🚀 go-pugleaf

(Die Juden sollen dahin zur�ckgehen, woher sie kamen)

Die Welt: The new Intifada is named after the Al-Aqsa Mosque which is 
on the Temple Mount. On January 4, the Chief Rabbinate declared that 
Jewish Halacha (Religious Law) prohibits "the transfer of sovereignty 
over the Temple Mount to foreigners, whether directly or indirectly", 
for it is the holiest place for the Jewish people. Four days later, 
you declared in a Fatwa that the place is Muslim in its entirety. Is 
this an unsolvable contradiction?
Sabri: There is not [even] the smallest indication of the existence 
of a Jewish temple on this place in the past. In the whole city, 
there is not even a single stone indicating Jewish History. Our 
right, on the other hand, is very clear. This place belongs to us for 
1500 years. Even when it was conquered by the Crusaders, it remained 
Al-Aqsa, and we got it back soon afterwards. The Jews do not even 
know exactly where their temple stood. Therefore, we do not accept 
that they have any rights, underneath the surface or above it.

Die Welt: It is agreed among archeologists that the Wailing-Wall is 
part of the foundation of Herod's temple. The Bible and other antique 
sources report about this place in detail. Why can't you respect the 
Jewish connection to this place?
Sabri: It is the art of the Jews to deceive the world. But they can't 
do it to us. There is not a single stone in the Wailing-Wall relating 
to Jewish History. The Jews cannot legitimately claim this wall, 
neither religiously nor historically. The Committee of the League of 
Nations recommended in 1930, to allow the Jews to pray there, in 
order to keep them quiet. But by no means did it acknowledge that the 
wall belongs to them.

Die Welt: Why don't you allow Israeli scientists to dig there to look 
for possible remnants and proofs for or against the existence of the 
Jewish temple?
Sabri: We categorically reject all excavations under the Al-Aqsa 
mosque, because they would endanger the historical buildings on the 
site. Besides, they have already dug everywhere. All they could find 
were remnants of buildings from the Omayyad-period. Everything they 
excavated was related to Arabs and Muslims.

Die Welt: King Hussein once proposed "Divine Sovereignty" over Temple 
Mount, in order to reduce the tensions between peoples and religions 
there�
Sabri: We accept God's sovereignty. That is why this mosque is called 
Al-Aqsa. Allah himself gave it this name. Allah wants the place to 
belong to the Muslims and to no one else. This is acceptable to us.

Die Welt: Would you agree, if necessary, to the internationalization 
of the city, in order to manage these unsolvable problems?
Sabri: An internationalized Jerusalem would be worse for us than a 
Zionist Jerusalem. In such a case, the entire world, and not only one 
state, would be against us. This would be a regression to colonial 
times.

Die Welt: On March 23, the Pope said in Jerusalem: "Religion must 
never be an excuse for the use of force especially when religious 
identity overlaps with cultural and national identity." How would you 
answer him?
Sabri: Any religious man would agree with that. We also believe that 
religion is not the reason for the hatred between peoples. Only those 
without religion ignore that. But who are they? Who occupies and 
destroys other peoples and their property?

Die Welt: The Intifada is also violent. Wasn't the peaceful 
resistance with which Gandhi ended British colonialism in India, more 
successful?
Sabri: We have fought for peace without using violence since 1967. 
But no one listened to us. We won resolutions in the UN, but no one 
lifted a finger for us.

Die Welt: In your July 2000 Fatwa you declared: "We insist on the 
Right of Return for all the 1948 refugees and prohibit them from 
getting compensations for [the loss] of the Holy Land, for it has no 
price. What are the borders of this Holy Land that you refer to?
Sabri: From an Islamic point of view, it stretches from the 
Mediterranean to the Jordan [River]. It is Palestine in its entirety.

Die Welt: And there is no place for the Israelis?
Sabri: For the Jews who lived here before, there will be a place, of 
course. But all those Jews who came here from all over the world, 
must return to the places from where they came. The Jews from Germany 
should return to Germany. (laughs) After all, you like them so much, 
don't you?

Die Welt: Does this mean, that there is no place here for a Jewish 
state?
Sabri: I didn't address this issue in my Fatwa. All I said was that 
the refugees must return. I didn't say anything about the borders.

Interview with Ikrima Sabri, Mufti of Jerusalem, appointed by the 
Palestinian authority, in the German newspaper Die Welt, January 17, 
2001.
Translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an 
independent, non-profit organization providing translations of the 
media of the Middle East.