PA Supervised Sermon: Palestine [including inside Green Line] is an Islamic
land, which must not be relinquished
[FBIS (US Government service) Translated Excerpt]
[With thanks to www.mideastweb.org/mewnews1.htm ]

WEST BANK & Ramallah Voice of Palestine, official radio station
of the Palestinian Authority, on February 6, 2004 at 1000 GMT carries a
24-minute live sermon from Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Shaykh Yusuf Abu-Sunaynah delivers the sermon. After praising God,
the messenger, and his companions, he calls on "the servants of God" to
worship and obey God and to help one another, reminding Muslims of the
Hereafter and God's punishment.

Turning to the Palestine question, the imam discusses the Saudi peace
initiative, which, he says, was based on two main points for putting an end
to the Arab-Israeli conflict. He says: "The first point calls for Israel's
withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories to beyond the 4 June 1967
borders. The second point calls for recognizing the State of Israel,
establishing diplomatic relations with it, and normalizing political,
economic, tourism, and scientific relations with it. The Saudi ideas for
resolving the crisis are not new. The kingdom presented them about six
months ago but Israel rejected them at that time.

The initiative includes ideas contributing to the cancellation of the
repatriation right of more than 2 million Palestinians in the diaspora.
It also calls for settling 1.5 million Palestinians in Saudi Arabia and Iraq
and granting Palestinians in Jordan the Jordanian citizenship. There are
many question marks on that initiative. Can this initiative see light
amid the changes which have resulted from the occupation of Iraq and the
Libyan regime's abandonment of its nuclear armament program? Moreover,
the Arab countries hold secret negotiations with Israel in order to
normalize relations with it. Peace treaties also exist between Israel on
the one hand and Egypt and Jordan on the other. Therefore, the Arab
climate is prepared for that initiative.

Can the United States pressure Israel into accepting that initiative
as a comprehensive, face saving solution in front of the world, which is now
aware of US allegations and lies about the existence of weapons of mass
destruction in Iraq? Before responding to these questions, we have to
explain the Islamic viewpoint. It is Islam that distinguished between
good and bad. This initiative, like the Oslo, Madrid, and other accords
between Palestinians and Israelis, violates the Islamic law. The land of
Palestine is an Islamic land, which must not be relinquished. The
previous agreements have produced destruction, disaster, and suffering for
our steadfast, patient Muslim people on their land because they are based on
ideas and principles conflicting with the Islamic law. From the
political viewpoint, this initiative indicates our nation's weakness and the
Arab regime's failure to foil their enemies' schemes. The initiative
cancels the repatriation right.

Israel has declined to react to this initiative because it is
preoccupied with its unilateral plans, including the construction of the
racial wall and drawing a borderline that will provide it with security and
stability. The Israeli prime minister has announced the possibility of
handing over the triangle area, which is inhabited by a majority of Arab
Muslims, to the Palestinian Authority because the spread of Islam in this
area troubles the Israeli side. The United States has not pressed the
Israeli Government to accept the Saudi initiative because the US
Administration is in dire need of Jewish votes in the US presidential
elections at the end of this year.

O steadfast Muslims, the solution is in our hands. The solution
is in the Koran and the messenger's traditions." The imam then urges the
Islamic countries' leaders to learn a lesson from the messenger's companions
in order to regain their rights.

In conclusion, the imam prays to God: "O God, help Muslims improve
their situation and defeat Your enemy and their enemy. O God, destroy
the Muslims' enemies."