Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Big Whoopty Doo
Haaretz has the big story: P.A. bankrolled mufti issues fatwa against attacking Israel!
Let's review: Mufti issues fatwa to terrorists on behalf of the official Palestinian leadership. (Actually, that part I do find significant.) His fatwa orders them to wait to attack, shoot, bomb, and whatever else they can think of, until after the Palestinian leadership has a chance to unwrap its present. Once that limited tactical goal is achieved, the shiek has been careful to remind the faithful of the "status quo fatwa":
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
In case you didn't get the absolute significance of this watershed moment, Haaretz wants to make sure this is clear to you:
A senior Palestinian religious leader has issued an edict banning shooting attacks against Israeli security forces and settlements, out of concern they might lead to a postponement of the pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of northern Samaria.
'Anyone who causes the delay of the withdrawal of the occupation, or prolongs its existence on Islamic soil, is committing a crime according to Islamic law,' Sheikh Jamal al-Bawatna, the mufti of the Ramallah district, says in a fatwa issued in the past few days.
Yes, pardon me, it's not just significant, it's extremely significant.
Like other muftis, al-Bawatna receives his salary from the Palestinian Authority, but nevertheless the fatwa is extremely significant since this is the first time that a Muslim cleric has forbidden shooting at Israeli forces.
Let's review: Mufti issues fatwa to terrorists on behalf of the official Palestinian leadership. (Actually, that part I do find significant.) His fatwa orders them to wait to attack, shoot, bomb, and whatever else they can think of, until after the Palestinian leadership has a chance to unwrap its present. Once that limited tactical goal is achieved, the shiek has been careful to remind the faithful of the "status quo fatwa":
For this B.S. Haaretz swoons? Someone, please pass the smelling salts, quick!
The sheikh writes that all Muslims have "the categorical right to act by any accepted means according to religious law, such as armed struggle, negotiations or any other means that will free their land."
