the Jews be treated well and allowing them to work in trade and commerce. However, the tolerance displayed by the Ottomans to the Jews became a calamity with disastrous consequences for the Ottoman Empire, which collapsed due to their plots. The Jews exploited the kindness of the Ottomans in order to emigrate to their promised land, according to their myths, [namely] to Palestine... Concurrently, Jewish ideologues enjoined their people to take over the capital, the gold and the media, [while] preserving Jewish traditions and practices. The Jews lived a life of isolation in their own neighborhoods, which were known in many cities as 'Jewish Neighborhoods.' The Europeans' hatred of the Jews was so intense that a Jew travelling to many places in Europe would find a sign saying "No Jews Allowed," which severely affected their spirit.
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"The Jews' activity in finance and gold increased their fortune, competed with the capitalist economy of Europe, and influenced many decisions in European countries that were aimed at taking over the assets of the Ottoman Empire, 'The Sick Man [of Europe],' and dividing them among [these European countries]. Here the Jews had a chance to realize their hopes and return to the land of Palestine.
"The Jewish ideas mandating a Jewish return [to Palestine] emerged in the 17th century, when the British attorney Henry Finch published a book titled The World's Great Restauration, or Calling of the Jews [and with them of all Nations and Kingdoms of the Earth to the Faith of Christ]. In addition, Jewish preachers such as Shabbatai Ben Zevi[3] (1626-1676), Judah Alkalai (1798-1878), Morris Hess[4] (1812-1875), and others, called on the Jews to visit the holy places and live near them. The number of Jews [in Palestine] in 1799 was 5,000, and by 1876 it was 13,920. Napoleon Bonaparte's trip to Egypt in 1798 and its easy conquest drew attention to the Ottoman Empire's weakness and sparked the European countries' 'appetite' for imperialism and for dividing up the Ottoman Empire [among them].
"During his war at the fortified walls of Acre in April 1799, Napoleon issued statements [calling on] the Jews to realize their hopes to return to the Holy Land. In the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries, Jews began immigrating to Palestine, purchasing its land and learning to farm. [As part of this], one rich Jew established an agricultural school [there] in 1870. The waves of Jewish immigration to Palestine were constant, and concurrently, Jews applied enormous pressure on the Ottoman Sultans to [allow them] to purchase [assets] in the Ottoman state. Especially severe pressure was applied to Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) to grant them Palestine as a homeland. [In return they promised] to pay the Ottoman Empire's debts and grant it the aid it required. After that, the Jews began scheming until the Ottoman state collapsed.
"Using the Committee of Union and Progress,[5] which was founded in 1909 in order to increase immigration to Palestine, the Jews began purchasing land and establishing settlements. In 1913, the Jews also had three ministers in the Union and Progress government who were active [in securing] the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. The British Jews were extremely supportive of [the plan] to take over the land of Palestine, and they accomplished what they sought to do. When Britain was given the mandate over Palestine, the true loss of Palestine began. The British Mandate opened the immigration gates before the Jews and provided them much assistance in occupying Palestine.
"To this day, we suffer from the grudge and hatred that the Jews bear toward every Arab, Palestinian and Muslim. After all this, can there be peace with the Jews? [This] peace is ultimately a great fraud and illusion, erroneously [believed in] only by a small group of Palestinians and Arabs [due to their] material interests and destructive plans."
[1] Felesteen.ps, January 17, 2013.
[2] Image: Palinfo.info, accessed March 27, 2013.
[3] Referring to Shabbatai Zevi.
[4] Referring to Moses Hess.
[5] A general name for various factions that were behind the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, and later the umbrella organization of the nationalist movement in the Ottoman Empire.
