ARAB MEDIA WATCH
Arab World and
Arab Media Justification of Acts of Violence
By Maximillien de Lafayette
What usually, Arab heads of states,
politicians, scholars, moderate leaders and reporters tell The
White House and the American public, IS NOT what they told
their own people and stated in the Arab media.
Most recently, the Arab media including AL
AKHBAAR and Al AHRAM, two leading newspapers in Cairo presented a
very "special" Arab point of view and scenario of the Sinai
bombings. It is intriguing and amusing to learn how editorials in
leading Arab publications interpret and explain terrorism and
bombings caused by their compatriots. Publicly, and in English,
the editorials appear to be siding with the United States, and
encouraging perpetual peace with Israel. However, if we read the
texts in Arabic, the whole story and whole intentions of the Arabs
change drastically. According to AL AHRAM, the Sinai bombings
presented Sharon with an opportunity to further marginalize the
Palestinian cause. The Egyptian media reports that Sharon will
exploit the bombings with relish. Furthermore, Arab editorials
argue that Israel's Gaza rampage was not just a response to the
firing of Qassam missiles. It does not mean that Arabs have to
subscribe to claims that Israel needs no excuse for its actions.
Arab Media Commentaries: " You cannot impose a unilateral solution
to a conflict without recourse to extraordinary levels of
violence." A verbatim translation of selected articles and
comments in the Arab media goes like this: " The latest Israeli
incursion into Gaza was not unrelated to the rudimentary weapon --
missile is perhaps too grand a term for these devices -- Gazans
have developed to fight the situation into which they have been
thrust, a situation, unprecedented in modern history, that
essentially locks a million and a half people into a prison with
two gates. Israeli violence in Gaza, in Jenin and Nablus, is
structurally integral to the problems of disengagement -- you
cannot impose a unilateral solution to a conflict without recourse
to extraordinary levels of violence. And this is alarming, for,
despite all the peace efforts deployed by Israel to bring peace to
the region, Arab media, constantly undermines those efforts and
Israel's intentions and the possibility of peace negotiations with
Arab countries, particularly Syria. The October's general message
conveyed by the Arab Media in Egypt, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and
Lebanon as published on the very front page of their leading
publications goes like this: "Unlike the Israeli withdrawal from
Lebanon where a sovereign state claimed control and responsibility
on the evacuated areas, the issue in Gaza is not just one of
unilateral withdrawal, but of redeployment on conditions Israel
believes will consolidate its control over areas of the West Bank.
It hopes to control Gaza with less friction from the outside and
annex parts of the West Bank while at the same time improving its
international standing and alleviating international pressures to
engage in a settlement process Israel neither wants nor can engage
in given its current leadership and the state of public opinion."
Several commentaries and articles appeared in AL AHRAM stated that
it is the Qassam missiles, though, that have thrown into relief
Israel's threadbare justifications for the construction of the
security wall and unilateral disengagement. The wall cannot hold
even against such a primitive weapon. Israel is perfectly aware
that after the redeployment of the Israeli troops the occupants of
Gaza will never accept their fate as prisoners, will not accept an
occupation at arm's length from the other side of a wall,
certainly not in the absence of even the promise of a just
settlement and a resolution to the question of Palestinian
national sovereignty. "Conducting a survey among so-called
moderate Arab scholars and political leaders, the common Arab
belief is that Israel is not taken in by its hollow demagoguery
about the culture of "terrorism". It is perfectly aware of the
causes and knows exactly what to expect. It will make every
attempt to minimize the possibility of Palestinian reaction, by
using all its military capacities to produce a climate of fear.
THE TWO FACES OF ARAB MEDIA AND POLITICAL
LEADERS
While, publicly, and in speeches in English
given by President Mubarak and members of his cabinet urging the
United States to enhance the peace process in the Middle East and
welcoming Israeli's "sincere" initiatives, contradictory
statements in Arabic are regularly printed in the Arab press. For
instance, one of the commentaries of AL AHRAM stated: "The brutal
assault against Gaza is, then, an attempt to provide an answer to
a knot of intertwined problems. There are, for example, domestic
political issues, raised by those who question the feasibility of
suppressing Palestinian resistance by brute force. The Israeli
government's answer is to move from one kind of violence to
another, from one phase of escalation to the next, hence the
military incursions into poor residential areas and targeted
assassinations in Damascus. There are also strategic questions
over how to inhibit the development of the Palestinians' capacity
to resist following unilateral withdrawal. " Another chocking
statement was recently published in the AL AHRAM newspaper:
"Israeli efforts in this regard have been greatly facilitated by
the Sinai bombings, the first operation that has allowed a link to
be made between international terrorist networks and the
Palestinians, and the first time international terrorist
operations have been mounted around the borders of Palestine.
