On 3 March 2017, Syrian-Jordanian cleric Sheikh Muhammad Sa’id Hawa delivered a Friday sermon proudly proclaiming that Palestinian children were nurtured, along with their mother’s breast milk, with the notion that Palestine was pure Muslim and Arab land, plundered by the Jews. The significance of this sermon is that the prominent French historian Georges Bensoussan was prosecuted for saying as much. But the Sheikh finds the Palestinian notion perfectly acceptable, while a westerner quoting such pronouncements is guilty of racism and incitement to hatred. (with thanks: Lily)
“What racist hate speech are they talking about?” he (the Sheikh) asked. The sermon was delivered at ‘Aisha Mosque, Amman, Jordan, and broadcast by the Jordanian Yarmouk TV channel.
Muhammad Sa’id Hawa: “Who are the ones who use racist hate speech? The leaders of the Zionists and the West claim that the Palestinians are nurturing their children, from a very young age, on racist and hostile hate speech, and that the Palestinians must stop nurturing their children on this hostile discourse.
“They are lying! Who are the ones who use racist hate speech?
“Indeed, the Palestinians nurture their children from a very young age, and even feed them – along with their mother’s breast milk – on the notion that this land [Palestine] is a pure Muslim and Arab land, that this land was plundered by the Jews, that the only ones with rights to this land are those who fear Allah and worship Him, that the only ones with rights to this land are Muslims, or Arabs who are loyal to Muslims and support them. Yes, this is what we nurture our children on, and we will continue to do so.
“What racist hate speech are they talking about? The [Jews] are the ones who came as foreign aggressors from all over the world. They came as aggressors and plundered this sacred land, violating its sanctities and driving out its inhabitants.
“So who is using racist hate speech? Thus, we should not talk about employing discourse of tolerance and forgiveness.”
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