21 September 2011
The Palestinian Authority (PA) controlled by Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah has ordered all mosques to join its campaign in support of Abbas and the PA’s bid for UN membership.
An official letter posted on the website of the PA’s religious affairs ministry, in Arabic, and dated 20 September 2011, states the following:
Pursuant to the instructions of His Excellency, brother Dr. Mahmoud, Sidqi al-Habbash – may God save him – the Minister of Awqaf [Islamic foundations] and Religious Affairs, the following instructions should be issued to the muezzins [those who make the call to prayer], to praise God immediately after the completion of the expected speech of His Excellency President Abbas/President of the State of Palestine on Friday, 23 September 2011.
This is to express thanks to God for His favors, imploring Him to grant success to the Commander President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, and to guide his steps on the path to realizing the hopes of our people and the return of all our legitimate rights by the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
The letter is signed by Sheikh Khamis Mahmoud Abada, who is identified as “Assistant Undersecretary for Islamic outreach and guidance.”
In recent years, supported by the United States and Israel, the PA has imposed a strict regime of control on all West Bank mosques. This was supposedly to stop “extremists” – particularly Abbas’ rival and erstwhile coalition partner Hamas – from using the mosques for political purposes.
How ironic then that the supposedly “secular” PA so blatantly uses the mosques to promote a political leader who lacks any democratic legitimacy and accountability and to give his policies that enjoy no national consensus a veneer of divine legitimacy instead.
The misuse of mosques in this manner comes on the day when the PA staged a rally in downtown Ramallah in favor of the UN bid, instructing – according to media reports and eyewitnesses – PA employees to take paid time off work in order to attend.
Comments
The PA is an extenson of the arab regimes
Permalink Karmel Palestinian replied on
The PA is like any other opressive arab regime. This is just the type of madness that take place in Jordan, UAE, Saudi arabia, Egypt under Mubarak, Morocco etc.
Moreover, the rights of the Palestinian people is to have all of Palestine returned to us. What Abbas is trying to do has more to do with the PA and their own agenda which is based on foreign orders. Since when does a puppet dare to take such a move on his own by the way. Mahmoud Abbas probably were given the green light both by the US and israel for this. They are hopng to create a mini-mini-mini-Palestine where israel can dictate the borders etc. The puppet arafat was given OSLO and those who payed the price for it were us the Palestinian people and now it is happening again. Abbas will be rewarded with a deal (whether its the title statehood for small parts of Palestne or some other title such as the one the Vatican has) and the goal as usual is for the zionists to harm the Palestinian people and our cause while their puppet of the year and his fellow puppets appear as angels when in reality they are devils.
Im a Palestinian and i will never recognize that my country is only the 67 borders, let alone only parts of the 67 borders as what is being cooked for us. I dont want a mini Palestne with a dictator and a backward regime like the PA. I want the full liberation of Palestine who puts her people first unlike what the PA and Hamas do who put their own political parties first.
I am Palestinian from Nablus and every city and village in Palestine belongs to me and my people, not to the settlers who came from abroad and stole our country with the help of the british colonialists.
Haifa, Jerusalem, Nablus, Eilaboun, Gaza, Sakhnin, Ramallah, Nazareth, Jenine, Hebron, Qalqilya, Safad, Bethlehem, Naqab, Shefa Amr, Sabastya, Beit Jala - Every village, every city every inch belongs to the Palestinians. Israel and the PA will both end up in the trashcan of history.