This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5822

MB Leader Yusuf al- Qaradawi Visits Gaza - "Our Whole Ambition Is To Die On The Path To Allah"

May 9, 2013

Radical Egyptian Cleric Visits Gaza

Radical Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Wednesday started a visit to Hamas-ruled Gaza, crossing via Rafiah, on the border with Egypt.

AFP reported that Egyptian-born al-Qaradawi, who is a citizen of Qatar and close to the Muslim Brotherhood, arrived in Gaza shortly after 9:30 p.m. local time.

Sheikh al-Qaradawi led a delegation of 50 clerics from 14 countries and was greeted by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, according to AFP.

"Our whole ambition is to die on the path to Allah, and for long life to Palestine," he said on arrival, adding that he was last in Gaza in 1958.

"I am sure we will conquer. Nobody thought that the people would triumph and oust the tyrants who ruled Egypt and Tunisia. And Syria will also emerge victorious, as well as Islam," he said, referring to the Arab Spring revolts.

Haniyeh, in a welcome address, told al-Qaradawi it was "an honor for us to receive the sheikh of the Arab Spring on the soil of Palestine."

Qaradawi said the aim of the three-day trip to Gaza was to "support its people and participate in lifting the (Israeli) blockade against them."

Al-Qaradawi has in the past said in a religious edict that Muslims should not visit Jerusalem "because it requires dealing with Zionist embassies to obtain visas."

The edict added said that "Such visits might also give legitimacy to the occupation and could be seen as normalization."

Qaradawi provided the religious sanction for the suicide bombing campaign against Israel. In January 2009 he claimed that Hitler had put the Jews in their place and that the Holocaust was "divine punishment".

His visit to Gaza was condemned by the Palestinian Authority, which said such visits were "harmful to the Palestinian people."

"The Palestinian Authority's position has been clear; each visit of political significance which gives legitimacy to Hamas' rule in Gaza is harmful to the Palestinian people and their interests," PA minister of endowment Mahmoud al-Habbash said, according to PA-based Ma'an news agency.

"Al-Qaradawi should have taken back the Fatwa he issued considering visits to Jerusalem by Muslims illegal according to the Islamic law because the holy city is under occupation," al-Habbash told Ma'an.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/167868

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Elad Benari

Israel has no right to exist, a radical Muslim cleric visiting Gaza declared on Thursday, encouraging rocket attacks on the Jewish State.

Yusuf al-Qaradawi warned that nobody was allowed to cede "any part of Palestine" during his visit to the Hamas-controlled region, according to AFP.

"No one is allowed to give up any part of Palestine," the Egyptian-born Qardawi said during a meeting with Gaza's prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and members of the government.

Qaradawi, who is a citizen of Qatar and close to the Muslim Brotherhood, was heading of a delegation of 50 clerics from 14 countries.

"Palestine was never Jewish," he said. "Palestine is Arab and Muslim and will remain Arab and Muslim, and Islam will prevail."

"The rockets made in Gaza are more powerful than the occupation's rockets," added Qardawi.

Haniyeh, who handed Qaradawi a "Palestinian" passport, reaffirmed that his would "never give up or recognize Israel."

"We will not give up our rights, we will never give up an inch of Palestine and won't allow anyone to cede a grain of Palestinian land," he said, according to AFP.

Qaradawi, who arrived in Gaza on Wednesday, is leading a delegation of 50 clerics from 14 countries.

Qaradawi provided the religious sanction for the suicide bombing campaign against Israel. In January 2009 he claimed that Hitler had put the Jews in their place and that the Holocaust was "divine punishment."

His visit to Gaza was condemned by the Palestinian Authority, which said such visits were "harmful to the Palestinian people."

"The Palestinian Authority's position has been clear; each visit of political significance which gives legitimacy to Hamas' rule in Gaza is harmful to the Palestinian people and their interests," PA minister of endowment Mahmoud al-Habbash said, according to PA-based Ma'an news agency.

"Al-Qaradawi should have taken back the Fatwa he issued considering visits to Jerusalem by Muslims illegal according to the Islamic law because the holy city is under occupation," al-Habbash told Ma'an.

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5822