World

Feeding The Fire

Imam Qazwini
pushes hard line
against Israel in
speech to young
Muslims.

Don Cohen
Special to the Jewish News

F

fifty years of occupation, 50 years
of aggression, and 50 years of
mistreating innocent people in
Palestine, and 50 years of attacking our
Islamic symbols" — that's how Imam
Sayed Hassan Qazwini described the State
of Israel to a Feb. 9 gathering of his youth
program, the Young Muslim Association
(YMA) of the Islamic Center of America.
Imam Qazwini, a national and inter-
national figure often courted by political
leaders and the news media, is the spiri-
tual leader of the Dearborn mosque.
In an English-language speech that
was posted on the YMA Web site, but has
since been removed, Imam Qazwini told
the young Muslims that Israel was dig-
ging "right inside the third holiest site in
Islam," the Al Aqsa mosque.
For years, various Muslim groups, the
Arab League, Persian Iran and some Arab
nations have accused Israel of seeking to
destroy the mosque in order to rebuild
the Jewish Temple on the site. Israel has
denied the accusations and independent
media sources have confirmed that the
current construction of a new ramp lead-
ing to the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif
is outside of the holy site, and neither
inside nor underneath the mosque as
Imam Qazwini and other critics have
claimed.
In his speech, the imam also
charged that earlier that day, Feb.
9, Israel had killed "innocent
Palestinian civilians" who were pro-
testing the alleged Israeli actions,
though the media reported no
deaths. The Feb. 10 issue of the New
York Times reported "minor injuries"
to 19 Israeli police officers and 17
Palestinian protesters. Imam Qazwini
told the gathering that he learned of

This rendering from the Israel Antiquities Authority shows the new Mughrabi Gate
ramp is far from the Al Aqsa mosque.

the killings and other Israeli actions
on satellite television reports from
the Middle East.
Imam Qazwini also told the gathering
that Israel was behind the 1969 fire in the
Al Aqsa mosque started by a mentally
deranged Australian Christian, though he
said it happened in 1967.

Broad Sweep

Imam Qazwini's hard line against Israel
also extended to Arab countries that main-
tain relations with Israel. He condemned
those Arab and Muslim leaders for "selling
their principles and their religion': calling
them "a bunch of traitors, unfortunately, a
bunch of hypocrites" for having relations
with Israel, which he called "vicious."
"On one side, they say on their channels,
especially on Al Jazeera, they always speak
about the Israeli enemy:' Imam Qazwini
said of the leaders. "Practically, under the
table, they always meet with Israeli offi-
cials, always give a green light to the Israeli
government to continue its aggression and
injustice against the Palestinian people."
"Excavation operations right inside the
third holiest site in Islam doesn't bother
these kings and holy princes at all:' Imam
Qazwini said, blaming them for a con-
spiracy to undermine and create a divide
between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Imam Qazwini is a Shiite, which com-
prises approximately 15 percent of all
Muslims. Hezbollah and Persian Iran are
Shia; Hamas, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian
Authority and most Arab countries are
predominantly Sunni.
"[There is] a conspiracy being imple-
mented now in the Middle East against
the Shia, by promoting the sectarian ten-
sion and violence in the Middle East just
to serve the very suspicious agenda for
a certain government and certain super-
powers in the region',' Imam Qazwini said
in his speech.
Efforts to clarify his remarks were
unsuccessful, though it appeared he was
referring to Israel and an earlier reference
to "this country" referred to the United
States.

Local Response

Made aware of the speech by the IN,
Jewish Community Relations Council
of Metropolitan Detroit Executive
Director Robert Cohen reiterated his
group's desire to foster good relations
with responsible leaders in Metro
Detroit's Middle East community,
but drew the line at working with
those who deny Israel's right to exist
as a Jewish state.
"Imam Qazwini's words can only

damage relations between our two com-
munities," Cohen said in a statement on
behalf of the Bloomfield Township-based
Council.
"Imam Qazwini's referral to a `50-year
occupation of Palestine' by Israel are
consistent with his past statements deny-
ing Israel's right to exist and undermine
Jewish-Muslim relations here by incit-
ing his followers — in particular, young
Muslims."
Betsy Kellman, executive director of the
Michigan office of the Anti-Defamation
League in Bloomfield Township, said,
"This is a deliberate attempt to stir ten-
sion and promote hate against Israel. They
totally and willfully are misrepresenting
the truth here.
"It is shocking to me that they con-
tinue to do this:' Kellman said of Imam
Qazwini's comments and similar state-
ments from the Arab and Muslim world.
The ADL has posted a statement and
backgrounder on the issue at www.adl.
org. E

Contested
Renovation

Israel began work nearly two weeks
ago on the Mughrabi ramp leading to
the Temple Mount.
Israel says the project is needed
to repair damage to the ramp caused
by a 2004 snowstorm, and the dig
won't affect Muslim holy sites on the
nearby hilltop compound. However,
Muslim leaders accuse Israel of plot-
ting to destroy Islamic holy places.
The archaeological dig is taking
place about 60 meters away from
the Temple Mount.
The renovation has sparked nearly
daily protests by Palestinians, and
generated fierce criticism from
throughout the Muslim world. There
has been no serious violence so far,
but the site has been the focus of
deadly fighting in the past.

— Jerusalem Post

To see a live Webcast of the Israeli excava-

tions and construction and to learn more

about it, visit www.jnonline.us.

February 22 = 2007

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