Posted on 03/14/2004 8:35:25 PM PST by yonif
WEST BANK & Ramallah Voice of Palestine, official radio station of the Palestinian Authority, on February 6, 2004 at 1000 GMT carries a 24-minute live sermon from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Shaykh Yusuf Abu-Sunaynah delivers the sermon. After praising God, the messenger, and his companions, he calls on "the servants of God" to worship and obey God and to help one another, reminding Muslims of the Hereafter and God's punishment.
Turning to the Palestine question, the imam discusses the Saudi peace initiative, which, he says, was based on two main points for putting an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He says: "The first point calls for Israel's withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories to beyond the 4 June 1967 borders. The second point calls for recognizing the State of Israel, establishing diplomatic relations with it, and normalizing political, economic, tourism, and scientific relations with it. The Saudi ideas for resolving the crisis are not new. The kingdom presented them about six months ago but Israel rejected them at that time.
The initiative includes ideas contributing to the cancellation of the repatriation right of more than 2 million Palestinians in the diaspora. It also calls for settling 1.5 million Palestinians in Saudi Arabia and Iraq and granting Palestinians in Jordan the Jordanian citizenship. There are many question marks on that initiative. Can this initiative see light amid the changes which have resulted from the occupation of Iraq and the Libyan regime's abandonment of its nuclear armament program? Moreover, the Arab countries hold secret negotiations with Israel in order to normalize relations with it. Peace treaties also exist between Israel on the one hand and Egypt and Jordan on the other. Therefore, the Arab climate is prepared for that initiative.
Can the United States pressure Israel into accepting that initiative as a comprehensive, face saving solution in front of the world, which is now aware of US allegations and lies about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Before responding to these questions, we have to explain the Islamic viewpoint. It is Islam that distinguished between good and bad. This initiative, like the Oslo, Madrid, and other accords between Palestinians and Israelis, violates the Islamic law. The land of Palestine is an Islamic land, which must not be relinquished. The previous agreements have produced destruction, disaster, and suffering for our steadfast, patient Muslim people on their land because they are based on ideas and principles conflicting with the Islamic law. From the political viewpoint, this initiative indicates our nation's weakness and the Arab regime's failure to foil their enemies' schemes. The initiative cancels the repatriation right.
Israel has declined to react to this initiative because it is preoccupied with its unilateral plans, including the construction of the racial wall and drawing a borderline that will provide it with security and stability. The Israeli prime minister has announced the possibility of handing over the triangle area, which is inhabited by a majority of Arab Muslims, to the Palestinian Authority because the spread of Islam in this area troubles the Israeli side. The United States has not pressed the Israeli Government to accept the Saudi initiative because the US Administration is in dire need of Jewish votes in the US presidential elections at the end of this year.
O steadfast Muslims, the solution is in our hands. The solution is in the Koran and the messenger's traditions." The imam then urges the Islamic countries' leaders to learn a lesson from the messenger's companions in order to regain their rights.
In conclusion, the imam prays to God: "O God, help Muslims improve their situation and defeat Your enemy and their enemy. O God, destroy the Muslims' enemies."
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