Sermons on Palestinian TV

The following are excerpts from Friday sermons on Palestinian Authority TV in recent weeks.

February 18, 2005

Preacher: The Prophet's greatness was manifested in his treatment of the People of the Book - the Jews and the Christians. He made a pact with them. He protected their trade, their money, their beliefs, and their security.

February 4, 2005

Ibrahim Mudeiris: There is no land we love as we love the land of Palestine. If the Jews hadn't expelled us from you, with their planes, tanks, and weapons, and with the help of all the [Arab] doublecrossing, we would never have left you, Palestine! But we say what the Prophet said - that he would return to [Mecca] because Allah promised him this. Allah promised him that he would return to Mecca as a conqueror. We say to you Palestine: 'We will return to you, Allah willing, we will return to you,' We will return to every village, every town, and every speck of soil, which was irrigated with the blood of our forefathers, and the sweat of our fathers and mothers. By Allah, we will return.

This does not mean that if we agree to return to the 1967 borders, we relinquish the Land of Palestine. No! I ask you: Are we entitled to the 1967 borders or not? Of course we are. Then let's return to them by any means possible. We may be able to return to the 1967 borders through politics, but to the 1948 borders, we will never return through politics. As for the 1948 borders – no-one in the world recognizes our right to them. Therefore, let's return to the 1967 borders, and this would not mean that we will relinquish Jerusalem, Haifa, Jaffa, Lod, Ramle, or Tel Aviv.We will return to every village from which we've been exiled from, Allah willing. Why? Because all the international laws deny the Palestinians their true borders. We may accept the [1967 borders], but the blood of our forefathers calls upon us to return to [the 1948 borders]. The blood of your forefathers, which was shed there, in the villages, in Ashkelon, Ashdod, Herbiya, in hundreds of villages and towns - this blood is calling upon us… This blood will curse anyone who relinquishes a speck of soil from these villages. The fact that we agree to return to the 1967 borders doesn't mean we relinquish our other rights. No! There are means that… It may not be this generation that will accomplish this stage, but generations to come will.

January 28, 2005

Ibrahim Mudeiris: All these factions which sacrificed the lives of their leaders and youth in defense of this land do not hoist a white flag. We demand that they not hoist a white flag. As for the understandings they have reached with the leadership of the Palestinian Authority - this is a wise response to the language of reason. They responded to the language of reason and agreed to the call of President Mahmoud 'Abbas to calm down this land, so we can strengthen ourselves. We've been suffering for five years. They agreed to the understandings because they know the fighters need a rest, achieved what they've achieved. Brothers, fighters need a rest.