In the Times of January 24 is an article headlined, "2 Palestinian Legislators Are Arrested in East Jerusalem Protest." The article reported:
Israel arrested two Palestinian legislators affiliated with Hamas as they staged a protest in the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in East Jerusalem on Monday, an act criticized by the Palestinian leadership as a blow to the first direct meetings between the Israeli and Palestinian sides in more than a year now underway in Jordan.
Actually there were three men protesting: Muhammad Totah, a member of the Palestinian legislative council, Khaled Abu Arafeh, a former minister, and Ahmed Attoun, a Hamas legislator. The Times reported:
A police spokesman, Mickey Rosenfeld, said that the two legislators arrested were suspected of carrying out Hamas activities in Jerusalem. The Islamic militant group is considered an illegal organization by Israel.
As a result of the arrests, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian legislator, said in a statement that the detention of Mr. Totah and Mr. Abu Arafeh 24 hours later was a "flagrant act of aggression." Hamas is a terrorist organization designated as such not only by Israel, but by the Quartet -- the U.S., European Union, Russia and the U.N.
This is all by way of background. Now to the reason for this commentary. In the same Times article, it was reported the highest ranked member of the Muslim clergy on the West Bank, Gaza and all of historic Palestine called for the death of Jews. The Times' reference was:
The mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Hussein, addressed a crowd at an event marking the 47th anniversary of the founding of Fatah, the mainstream movement led by the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas. He quoted a hadith, a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, stating: "The Hour will not come until you fight the Jews. The Jews will hide behind stones or trees. Then the stones or trees will call: Oh Muslim, servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
The Times reported:
Mr. Netanyahu described the words of the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Hussein, as 'morally heinous' and compared the remarks to those of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the grand mufti of Jerusalem who notoriously aligned himself with Hitler in the 1930s. Palestinian television broadcast the mufti's comments on Jan. 9 and Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli monitoring group, drew attention to them on Jan. 15. An Israeli official said that the prime minister became aware of it only in the past few days.The Times further reported:
The mufti denied calling for the killing of Jews, telling Israel Radio on Sunday that he was only quoting the words of the Prophet Muhammad. He told Voice of Palestine radio on Monday that "these allegations come within the Israeli incitement campaign against Jerusalem and its figures."
Go figure that out.
My observation: I recall when two I.D.F. reservists took the wrong road on October 12, 2000 and ended up in Ramallah on the West Bank. They went into the Palestinian police station, were taken prisoner and thrown out of the window head first and killed. Currently, the two Hamas legislators, part of a government at war with Israel, were arrested not lynched. Not long ago, in May of 2011, I wrote to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak the following:
Dear Ehud: On my office wall there is a picture of an Israeli soldier being thrown to his death out of a window in a Ramallah police station where he had been taken prisoner. He was one of two soldiers killed having, as I recall, taken a wrong turn in their car bringing them into that Arab city. In the years that followed, were any of the perpetrators arrested and punished?
He replied on August 29th:
Dear Edward:
Thank you for your letter, expressing interest in the aftermath of the barbaric lynch in Ramallah of the two IDF reserve soldiers, Vadim Norzhitz and Yossef Avrahami, may G-d bless their memory.
I should let you know that as a result of our extensive efforts to bring all those responsible for this heinous crime to justice, sixteen people have been indicted for various offences related to this event, in accordance with their level of involvement and the evidence at hand.
Among them, eleven people were directly indicted for murder -- nine imprisoned for life and two others -- for 20 and 25 years. Four other people were indicted for various charges of involvement in the crime short of murder and one last case is still pending in the Military Court of Appeal.
I should add, we know very well that no punishment, no matter how harsh, will bring comfort to the families or bring back their loved ones. Nevertheless, from the very first moment, the Government of Israel, the IDF and the whole defense establishment have considered bringing the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice as a matter of top priority.
I thank you again for your concern and hope that we will never again witness such terrible acts in the future.
The Times reporter, Isabel Kushner, to her credit, reported the incidents involving the arrests of the Hamas legislators and the mufti's call for the murder of Jews. Apparently, the arrest of the two Hamas legislators was to the Times editor more important, therefore deserving the headline "2 Palestinian Legislators Are Arrested in East Jerusalem Protest" rather than a headline citing the call of the highest Muslim cleric for Palestinians and successor to the Grand Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini who aided Adolf Hitler raising Muslim troops to fight on the side of Nazi Germany in World War II and responsible for the Arab pogrom of 1929 in Hebron in which 67 Jews were killed and the uprising throughout Palestine in 1936-1939 with the killing of more Jews.
