The collapse of Israeli-Palestinian agreements from the 1993 Oslo
Accords until today stems from the fact that both Israeli and US leaders
ignore the real root of the conflict. The heart of the conflict is the
denial of the existence - and not the size - of any non-Muslim entity on
land that, in the eyes of Muslims, is Waqf - an inalienable religious
land endowment.
On Jan. 9, 2012, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad
Hussein, a close associate of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, stated that all of Israel has been Waqf since 637 C.E. and will
be forever. The statement was made at the annual rally of Fatah, which
Abbas heads. It was broadcast on the official Mahmoud Abbas television
station, and called for the killing of Jews to hasten the Islamic
Resurrection. The message of the Mufti has become rooted in the
Palestinian consciousness, with the help of Mahmoud Abbas' educational
system. Thus, according a July 2011 poll, conducted by the leading US
pollster, Stan Greenberg, a liberal-democrat, closely associated with
former President Bill Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, 73% of Palestinians viewed killing Jews as a springboard to
Judgment Day. On March 27, 2010, Abbas declared: "Jerusalem and all its
surrounding areas are Waqf land, as provided by Allah. We must do
everything we can to save them from the threat of Judaization."
The principle of the Waqf land is permanent, and transcends leaders
and policies which are provisional. It applies to any land that was ever
under Islamic control. It is an inseparable part of the legacy of
Muhammad and Islamic law, especially at this time of the surge by the
trans-national Muslim Brotherhood, which views Allah, the Koran, the
Prophet Muhammad, jihad and martyrdom as the goal, the law, the leader,
the way and the exalted aspiration respectively. Their loyalty to the
Waqf land obligates Muslims to "holy wars" and the restoration of
sovereignty in the Philippines, Thailand, parts of China, Kashmir,
Chechnya, Israel, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, Portugal and elsewhere.
The centrality of the Waqf land in the Muslim experience can be
understood from the precedent of Andalusia, the Arabic name for most of
the Iberian Peninsula, which was under Islamic rule from 711-1492 C.E.
The Muslim Golden Age did not take place between the Jordan and the
Mediterranean Sea, but rather in Andalusia, especially in the Alhambra
palace/fortress in Granada. At the beginning of the 8th century, the
Muslims conquered the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Sicily and the
Italian coastline and declared it "the Abode of Islam." In 1492, Spain
was liberated from the occupation by Muslims, who today still view
"Al-Andalus" as Waqf. The March 2004 Muslim terrorist plots in Madrid,
which murdered 191 people and wounded around 1,800, intended to rectify
the "Injustice of Andalusia." Currently, Saudi Arabia is constructing
the second largest mosque in the world in Cordoba, the former capital of
Andalusia, while mosques proliferate all over Spain.
Prof. Efraim Karsh, Head of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies
at King's College in London, writes in his book "Islamic Imperialism"
(Yale University Press, 2007): "In 1980, there was a huge map in
Afghanistan on which large parts of what was then Soviet Central Asia
and China's Xinjiang Province were labeled 'Temporarily Occupied Muslim
Territory....' Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi, a spiritual guide of the Muslim
Brothers [reiterated the message of Muhammad that] the city of Hirqil
[Constantinopol] will be conquered first ... The other city Romiyya
[Rome] ... we hope and believe that it too will be conquered ... That
means that Islam will return to Europe as a conqueror."
Recognition of foreign sovereignty over Muslim Waqf land amounts to
humiliation, betrayal and servitude for Arabs and Muslims. According to
the 628C.E. Prophet Muhammad's Treaty of Hudaybiyya - which underscores
the shifty nature of contemporary Arab policies in general and the
"Phased Plan" in particular - Muslims are permitted to conclude tactical
agreements that temporarily relinquish Waqf land, but never abandon the
overarching, permanent strategy of reclaiming it all at a later stage.
Persisting in the "land-for-peace" policy ignores the roots of Arab
hostility; repeats - rather than avoids - past mistakes; plays into the
hands of our enemies; raises Arab expectations and exacerbates violence
and terrorism in the region.
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger
The Ettinger Report
"Second Thought: A US-Israel Initiative"
First published in "Israel Hayom" newsletter, January 25, 2012
