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In this mailing:
by Khaled Abu Toameh
• July 30, 2015 at 5:00 am
- While many in the
international community and media hold Israel fully responsible for the
plight of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Abrash offers a
completely different perspective.
- Referring to
widespread corruption under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West
Bank, the former Palestinian minister reveals that Palestinian academic
institutions, including universities and colleges, have become
"commercial projects for granting certificates that have no
scientific value or content."
- This is a voice
that is rarely given a platform in mainstream media outlets in the West,
whose journalists continue to focus almost entirely on stories that
reflect negatively on Israel. Western journalists based in the Middle
East tend to ignore Palestinians who are critical of the PA or Hamas,
because such criticism does not fit the narrative according to which
Israel is solely responsible for all the bad things that happen to the
Palestinians.
- Abrash's
criticism of Hamas and the PA -- whom he openly holds responsible for
the suffering of their people -- actually reflects the widespread
sentiment among Palestinians. Over the past few years, a growing number
of Palestinians have come to realize that their leaders have failed them
again and again and are now aware that both Hamas and the PA, as corrupt
as ever, are hindering efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
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J'Accuse. Dr. Ibrahim Abrash, a former
Palestinian Minister of Culture (left), accuses Palestinian Authority and
Hamas officials of corruption, extortion, opportunism and hypocrisy.
Pictured in the middle is PA President Mahmoud Abbas, and at right Hamas
leader Ismail Haniyeh.
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It is almost unheard of for a prominent Palestinian figure to hold the
Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas equally responsible for corruption and
abuse of power.
Dr. Ibrahim Abrash, a former Palestinian Minister of Culture from the
Gaza Strip, recently surprised many Palestinians by publishing an article
that included a scathing attack on both the PA and Hamas, holding them
responsible for the continued suffering of their people.
In his article, Dr. Abrash also holds the two Palestinian parties
responsible for the delay in rebuilding thousands of houses that were
destroyed or damaged in the Gaza Strip during last year's military conflict
between Israel and Hamas. He points out that Hamas and the PA have been
holding each other responsible for the suffering of Palestinians.
"Sometimes, they also put all the blame on Israel for all that is
happening in the Gaza Strip," he said.
by Denis MacEoin
• July 30, 2015 at 4:00 am
- With Islam, how
it is possible to dialogue with a faith that denies the divinity of
Christ, regards the Bible as corrupt, believes that all Christians are
the inferiors of Muslims and are destined to hell fire? What is there to
talk about if both sides are to be honest about their beliefs?
- When members of
ISIS murder apostates, it is hard to condemn them, as that is what the
Prophet did. When they take slave girls as war booty, that is what the
Prophet did. Waging jihad is an injunction in many chapters of the
Qur'an.
- I do not know
what copy of the Qur'an Pope Francis has been shown, but it is clearly
very different to any copy in my possession, whether the original Arabic
or a translation.
- When hate
preachers in British mosques convey a violent or intolerant message to
their congregants, they do so by quoting the Qur'an as the Word of God,
thereby sanctioning acts of jihad. To ignore this is to hamper us in our
efforts to bring Muslims into peaceful relations with the West, with all
non-Muslims and especially with one another.
- What was striking
was that, instead of successive generations of Muslims becoming better
integrated into British society, the younger they are, the more radical
they become. Apparently the majority of Muslims do not feel particularly
progressive.
- Only 34% of
British Muslims believe the Holocaust happened. 62% of Muslims here do
not support freedom of speech. Only 7% of Muslims in the UK consider
themselves as British first. CSP Poll this year reported that 38% of
Muslim-Americans say Islamic State (ISIS) beliefs are Islamic or
correct. Figures such these are indicative of a wider level of
acceptance of extreme ideas than your comments and those of many
politicians suggest.
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Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster
(center). Image source: Catholic Church England and Wale
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On June 19, when Britain's Prime Minister, David Cameron, spoke at the
2015 Global Security Forum in Bratislava, one section (under the heading
'Clarity') drew widespread attention from the media and politicians, and from
some the religious realm.
In that passage, Cameron spoke about the threat posed by the Islamic
State (IS, ISIS, ISIL, or, in Arabic, Da'ish). "In ISIL," he
started, "we have one of the biggest threats our world has faced."
He went on to express concern about the way in which young British Muslims
were being drawn into the ISIS web through the internet or within their
communities:
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