If you are a supporter of the Jewish nation, a Zionist like me, or simply an impartial observer, wouldn't you conclude the Times editor had his head screwed on wrong in determining the headline?
Will there be a Times editorial denouncing the mufti's conduct? I haven't seen any denunciatory releases from the J Street crowd in D.C. which constantly berates Israel for not being more forthcoming with concessions to the Palestinians. Will Times' columnists Tom Friedman and Nicholas Kristof, who often criticize the Israeli government, denounce the Palestinian leadership for not removing this cleric? Muslim terrorists don't simply murder Jews; they also murder Christians and have done so recently in Iraq and Egypt. The Coptic Christians today 10 percent of the Egyptian population are in great danger and fear. Their churches have been desecrated and destroyed. They have been assaulted and murdered.
Imagine what the outcry worldwide would have been had either of the two chief rabbis of Israel made a comparable call to kill Muslims. You know and I know there would have been U.N. Assembly and Security Council Resolutions denouncing Israel, not only calling for the removal of the chief rabbi, but sanctions against the state itself.
The lack of media attention given to these Arab threats and the constant unfair attacks by the media, cowardly governments and U.N. officials on Israel is what angers people like me.
Follow Ed Koch on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mayoredkoch
http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/articles.cgi?ID=1280
"Hussein went on to explain that the mufti discusses all aspects of Islam, including politics.
And then he made a surprising comment.
"It is the Palestinian people's right to engage in resistance until the occupation ends. As long as the resistance is legitimate, everything related to it is also legitimate."
Asked to express his view with regard to SUICIDE BOMBING, the mufti answered: "IT IS LEGITIMATE, of course, as long as it plays a role in the resistance."
ex.
Rev 3
[9] Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie -- behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you.
[10] Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial which is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell upon the earth.
Dear Mayor Koch,
Thank you for a terrific commentary, thank you for shedding the light on the media (Not just NYT) and their manipulation of the public. It is unfortunate that the media gets to control politics, spread their hateful agenda, and antisemitic outlook.
Actually, Mr. Koch, the real story is far worse. The reservists were not killed by throwing them out the window:
"The soldiers were beaten, stabbed, had their eyes gouged out, and were disemboweled. At this point, a Palestinian (later identified as Aziz Salha), appeared at the police station window, displaying his blood-stained hands to the crowd, which erupted into cheers. One of the soldier's bodies was then thrown out the window and stamped and beaten by the enraged mob. One of the bodies was set on fire. Soon after, the mob dragged the two mutilated bodies to Al-Manara Square in the city center as the crowd began an impromptu victory celebration."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Ramallah_lynching
Aziz Salha, the man who participated in the lynching inside the station and whose picture was taken holding up his bloodied hands to the cheering crowd outside, was one of the prisoners released in the recent swap with Hamas for Gilad Shalit. He, like others convicted of equally heinous crimes, was hailed as a returning hero.
Apparently the *entire* reason that many people feel that the Mufti of Jerusalem said what he is alleged to have said, is that a group called Palestinian Media Watch brought the allegation to the world's attention.
http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/index2.asp?id=1520133
Palestinian Media Watch alleges to disclose in English what Palestinians are "really" saying ... but for some strange reason, they only seem to say horribly negative things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_Media_Watch
"Hm."
Who's behind Palestinian Media Watch?
Michael Cherney.
Who is Michael Cherney?
An Israeli "humanitarian" who sponsors events featuring known professional anti-Muslims.
http://www.rense.com/general62/shoot.htm
Why am I not surprised?
Decent guess, though.
That's just actually not it.
I find that radical statements by radical Muslims are usually quite straightforward.
Maybe the Mufti of Jerusalem is radical Salafist and really talks like that --- I'm just skeptical, for the reasons I gave (in the comment above, and in other comments).
It's based on experience: in my experience, groups and people who are agenda-driven tend to stretch the truth or lie.
Maybe I'm wrong on this one -- and if so, I'll say so; no problem.
