RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jul 31, 01 (CWNews.com) - The following is ane exclusive CWN interview by Michael Hirst and Nicholas Jubber
[Appointed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Ekrima Said Sabri, Imam of the Al-Aqsa mosque, is the highest religious authority in Palestinian Islam. We met him at his home in Ramallah and questioned him about the continuing Intifada in the Holy Land.
CWN: How do you feel about the current situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Israel is doing its best to stop the Intifada of the Palestinians. The US, Great Britain, and even Russia are doing their best to save Sharon from this conflict. Sharon had promised that in 100 days he would finish the Intifada and get security for the Jews but this hasn't happened until now and the Intifada is continuing.
CWN: What are your requirements for a just and peaceful solution?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Justice must be first before peace, looking to the United Nations Resolutions which guide the Palestinian case. If the Israelis had implemented these resolutions, there wouldn't be an Intifada and everything would be going okay. Unfortunately from 1947 until our day now, Israel hasn't implemented a single UN resolution. And the world superpowers never used their influence to force Israel to implement these resolutions. And all the delegations who come here never come with the purpose of using their influence on Israel. They use their influence on Palestinians asking them to stop fighting Israel, to stop the bombings, as if they are doing this for the benefit of Israel. All American influence, since the arrival of the Palestinian Authority, has been on the Palestinians.
CWN: Is it realistic that all Palestinian refugees will be able to return to their homes?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Is it logical that Jews come here from Russia, Ethiopia and Germany and take Palestinian land? The Palestinians own their land here and they have more right to return to their property than a Jew who comes here and who had nothing here before. Is it just that Palestinians have been living miserable lives in camps for fifty years? The case for the refugees will never die. Now those born in the refugee camps, the grandsons of refugees, are asking to return to Palestine.
CWN: What is the role of the other Arab countries in this Intifada?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI The life of the refugees in all these countries is very difficult, and is not good for a human being. These Arab countries are supporting the Intifada, because it is their demand to bring resolution between Palestinians and Israelis. But their support is limited, and we hope it will be increased. They help with financial assistance and political issues.
CWN: Can violence solve the problems?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI The Palestinians have given a lot for the demands of Israel and couldn't reach any peaceful solutions. It is normal that they should get fed up and want to express their feelings, and that is what is happening now. There are many nations who used military resistance and in the end they got their demands. Of course we would prefer a peaceful solution for our case but it failed and we didn't get a result so we have no alternative but to fight. During the period of negotiations, Israel built many settlements in this country. That's how the Israeli mentality works. Israel doesn't work for peace; it tries to show the world that it wants peace, but what they want is the complete surrender of the Palestinians.
CWN: How do you respond to Israeli fears about the 'demographic threat' posed by the rapid increase of the Palestinian population?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Well, in the end the Palestinians will be in the majority. It is known that the Arabs have many children, but we don't stop the Jews from having children.
CWN: You have been quoted as calling for another Saladin to emerge to lead the Palestinians from occupation. Is this true?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Yes. Saladin was forced to use arms because he was facing arms from the crusaders. We considered the crusaders occupiers and now we consider the Jews occupiers also. From our point of view, the countries behind Israel (the US) are occupiers also. Now, we are hoping for a leader like Saladin to come.
CWN: Is Arafat that leader?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Neither Yasser Arafat, nor any PNA figure can be this leader. But we are always wishing from God that we will have another Saladin.
CWN: How are your relations with Chairman Arafat?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI They are very good. I was appointed by Arafat, but I am independent from him. Mine is a religious job which isn't limited to the land controlled by the Palestinian Authority. I represent all Palestinians inside all Israel, and I am therefore not just the Mufti of the Palestinian Authority, but the Mufti of all Palestinians.
CWN: Would you like to see international observers in the Occupied Territories?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI No. We will defend ourselves. There is no use for these; they have been used in Hebron and Lebanon and they didn't help at all.
CWN: What is the role of religion in the peace process?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI If the UN Resolutions were implemented, everything would be going peacefully. The Intifada started at Al Aqsa with the visit of Sharon. But it is not just for the sake of Al Aqsa but for the Palestinians to get their lives back sooner or later. In Islam, every matter in this life is connected to religion.
CWN: Do you gain any comfort from the Koran in these troubled times?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI The people are putting all their lives and needs into the Intifada. Our holy Koran is clear that I must not let my enemy take my land.
CWN: Would you let Jews pray anywhere on the Haram Al Sharif (Temple Mount)?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI No. They have nothing to do with it. Is there any holy place in this world that two religions share?
CWN: Do you accept that the Western Wall is important for the Jews?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI No. In 1939, the League of Nations agreed that this wall was for the Muslims. It is normal that the wall of a residence belongs to the residents. There is nothing to connect this wall with the Jews, neither religious or historical. They cry on the wall not for the sake of the wall but for what is behind it. They have their minds on Al Aqsa itself.
CWN: Are you concerned that some Jewish groups might converge on the Haram Al Sharif during the forthcoming Jewish festival, Tisha B'Av, which recalls the destruction of the Jewish temples?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI We will stop them, even by force.
CWN: What do you think of Israeli attempts to Judaise Jerusalem?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI I am against this because it is against peace. They have never stopped this, and they are continuing it.
CWN: Is it true that you have never greeted a Jew?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Yes. This is true, and I will not do so until the occupation ends.
CWN: Why have non-Muslims been banned from visiting the Haram Al Sharif?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI This happened after the visit of Sharon, which started the Intifada, and which was not a visit but a conquest. How could we accept non-Muslims in Al Aqsa when there are Muslims in and around Jerusalem who are unable to come and pray in Al Aqsa? If Jews come onto the Haram, we are afraid they might face something from the Muslims. We are not after more conflict on the Haram so it is better to keep it this way. The decision forbidding visits of non-Muslims is by the Muslim Authority.
CWN: What is your opinion of the Pope's visit to the region last year?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI The Pope's visit had no political use; it was a normal visit. We were hoping that he would use his influence on Israel but this didn't happen.
CWN: Did the Pope's visit improve dialogue between Christians and Muslims?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI No, because this has been going on for one thousand five hundred years. We don't need the Pope to encourage it. The media made a big deal of the visit but in fact it was nothing. It had no result for anything.
CWN: What is your opinion of the suicide bombers?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI These young men who explode themselves for Islamic and national purposes are greater than all others and have sacrificed themselves for a great cause.
CWN: Even if they kill 21 young Israeli civilians in a Tel Aviv nightclub?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Even if they kill all Israelis. Anyone who explodes himself in Israel is a great person. They are the most noble of all men, and they are alive in Heaven, in the highest form of Paradise, and God is taking care of them.
CWN: Are they terrorists?
EKRIMA SAID SABRI Why don't you ask the opinion of the Israeli soldier sitting in a tank throwing rockets at people; isn't he a terrorist? Isn't Sharon, who gives the orders for these attacks, a terrorist?
CWN Features
31. juli 2001