Palestinian Authority TV (Fatah), August 20, 2010.
Palestinian Authority Minister of Religion Mahmoud Al-Habbash threatens war over the issue of Jerusalem, declaring that Jerusalem must be returned to “its owners” – the Palestinians – and that it will become the capital of the Palestinian people. He vows that there will be no peace or stability without Jerusalem and that war is a possibility as long as “Jerusalem is occupied .” PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is shown in the audience listening to the sermon.
Transcript:
Friday sermon by Mahmoud Al-Habbash, PA Minister of Religious Affairs, at the mosque at Mahmoud Abbas’s offices in Ramallah. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was in the audience:
Mahmoud Al-Habbash, PA Minister of Religious Affairs: “Jerusalem is not just a city. Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque. Jerusalem is the key to peace, and Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars. Unless the issue of Jerusalem is solved, so that it returns to its owners; unless Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the capital of the Palestinian people, the place which is the object of heartfelt longing and which all Muslims aspire to reach; unless Jerusalem is like that way, there is no peace. There is no peace without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem. If Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if is lost, it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle, all possibilities of war. The term ‘war’ cannot be erased from the lexicon of this region as long as Jerusalem is occupied, as long as Jerusalem is disgraced, as long as the residents of Jerusalem are being targeted. It’s not possible; Jerusalem has to return to its owners. And we are its owners.”
