The Mufti of the PA Muhammad Hussein. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Muhammad Hussein

The US’ embassy move to Jerusalem is perceived as an “attack” on all Muslims, warned the Palestinian mufti. 

By: United with Israel Staff

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Grand Mufti warned that the US’ embassy move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will lead to “disasters of wars” in the entire world, as it is perceived as an “attack” on all Muslims.

The official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported Monday that the Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein who also serves as the Mufti of Jerusalem, asserted that the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem “will not be an attack on the Palestinians alone, but rather a blatant attack on the Arabs and Muslims throughout the world, …and that it will not serve peace and security in the region, but rather bring upon it disasters of wars, anarchy, and instability.”

He further directly encouraged Palestinians and Muslims to use violence and “seek Martyrdom,” stating that they will “sacrifice all that is dear to them.”

The Mufti said that “the residents of Jerusalem and all of the Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims will not submit to this blatant attack, and will sacrifice all that is dear to them in order to confront the American stubbornness,” the report said according to a translation by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).

Hussein issued the threat of global religious war after the US State Department announced over the weekend that the US embassy will open in Jerusalem on May 14, the anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948 (according to the Gregorian calendar) in honor of Israel’s 70th Independence Day.

Hussein claimed the US’ move “testifies to the insolence that those who are biased in favor of the occupation have reached, while they continue to do an injustice to our people and its holy sites and to blatantly harm the Palestinian cause in an attempt to eliminate it.”

Also on Monday, the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the embassy move “a direct aggression towards our people,” regarding it as “a provocative declaration and a blow to the sensibilities of the Arabs and Muslims.”

PMW reported Tuesday that the Palestinian National Council, the legislative body of the PLO, declared the US announcement a “blatant defiance towards the international, Arab, and Islamic will.”