DENIAL AND HYPOCRISY
Quite often, Arab leaders and especially the
Egyptians publicly wash their hands from violent measures taken by
the Palestinians. Even, the Palestinians upon meeting with high
level aides at The White House, denounce terrorism acts. But their
public statements as published in the Arab media are quite
different. Some messages and commentaries are regularly reinforced
and elaborated upon by editors in the Arab media. For instance,
political analysts at AL JAZERRA, AL AKBAAR, AL SAFIR and AL AHRAM
stated that regardless of their positions vis-à-vis the
Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty, the Palestinian factions maintain
good relations with Egypt and want to keep it that way. If asked,
the factions would all reply that only harm could come from
attempting to rock the economic or political stability of Egypt.
More importantly, Palestinian political organizations have made it
clear that they will not target Israeli citizens abroad.
Disengaging from violence of any sort against civilians in nations
outside Palestine was a wise decision, in spite of the fact that
the Israelis have not responded in kind. The editorial included
this irrational interpretation of political analysis. It goes like
this: " The Sinai bombings offer Sharon an historic opportunity to
promote tighter security coordination in the region and provide a
justification for linking security coordination with economic and
political interests. The response of Egyptian public opinion to
the Luxor attacks of 1994 was sufficiently vehement to alter the
course of fundamentalist violence, compelling many organizations
to modify their thinking. If this was the case when the
perpetrators were Egyptian, imagine the reaction when such attacks
are linked to non-Egyptian groups?
HOW THE ARAB MEDIA EXPLAIN THE REACTION OF
ARABS AND EGYPTIAN PUBLIC
According to the Arab media, it would be
impossible to misconstrue the reaction of Egyptian public opinion
to the Sinai operations and, in spite of the Egyptian government's
attempts to play down the magnitude and causes of the bombings in
order to prevent panic in the tourist industry, you can be sure
that it is taking the matter very seriously. In addition, the Arab
media , intentionally misinterprets facts and brings constants
complaints against Israel in public gathering, forum, discussions
and editorials. The latest unconceivable Arab explanation of the
Sinai bombings and Israel security cooperation as published in
numerous Arab newspapers confused the Arab readers and encouraged
them to distrust any peace effort by Israel. One of the most
illustrative editorials contained illogical analysis of what
really happened in Sinai and what really the Israeli intentions
are. It goes like this: " The first reaction of Israeli ministers
was to hurl criticism at Egypt for being slow to allow in Israeli
rescue workers. Such inanities and fictions are concocted for
media consumption in times of public hysteria. Sharon quickly put
a cap on that, reproaching his ministers for their pettiness and
reiterating his opinion, and that of "experts", that had the
victims all been Egyptian the Egyptian authorities could not have
acted more competently, this is their capacity. Here was an
opportunity for Sharon to extend his embrace to Egypt over the
matter of security coordination in the fight against terrorism. He
told his ministers to swallow their knee-jerk responses and keep
their opinions about Egypt to themselves. Israel, as we all know,
uses terrorism as a blanket term. And now, acting on Sharon's
directives, Israeli ministers are suddenly singing Egypt's praises
in the hope of flattering Cairo into closer security cooperation,
even if that means meeting the Egyptian demand to amend the Camp
David peace treaty to permit for a stronger Egyptian military
presence in Sinai. Whether or not Egypt responds to these
overtures, Israel has seized upon the Sinai bombings to step up
its drive to establish a network of bilateral security cooperation
links in the region, while simultaneously sustaining its brutal
assault on Gaza."