There are plenty of radical Muslims -- the information-flow on this specific piece of news just has me skeptical, is all.
The Last Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them.
When you make excuses for thugs who say things like this, you are an apologist for advocates of genocide.
As someone said a long time ago - Have you, at long last, no sense of shame, sir?
I am *skeptical*, based on experience.
Maybe that guy (the Mufti) is a radical Salafist and talks like that; maybe that low-credibility hadith is credible among certain Muslims, maybe Palestinian Media Watch translates every nuance of every statement they translate with unimpeachable accuracy.
However, based on experience, and a lot of exposure to dedicated anti-Islam information ... I have my doubts; that's all.
As I said to Sandalwood, I have no agenda here -- if I'm wrong, I'll say so, and we'll move on.
What I don't get is why obviously intelligent people like you and Sandalwood *automatically* accept anything negative that's said about Muslims.
That seems as filter-based to me, as my approach apparently does, to you.
Just because it's against Muslims doesn't make it true.
Is there proof that the Mufti of Jerusalem *actually* said this?
That seems important.
It says that "the article states" that the Mufti said that ... but what is the reporter's source for the information?
The reason I ask, is: that's a very low-credibility hadith ... because it's out of sync with mainstream Islam in a big way; it seems very odd that the Mufti of Jerusalem would be quoting it.
In fact, the only place I've *ever* heard that hadith quoted, to date (prior to the allegations in this article) is from anti-Muslims.
Interesting and pertinent to fact-check this one, I'd say.
And, of course -- *if* it proves to be true that the Mufti said it, then I agree with the article's author -- what wouldn't be acceptable from any other religious leader is not acceptable from a Muslim leader, either --- even playing field for all.
And yes, the mufti really did say this.
I've heard and seen the critera given for hadith-credibility, which utilizes two major means:
1. The "pedigree" of the reported statement -- who said they heard it, who did they hear it from, and so on.
2. How well does the given hadith stack up against other known statements of Muhammad, specifically, against original statements recorded during his lifetime.
The glaringly anti-Jewish nature of that hadith doesn't seem likely as an actual statement of Muhammad, is all ... it's somewhat akin to President Obama saying, "Of course I'm a Tea Party member!" ..... how likely is it that that's a true statement?
The Quran says that Jews have nothing to fear at the "last day" (2:62), along with Muslims, Christians and others. Early in Islam, Muslims faced Jerusalem to pray, at Muhammad's direction. In Medina, many Jews, and Jews who became Muslims allied closely with Muhammad. His only recorded conflict is with the Qurayza, who were providing intelligence to the Quraysh (Muhammad's original tribe) who wanted to kill him and all his followers.
But - who knows? If enough credible sources verify anything as accurate, I'm happy to accept it. I really am about facts -- I just give information that comes to light from anti-Muslim sources extra scrutiny, is all.
Check this out... Pakistan this time: http://mashalbooks.org/ (scroll down a bit and click on "message from the mosque", which are a collection of audio files of sermons along with their translations in english, and see for yourself).
I just:
A. Didn't expect the Mufti of Jerusalem to be one of them.
&
B. Am highly skeptical, based on experience, of "news" that comes to light from a dedicated anti-Islam source (Palestinian Media Watch, in this case).
I'm "anti" anti-anyone ....... anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, anti-Christian, anti-Atheist ... it's all ridiculous.
As civilized, intelligent people, our enemies are ignorance, dogma, and agenda-driven manipulation of information --- regardless of who is doing promoting it, or why.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/andrew-adler-atlanta-jewish-times-obama-assassination_n_1219720.html
For a story that you feel was 'buried' it managed to get 8600 comments
What happens if the Jews were out of the way? Muslims & Catholics (& all the other denominations of Christians who will feel compelled to side with Catholics) will be murdering each other in their beds every night just like Muslims do to Jews & Coptic Christians now! Can't people see they're CREATING HELL ON EARTH?! Muslims & Catholics each think they will be the victor's in Armegeddon! My interpretation is "THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH!" because there will be no Muslims & Catholics LEFT!
When did the PA go to war with Israel? The PA has been engaging in security operations for the benefit of Israel since at least 1993, which would be strange behavior for a government at war with Israel.
Do YOU know he difference between the Israeli government and Likud?