Friday Sermon on Palestinian Authority TV

The following are excerpts from a Friday sermon delivered by Palestinian Authority Imam Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi[1] at the Sheikh 'Ijlin Mosque in Gaza City, broadcast live on April 12, 2002 by Palestinian Authority television:

".Oh, beloved of Allah. [In the Friday sermon] two weeks ago, I bore in your name a blessing of love to the crowns upon our heads, [that is] to the Arab and Muslim rulers. Among other things, I said: 'Oh crowns upon our heads: If Sharon spat in your faces, what would you do?' Today I apologize for these words, because Sharon has not only spat on the heads of the nation, but also trampled us underfoot."

"We are convinced of the [future] victory of Allah; we believe that one of these days, we will enter Jerusalem as conquerors, enter Jaffa as conquerors, enter Haifa as conquerors, enter Ramle and Lod as conquerors, the [villages of] Hirbiya and Dir Jerjis and all of Palestine as conquerors, as Allah has decree. 'They will enter Al-Aqsa Mosque as they have entered it the first time.'"

"Anyone who does not attain martyrdom in these days should wake in the middle of the night and say: 'My God, why have you deprived me of martyrdom for your sake? For the martyr lives next to Allah'."

"Our enemies suffer now more than we do. Why? Because we are convinced that our dead go to Paradise, while the dead of the Jews go to Hell, to a cruel fate. So we stand firm and steadfast, in obedience to Allah."

"The Jews await the false Jewish messiah, while we await, with Allah's help. the Mahdi and Jesus, peace be upon him. Jesus's pure hands will murder the false Jewish messiah. Where? In the city of Lod, in Palestine. Palestine will be, as it was in the past, a graveyard for the invaders - just as it
was a graveyard for the Tatars and to the Crusader invaders, [and for the invaders] of the old and new colonialism."

"A reliable Hadith [tradition] says: 'The Jews will fight you, but you will be set to rule over them.' What could be more beautiful than this tradition? 'The Jews will fight you' - that is, the Jews have begun to fight us. 'You will be set to rule over them' - Who will set the Muslim to rule over the Jew? Allah. Until the Jew hides behind the rock and the tree."

"But the rock and tree will say: 'Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, a Jew hides behind me, come and kill him.' Except for the Gharqad tree, which is the tree of the Jews."

"We believe in this Hadith. We are convinced also that this Hadith heralds the spread of Islam and its rule over all the land."

"Oh beloved, look to the East of the earth, find Japan and the ocean; look to the West of the earth, find [some] country and the ocean. Be assured that these will be owned by the Muslim nation, as the Hadith says. 'from the ocean to the ocean.'"

"Oh Allah, accept our martyrs in the highest heavens."

"Oh Allah, show the Jews a black day."

"Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters."

"Oh Allah, raise the flag of Jihad across the land."

"Oh Allah, forgive our sins."[2]

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[1] Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi is a Palestinian Authority employee.

[2] Palestine Television (Palestinian Authority), April 12, 2002.

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The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent, non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background information, are available on request.

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