CLIMATE OF WEARINESS
Some Arab newspapers kept the subject off the
front page on the first day of the operation while others placed it
towards the bottom of that page. Political commentators in leading
Arab newspapers and Arab news agencies explain: "This suggests a
drive to manufacture a climate of weariness over the Palestinian
cause, to engineer fatigue among Arab public opinion. The only
non-wearying items that appear newsworthy these days are discussions
within the Palestinian leadership, or about the Palestinian
leadership and possible candidates. This, for some reason, seems a
perennially exciting subject. And it allows the Palestinian cause,
and Israeli crime, to be reduced to a constant focus on the role of
the Palestinian leadership and the need to change it. Those who
would advise the Palestinians have tired of everything but harping
on this crisis. They remain doggedly persistent. The core of the
Arab editorial is basically and essentially to portray the Israelis
as constant aggressors. This month, the Arab media placed a strong
emphasis on "Israeli crimes" which according to editorials published
in AL SAFIR, AL AHRAM and in AL JAZEERA Arab news edition on line "
They appear nothing but a secondary detail, Israeli declarations
that they will wreak vengeance on Palestinian society as a means to
pressure the factions into halting their military operations fall on
deaf ears. The official American definition of terrorism, as defined
in the Patriot Act, holds that terrorism is "to subject American
civilians to acts of violence with the intent of influencing the
policy of their government". Well, Tel Aviv has made it abundantly
clear that it is bombarding Palestinians in order to influence the
policy of their leadership. But the US vetoed a security council
decision condemning Israeli aggression in Gaza. And what is the Arab
stand on this? You won't find out in the Arab press."
PRAISING THE US AND ISRAEL-ARAB PEACE EFFORTS
IN OFFICIAL MEETINGS, WHILE ATTACKING THE US AND ISRAEL IN THEIR
ARAB NEWSPAPERS
Several editorials
in the Arab press in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt wrote that there was a
time when Arabs spoke about American phases in the region. There
was a Truman phase, a Kissinger phase, a Carter phase and a Baker
phase. Perhaps Arabs should now talk of a Sharon phase, a phase of
Israeli schemes and projects. Its most salient features are to be
found in the military and political structures and operations
required to marginalize the Palestinian cause, even in the Arab
world, making the disengagement plan the only available alternative,
with no roadmaps or even detours. The Arab media is placing a
strong emphasis on the so-called "Israeli phase". Several
commentaries on the front page of major Arab newspapers
characterized the "Israeli Phase" as a series of attempts to
internationalize the Congress approved boycott of Syria.
ARAB FALSIFICATIONS OF FACTS AND INTENTIONS OF
ISRAEL
The overwhelming
number of articles published in the Arab media between October 1st
and October 18Th, and geared toward distorting the intention of
Israel added more confusion in the mind of ordinary Arab citizens.
Editorials and articles in Arab Gulf area and Middle East newspapers
claimed that Israel has no intention -whatsoever- to bring peace to
the region. One particular statement caught my attention. It was
published in Al AHRAM newspaper and posted on their website. It goes
like this: " If Syria really wants peace, Israel says, it must
demonstrate this "in deeds, not in words". At the same time, and
without batting an eyelash, Israel refuses to negotiate with Syria
because negotiations could only result in Israel withdrawing to
pre-June 1967 borders. Israel puts about the false claim that Syria
is begging on its knees for Israel to negotiate, then turns up its
nose at the imagined entreaties, all the better to swagger and strut
and play the bully shoving aside pedestrians on the sidewalk. But
Syria has made no new overtures of any sort: it has merely
reiterated its commitment to previously stated positions on a
settlement and on the negotiating process.
UNDERSCORING THE BALANCE OF POWER
In concocting this image of a groveling
Syria Israel is underscoring the balance of powers in the region.
The US hasn't changed one iota. It is still breathing down Syria's
neck and it will go on breathing down Syria's neck until Syria does
its bidding. But because there are no justifications, not even
according to US-Israeli logic, for declaring war on Syria the only
course open to them is to do everything in their power to weaken
Syria, undermine its sovereignty and encourage others to do the
same. These are just some of the traits of the new phase Israel is
seeking to usher in to the region. Of course, the going will not be
so easy. Apart from the political map inside Israel, there are
structural problems Israel will face. The only power at present
capable of occupying other nations is embroiled in the war it
engineered in Iraq. It has found itself incapable of controlling the
pace and the logic -- or lack thereof -- of this war. Israel, in its
attempt to inaugurate its own phase in the region, is certain to
encounter obstacles next to which those that America is facing in
Iraq will pale. So wisdom requires from Israel to get acquainted
with its real size in the region. It will also not be harmful for
the Arabs to have some knowledge about it so they do not get
intimidated so easily."
Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV Interviews Head of Swedish 'Radio Islam': The
Muslims' War is with the Jews; Judaism is a Criminal Mafia, Not a
Religion
 In
a recent interview on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, Ahmad Rami, director of
"Radio Islam" in Sweden, stated that the Jews had, via the media and
politics, completely occupied the West and the entire world, that "the
Jews in Sweden, Germany, France, and America have rights that even the
citizens of those countries do not have," and that "Judaism is not a
religion, [but] a criminal and dangerous mafia." It should be noted
that, Rami was found guilty of incitement against Jews in Sweden and
served six months in prison and Radio Islam was shut down. It
restarted as a website and its servers are located in the United
States. The Jews in the West have 100% Complete Control of the Media,
And Control All Political Parties
Ahmad Rami: "Today, the Westerners harbor great respect for Hizbullah
in their souls."
Host: "In public opinion?"
Rami: "Yes, in public opinion. They respect Hizbullah because it is
waging Jihad."
Host: "Do you mean in Sweden, or Europe in general?"
Rami: "Europe in general. Sweden's greatest author, Jan Myrdal, said
to me: 'You Muslims may need our support, but we need your Jihad.
Otherwise, whom will we support?' If there is no Jihad and resistance,
who will the free people in the West support? There are free people in
the West. The Zionist control of the media imposes a kind of media
terrorism and hypocrisy, in such a way that many Swedes have a public
opinion which they express on radio and TV. If [a Swede] wants to live
a normal life and have work, he must claim to be Israel's friend and
the enemy of Israel's enemies. But when you talk to regular Swedes,
and even authors, privately, they are all against Israel and against
the Zionist occupation. Nevertheless, if Israel finds itself in danger
and if we become stronger than it, no Westerner will come to its
defense. The Jews in the West - and this has become a tradition - have
100% complete control of the media, of the political parties, of the
trade unions, and of the publishing houses. They politically control
all the parties, from Right to Left. We can say today... I gave a
lecture in Berlin recently, and a young man said to me: 'If we, the
free people, get to rule [this country], we will help the Palestinian
people.' I said to him: 'Brother, if you liberate Germany from Israeli
control and occupation, we will talk about Palestine. The problem is
that Israel and the Jews are using you, your strength, and your
technology to fight us. Ninety percent of the Israeli infrastructure
was built with West German
money. Therefore, Israel is a criminal beggar who receives money and
aid and imposes his terms on those who support him. Generally, the one
giving aid is the one who dictates the terms - whereas Israel receives
aid, yet humiliates Germany, for example, and imposes its terms upon
it. If the Jews were satisfied with the occupation of Palestine, the
Westerners might not have had a problem. The problem is that they are
occupying America, they are occupying France and the West in general.
in terms of media, and culture and politics. This is real occupation.
The difference between the occupation of Palestine and that of the
West is that in Palestine, the occupation is mechanical and military,
whereas the occupation of the West is an occupation of values, of
mind, of ideology, and of culture. The Palestinian and South Lebanese
bodies still have antibodies, whereas the Jewish occupation of the
West resembles a cancer, a cancerous tumor, which the body cannot
feel, and thus it can spread. They are trying to do the same thing in
the Arab world. They use the normalization of relations to make this
tumor spread throughout the Arab and Islamic world, and to paralyze
us, to turn into cancer. Our War is with the Jews"
Host: "Don't you distinguish between Jews and Zionists?"
Rami: "The Jew is proud of being a Jew. He has called his country 'the
Jewish State.' Why don't we call things by their real names? I have
interviewed Jews who said that 99% of the Jews support Israel and act
to help it."
Host: "True, but the basic question I'd like you to answer is whether,
in your opinion, there is no difference between Zionism as an
ideological political movement and Judaism as a religion."
Rami: "I believe that the Jew is more dangerous than the Zionist. Why?
Because the so-called settlers..."
Host: "You attack the Jews as Jews. But we know that historically,
Jews lived in Islamic countries. In fact, if we compare the history of
the Jews in Arab countries and in Western countries, we will discover
a great discrepancy. Whereas Judaism is thousands of years old,
Zionism is only a few centuries old."
Rami: "Do you allow me to respond?"
Host: "Go ahead."
Rami: "I do not agree with you, because... Today, the so-called
settlers, who are now fighting Sharon, oppose Zionism even though they
are Jewish. They even refuse to serve in the Israeli army. All the
Jewish rabbinical schools belong to this Jewish stream, which does not
even recognize Israel, because it wants Greater Israel, from the Nile
to the Euphrates. They consider the Zionists to be infidels. The
Orthodox Jews consider the Zionists to be infidels who violated the
religion..."
