Did anyone read this in the Jerusalem Post?
Following the killing of at least eight Palestinian demonstrators by the IDF in Rafah yesterday, the imam of the Islamic Assembly in Gaza (the organisation founded and formerly headed by the late Sheikh Ahmed Yassin), Sheikh Ibrahim Madhi, issued a fatwa on Wednesday. He ruled that Islamic law permits Palestinian militants to target Jewish "so-called civilians" in acts of resistance as, in the long run, overthrowing the "Zionist occupation" will save Muslim lives. "The law of our Qur'an is to have mercy on our fighters and to save them. This is the real moral behind Islam and we must not feel guilty due to Western, Zionist morals" he said. Mahdi maintained, however, that the deliberate killing of a Muslim civilian in similar circumstances could not be justified, as Muslim lives are more important than non-Muslim lives.
Sheikh Mahdi issued a similar ruling against the backdrop of the fighting at the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. He is considered among the most learned sages of the Qur'an.
"Without any doubt, he is among the most learned scholars of the Qur'an, but he is viewed as an extremist among some more moderate sectors," said Dr. Ahmad Abu Halabiya of Gaza City's Ibrahimi Mosque. However, in the radicalized Gaza Strip, it is clear that Mahdi's views and interpretation of Islamic Law enjoy far more popularity and acceptance in the local mosques than Abu Halabiya's relatively dovish interpretations.
So far, the majority of Palestinian religious leaders have refused to condemn or repudiate Mahdi's views. Dr Abu Halabiya suggested that because of Mahdi's deep knowledge of Islamic law, most imams refrain from challenging his understanding of the Qur'an and Hadith.
In fact, the official religious establishment as a whole, not just the radical Islamic Assembly, consistently supports whatever attacks Palestinian militants carry out against Jewish civilians, partly die to the influence of an earlier fatwa of the same Sheikh Mahdi, who ruled in 1994 that "Muslim blood is redder than non-Muslim blood" and that "a Muslim life is preferred by Allah over a non-Muslim life".
PA Negotiations Minister and member of the PLC, Dr. Saeb Erekat, in response to Mahdi's fatwa, said Wednesday that "Terrorist groups like Hamas are currently the best friends that Sharon has in destroying the peace process. Nothing justifies the killing of one Israeli or one Palestinian. We have an obligation to stop this".
Oh, hold on a minute, I made that up. In fact that entire fatwa story is entirely bogus, except for the Erekat quotes at the end. I seem to have got my fundamentalists mixed up, and have confused the rabid Palestinian Sheikh Mahdi with the equally-afflicted Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior. Based on Ha'aretz's IDF allowed to hurt civilians and al-Jazeera's Rabbi supports killings in Rafah, this is how the story should actually read:
The Chairman of the Jewish Rabbinical Council issued a religious pronouncement on Wednesday, ruling that the killing of Palestinian "so-called" civilians by Israeli troops is compatible with religious laws if it saves the lives of Jewish soldiers. "The law of our Torah is to have mercy on our soldiers and to save them. This is the real moral behind Israel's Torah and we must not feel guilty due to foreign morals," the Ma'ariv Israeli newspaper quoted him as saying. He added that Jewish lives were more important than non-Jewish lives.
A similar ruling was made in the past by Rabbi Lior against the backdrop of the fighting at the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. He is considered among the most learned sages of the Torah.
"Without any doubt, he is among the most learned scholars of the Torah, but he is viewed as an extremist among some liberal sectors," said Rabbi Menachem Froman from the Tku' settlement near Bethlehem. However, after speaking to many rabbis, it is clear that Lior's views and interpretation of Jewish Law enjoy far more popularity and acceptance than Froman’s relatively dovish interpretations. Lior, like most of the rabbis of the Gush Emunim settler movement, believes that Biblical commandments such as "thou shall not murder" refer only to the murder of Jews since the Torah was given to Jews, not Gentiles.
So far, the majority of Israeli religious leaders, including the two Grand Rabbis, have refused to condemn or repudiate Lior's views. Rabbi Froman suggested that because of Lior's deep knowledge of Jewish law, most rabbis refrain from challenging his understanding of the Torah and Talmud. In fact, the Israeli official religious establishment, not just Gush Emunim rabbis, consistently supports attacks carried out by the IDF against Palestinian civilians. In 1994, Rabbi Lior strongly supported the murder of 29 Palestinian worshippers praying at Abraham's tomb in Hebron, explaining to his followers that "Jewish blood was redder than non-Jewish blood … and that a Jewish life is preferred by the Lord than a non-Jewish life".
Meretz MK Ran Cohen, in response to Lior's statement, said Wednesday that "Dov Lior puts to shame the concept of rabbi, Judaism, Zionism and all of Israel's citizens... [W]oe to us that such a negative element has grown among us, and we should be ashamed that his opinion is accepted and even favored by certain groups in Israel," he said.
For religious balance, I should of course add a Christian wingbat to the mix and write up the same story in the apocalyptic style of Pat Robertson or even Republican Jesus, but I'm sure you get my drift. I love the smell of religious fundamentalism in the morning. Smells like ..... Armageddon.
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