Palestinians Deny Burial to Accident Victim Who Sold Land to Jews

Jerusalem Arabs tormented the family of a car accident victim during their moments of grief because he committed the great sin of selling land to Jews.   

By: TPS and United with Israel Staff

Alla’ Qirresh, one of six Palestinians killed in a deadly car crash on Israel’s Route 90 Sunday morning, was refused burial in Jerusalem’s central Muslim cemeteries because he allegedly sold property in the city to Jews.

Palestinian law prohibits Palestinians from selling land to anyone connected to Israel in any way.

While the remaining five victims were hailed by Palestinians in Jerusalem as Shahids (martyrs) and received a joint funeral attended by thousands, Qirresh’s body was not allowed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque or in Jerusalem’s other large mosques, and his name was not included in the obituary announcements of the incident.

When Qirresh’s family brought his body to Al-Aqsa Mosque for burial, they were chased away. They tried other locations where they were likewise blocked, and at one location the commotion developed into a violent scuffle.

According to Palestinian reports, Qirresh’s family, under pressure, issued a statement that he would not receive a proper interment but later buried him in a private ceremony at an undisclosed location. The family did not erect a mourning tent.

Land sales to Israelis are considered treason by the Palestinians because they supposedly threaten the founding of a future state.

In July, the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, issued a fatwa, an Islamic religious decree, banning Muslims from “facilitating the transfer of ownership of any part of Jerusalem or the land of Palestine to the enemies.”

The fatwa decreed that the “land of Palestine” was Waqf, an absolute religious endowment in Islamic law, and therefore cannot be sold in any way to non-Muslims.

“Anyone who sells his land to the enemies or accepts compensation for it will commit a sin,” Hussein stated. He also warned that anyone who violates the fatwa will be considered an infidel, an apostate and a traitor to God, Islam and his homeland.

The fatwa additionally demands that Muslims boycott anyone who violates the ruling and should therefore refuse to do business with the transgressors, marry them, attend their funerals or bury them in Muslim cemeteries.

Palestinians who sell land to Israelis can be sentenced to death.