Host: "Because they rebelled against the divine will."
Rami: "Precisely. But what do they want? These settlers, who oppose
the withdrawal from Gaza, want [a state] from the Nile to the
Euphrates..."
Host: "Who wants that?"
Rami: "The Jew, the Jews... the Orthodox Jews. These so-called
extremist Jews do not recognize Zionism. There can be no Zionism
without Judaism."
Host: "True, but there can be Judaism without Zionism. What you said
in the beginning is only half the truth. Zionism is a political
ideological movement among the Jews. Therefore, there is no Zionism
without Judaism, but the opposite is true as well."
Rami: "I am a Muslim. I am not a Communist or a Marxist. I oppose both
Marxism and Communism. This analysis of yours is a Marxist-Communist
analysis, because the Koran says that our battle is with the Jews.
Zionism is not mentioned in the Koran. Our war is against the Jews. We
should not turn tactics into strategy. Yasser Arafat's problem was
that he tried to use tactics, and he repeated these tactics and these
lies so many times, until they turned into strategy. Just like the
Jews say clearly that they want their state to be Jewish, not Zionist,
we want an Islamic state on Palestinian land, because it is our land,
and the land of the Christians as well...By the way, Radio Islam in
Sweden... During the trial against Radio Islam, the Swedish church
stood by my side and supported me and Radio Islam, arousing the wrath
of the Jews in Sweden. We should...The definition of who is a Jew is
their problem. The Jews will not be the ones to define Islam for us,
and say who are Muslims and who are Islamists. At most, we can say
that the difference between Zionism and Judaism is like the difference
between a carpenter and his hammer, or between Islam and the
Islamists. What is Islam without a movement for its realization? The
Jews... Zionism seeks to realize Judaism. We are now resisting the
Jewish invasion. In the West... You can't find a single Jew in
Sweden..."
Host: "...who does not sympathize with Israel."
Rami: "...who is not both a Jew and a Zionist. It's the same thing.
When I lived in Morocco, I could have criticized anything except the
ruler, who is the king. When I reached Sweden, I found that I could
criticize anything and anyone..."
Host: "Including the king."
Rami: "Including the king. But I have no right to criticize the true
rulers, the Jews. Moreover, the Jews are trying to implement a policy
of stages, like Kissinger's policy. First they fought to prohibit the
criticizing of Jews and of Judaism. They succeeded in bringing about
laws forbidding the criticism of Jews. The second stage, in which they
have now succeeded, is the prohibition on criticizing Zionism. In the
trial against me, which lasted six months, I was accused of lack of
respect for the Jewish people. My lawyer told the general prosecutor
that Ahmad Rami is criticizing only the Jews, not the Zionists... The
general prosecutor responded: 'But when Ahmad Rami says...'"
Host: "You were jailed in Sweden."
Rami: "Yes, I was sentenced to six months in jail. The general
prosecutor said: 'When Ahmad Rami says Zionist, he means Jew.' They
read what's on my mind. The Jews in Sweden, Germany, France, and
America Have Rights That Even The Citizens of Those Countries Do Not
Have. Judaism is a Criminal and Dangerous Mafia. The Jewish
organizations are very smart, and they control the situation in the
West. They studied the political map and infiltrated all parties, from
Right to Left. They have completely occupied the political parties."
Host: "And this is true for Sweden?"
Rami: "Yes. All the parties... In the Social Democratic Party, for
example, all party members who control the ideology, the organization,
and even the government are Jews. The police commissioner is a Jew...
The head of the party... Even the party... From Right to Left, the
Jews control all the parties. There is a battle between dead nations
and living nations. The Jews are now active. They have occupied the
entire world, and they are using their power worldwide to annihilate
us and humiliate us, from inside and out. Their control stems entirely
from the weakness of the Westerners. Even democracy is in decline in
the West, because everything has its ups and downs."
Host: "Like a pyramid?"
Rami: "Yes. In the West today... For example, I, in Sweden, am
fighting for freedom of speech for everybody in Sweden. In Germany I
told them that now... I was asked: What is your Jihad? Why are you
fighting? I told them: I am fighting so that the Swedes will have the
same rights as the Jews in Sweden. I am fighting so that the Swedes
will have the same rights as the Jews. The Jews in Sweden, Germany,
France, and America have rights that even the citizens of those
countries do not have." As far as I'm concerned, Judaism is not a
religion. Judaism is a criminal and dangerous mafia."
