Touble in the Holy Land

Monday April 15, 2002 01:52

by Jon Dougherty - World Net Daily

Muslim cleric calls for death of Arafat. Says Israel should continue offensive until he's executed

A noted Italian Muslim leader and regional expert has called on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to continue his military campaign against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat until the latter is "executed or jailed."
"Sheikh [Prof. Abdul Hadi] Palazzi asks Prime Minister Sharon not to stop the military operation against the boss of terror, until the day when the Egyptian criminal Abdel Ra'uf al-Kobdah [aka Yasser Arafat]" is neutralized for good.
Palazzi, who is secretary-general of the Italian Muslim Association, also said he approved of Sharon's decision to "destroy the centers of the Arafatian terror in Israel" and accused the Palestinian Authority chairman of inciting "more than 30 years of barbarian and indiscriminate terror."
Meanwhile, Sheikh Ali Hussen, president of the Italian Muslim Association, also praised Sharon's actions.
In a joint communiqué published yesterday, Hussen said, "Arafat's wickedness has reached the extreme limit of what humanity can bear, and … it is time for that murderer of Jews, of Christians and of Muslims, for the man who has been spreading terror on the face of earth, to pay the final bill for his numberless crimes."
"We ask Prime Minister Sharon not to move a step back – as already happened before – since [setting] that criminal free again could only have the consequence [of making] Israel appear unsafe and weak," the communiqué said. "'Arafat' is at least entrapped, and it is essential that the only alternative is between executing, imprisoning or expelling him. Whichever option is chosen, the world must be assured that 'Arafat' will not able to shed blood anymore."
Palazzi has a distinguished history of defending Israel's right to exist. In an April 17, 2001, interview with WorldNetDaily, Palazzi said that right is even described in the Koran, the Muslim holy book.
"And thereafter we said to the Children of Israel: 'Dwell securely in the Promised Land. And when the last warning will come to pass, we will gather you together in a mingled crowd,'" the Koran says in 17:104, The Night Journey.
The Italian cleric, who is also the Muslim co-chair of the Islam-Israel Fellowship of the Root and Branch Association – which promotes the study and practice of universal Jewish teachings – said much of what is known and written about Jews and so-called Palestinians is mythical.
He says one of the most common misconceptions in the current Arab-Israeli conflict is that in reality, "there is no such thing as a 'Palestinian.'
"There never was. It is a PR fiction, a Madison Avenue fantasy," he said.
Meanwhile, reports yesterday said the Bush administration was giving Arafat one last chance to renounce terrorism or risk losing any remaining American support.
"The message is: This is it. Last chance," said one unnamed U.S. official in Israel with Secretary of State Colin Powell, according to the Jerusalem Post.