Perilous Times
PA Minister Threatens War over Jerusalem
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel National News
The Palestinian Authority religious affairs minster, a week before
peace talks in Washington, warned of war if Jerusalem is not “returned”
to “its owners. And we are its owners."
With PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the audience, Mahmoud Al-Habbash
declared in his Friday sermon, "Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one
wars,” according to a translation supplied by Palestinian Media Watch.
Unless Jerusalem "becomes the capital of the Palestinian people, there
is no peace," he warned. "The term 'war' will not be erased from the
lexicon...as long as Jerusalem is occupied.
“If Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if [Jerusalem]
is lost, it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle,
all possibilities of war.
"Jerusalem is not just a city. Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque. Jerusalem
is the key to peace…. Unless Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was
throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the
capital of the Palestinian people, the place which is the object of
heartfelt longing and which all Muslims aspire to reach; unless
Jerusalem is like that way, there is no peace. There is no peace
without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem.”
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to host Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu and Abbas this week, has gradually changed his
position on Jerusalem. During his 2008 election campaign, he stated
that the city is the "undivided” capital of Israel, but he backtracked
the next day after Arab protests.
He explained that it was up to the PA and Israel to decide the borders
of the city and later stated that he meant the city should not be
divided by barbed wire, as it was during the Jordanian occupation
between 1948 and 1967.
In his “reaching out Muslims’ speech in Cairo in June 2008, President
Obama said he foresees the United Nations flag flying over the city.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)