Source: MEMRI
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PA: "Synagogues
are not holy places... they are symbols of the occupation. We don't
need them, and we will dispose of them."
AL Jazeera: Palestinians have set fire to three abandoned synagogues
amid the departure of the last Israeli soldiers from the Gaza Strip,
ending 38 years of military rule.
Photo:
Palestinians demolishing Gaza's
synagogues.
Al Jazeera
reported that Jewish settlers had taken the Torah scrolls from the
synagogues as well as prayer books and other holy items, symbolising
the end of the use of the buildings as houses of worship. Giant
bulldozer could be seen reducing to rubble one of the former places of
worship in the evacuated settlement of Netzarim, just to the south of
Gaza City. The synagogue had earlier been torched by scores of youths
who had entered Netzarim shortly after the last soldiers left. Last
week, the Israeli government voted 14-2 to keep the former houses of
worship intact, apparently in deference to Jewish rabbis who had ruled
that the demolition of the buildings would constitute a violation of
halacha, or Jewish religious law. The Palestinian Authority (PA)
called the Israeli decision "provocation" and "public relations
entrapment". The rabbis had warned the government that the destruction
of the synagogues by Jews would send the wrong signal to the world and
might precipitate attacks on Jewish houses of worship. PA President
Mahmoud Abbas on Monday dismissed the Israeli government decision as a
public relations maneuver. "They left empty buildings that used to be
temples, but they removed all the religious symbols, and they are no
longer religious places. Earlier, PA National Security official Jibril
Rajoub said the PA would demolish the empty buildings. "These are not
holy places. The Israeli army took away all holy objects, and all we
have now is empty buildings, most of which are ramshackle," Rajoub
said in an interview with Aljazeera on Sunday. "Synagogues are not
holy places... they are symbols of the occupation. We don't need them,
and we will dispose of them."
The
PA said the synagogues were "symbols of occupation"
Israeli officials
denied the Palestinian accusations of provocation, saying the army
left the synagogues intact because it "was too much to see Jews
destroying Jewish synagogues". Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom
denounced the torching of the synagogues. "This is a barbaric act by
people who have no respect for holy sites. The Palestinians have taken
no real effort to protect the synagogues," he told public radio.
Regev told
Aljazeera.net that Israel was expecting the PA to do its utmost to
respect and preserve the buildings. When asked whether Israel would
accept handing the buildings over to a third party or converting them
into medical facilities for children, as was proposed by some foreign
officials, Regev said Israel would welcome any solution that would
respectfully deal with these structures. Several Palestinian leaders
had voiced concern over Israel's motives in abandoning the synagogues.
"We are damned if we do and damned if we don't," PA negotiator Saeb
Erikat said on Sunday during a radio interview with Israeli state-run
radio. He said Israel was adding "another sensitive problem" to those
left unresolved by the withdrawing Israeli army, including the border
crossings and the Gaza airport and harbours. Israel and the PA are yet
to reach agreement on these issues, which for Gazans could make the
difference between a successful transition to political and economic
freedom or remaining under Israeli control. Rabbi Menachem Fruman of
the settlement of Tku' near Bethlehem had proposed converting the
synagogues into mosques, arguing that Muslims and Jews were worshiping
the same God. However, some Palestinian leaders privately voiced fears
that turning the synagogues into mosques could give Jews a pretext to
pray at Muslim holy places, such as the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
"If we convert them into mosques, they would then demand the right to
pray at the Aqsa Mosque on the grounds that since Muslims were allowed
to pray in Jewish synagogues in Gaza, Jews also have the right to pray
in the mosques," said one Hamas member from the Hebron region. "We
respect Judaism and other religions. But this is a media bluff. Hence
the buildings should be demolished respectfully," Palestinian
Authority Mufti, Ikrema Sabri, told Voice of Palestine radio. The
Hamas member, who identified himself as Abu Ahmed, said the demolition
of synagogues by the Palestinians would also create problems. "I think
Israel wants the Palestinians to demolish these structures in order to
have a pretext for some nefarious designs against Islamic holy places,
especially in Jerusalem." He said the PA should destroy the buildings
immediately before they became an international issue. A Hamas
official in the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud al-Zahar, told Aljazeera.net in a
telephone interview on Sunday that the synagogues would be demolished
as soon as the Israeli army left Gaza.
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