From: R. Coyote (coyyote@hotmail.com)
Date: Sun Apr 07 2002 - 14:01:26 MDT
"He says that the young
people executing them have sold Allah the most precious thing of all."
"
Why young people?
If I was one of those poor sots , I'd be thinking.. um.. hey Sheiki Wheikh
.. you first!
I agree.. now go show us
*BOOM*
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael M. Butler" <butler@comp-lib.org>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Sunday, April 07, 2002 9:31 AM
Subject: POLITICS/RELIGION: Grim Prospects Redux [Fwd: Arabic Press]
>
> Culled from various Arabic presses.
>
> Posted: Friday, April 05, 2002
>
> Leading Egyptian Government Cleric Calls For: "Martyrdom Attacks that
Strike
> Horror into the Hearts of the Enemies of Allah"
>
> http://memri.org/news.html#1018042383
>
> Within the past year, Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the top Egyptian
cleric
> of Al-Azhar University, has shifted his position regarding the targeting
of
> civilians in suicide bombings. While he previously stated that
Palestinians
> should refrain from targeting civilians,(1) he recently declared that
martdyom
> (suicide) operations and the killing of civilians are permitted acts and
that
> more such attacks should be carried out. Tantawi's positions were posted
on
> www.lailatalqadr.com, a website associated with Al-Azhar. The following
are
> excerpts from the report:
>
>
> "The great Imam of Al-Azhar Sheikh Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, demanded that
the
> Palestinian people, of all factions, intensify the martyrdom operations
[i.e.
> suicide attacks] against the Zionist enemy, and described the martyrdom
> operations as the highest form of Jihad operations. He says that the young
> people executing them have sold Allah the most precious thing of all."
>
>
> "[Sheikh Tantawi] emphasized that every martyrdom operation against any
> Israeli, including children, women, and teenagers, is a legitimate act
> according to [Islamic] religious law, and an Islamic commandment, until
the
> people of Palestine regain their land and cause the cruel Israeli
aggression
> to retreat."
>
>
> These words were spoken at a reception held by Sheikh Tantawi for Israeli
Arab
> Democratic Party leader Abd Al-Wahhab Al-Darawsheh and the delegation that
> accompanied him. During the meeting, Al-Darawsheh stressed the depth of
> relations between the Palestinian and Egyptian peoples, and stated that
the
> Palestinian people was steadfast, would not abandon its land and would
> continue in its path until it achieved one of two good things: victory or
> martyrdom.(2)
>
>
> Egypt's new mufti, Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, also expressed his support
for
> suicide attacks. Sheikh Al-Tayyeb took office when the term of his
> predecessor, Sheikh Nasr Farid Wasil, was not renewed due to his
opposition to
> Sheikh Tantawi's previous religious rulings against suicide attacks.
>
>
> Until now, in all of his interviews with the Egyptian press since becoming
> mufti, Sheikh Al-Tayyeb has avoided discussing suicide bombings. But since
> Sheikh Tantawi's call for suicide attacks, Sheikh Al-Tayyeb has declared
that
> "the solution to the Israeli terror lies in a proliferation of Fidai
> [martyrdom] attacks that strike horror into the hearts of the enemies of
> Allah. The Islamic countries, peoples and rulers alike, must support these
> martyrdom attacks."(3)
>
>
> It should be noted that a March 18, 2002 demonstration at Al-Azhar
University
> featured eight students who had been trained to carry out suicide attacks
> against Israelis.(4) Volunteering for suicide bombings against Israelis
has
> become a popular expression in Egypt - so much so that Mahmoud Al-Zahhar,
a
> Hamas leader in Gaza, told the Israeli Arab weekly Kul Al-Arab, "Two days
ago,
> in Alexandria, enrolment began for volunteers for martyrdom [operations].
Two
> thousand students from the University of Alexandria signed up to die a
> martyr's death. This is the real Egyptian people."(5)
> ________________________________________
>
>
>
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