President Sisi of Egypt has donned his mantle at the Al-Azhar and subtlety demanded from the religious leader 'Ulemas' and Imams and religious leaders, a reform. He mentioned that the umma (probably the country Egypt) is suffering because of that. HB Egypt's Sisi: Islamic "Thinking" Is "Antagonizing the Entire World" ~by Raymond Ibrahim January 1, 2015 http://www.meforum.org/4951/egypt-sisi-islamic-thinking-is-antagonizing President Sisi during his New Year's Day speech before Al-Azhar Speaking before Al-Azhar and the Awqaf Ministry on New Year's Day, 2015, in connection to Prophet Muhammad's upcoming birthday, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a vocal supporter for a renewed vision of Islam, made what must be his most forceful and impassioned plea to date on the subject. Among other things, Sisi said that the "corpus of [Islamic] texts and ideas that we have sacralized over the years" are "antagonizing the entire world"; that it is not "possible that 1.6 billion people [reference to the world's Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world's inhabitantsthat is 7 billionso that they themselves may live"; and that Egypt (or the Islamic world in its entirety) "is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lostand it is being lost by our own hands." The relevant excerpt from Sisi's speech follows (translation by Michele Antaki): I am referring here to the religious clerics. We have to think hard about what we are facingand I have, in fact, addressed this topic a couple of times before. It's inconceivable that the thinking that we hold most sacred should cause the entire umma [Islamic world] to be a source of anxiety, danger, killing and destruction for the rest of the world. Impossible! That thinkingI am not saying "religion" but "thinking"that corpus of texts and ideas that we have sacralized over the years, to the point that departing from them has become almost impossible, is antagonizing the entire world. It's antagonizing the entire world! Is it possible that 1.6 billion people [Muslims] should want to kill the rest of the world's inhabitantsthat is 7 billionso that they themselves may live? Impossible! I am saying these words here at Al Azhar, before this assembly of scholars and ulemaAllah Almighty be witness to your truth on Judgment Day concerning that which I'm talking about now. All this that I am telling you, you cannot feel it if you remain trapped within this mindset. You need to step outside of yourselves to be able to observe it and reflect on it it from a more enlightened perspective. I say and repeat again that we are in need of a religious revolution. You, imams, are responsible before Allah. The entire world, I say it again, the entire world is waiting for your next move because this umma is being torn, it is being destroyed, it is being lostand it is being lost by our own hands. Note: It is unclear if in the last instance of umma Sisi is referring to Egypt ("the nation") or if he is using it in the pan-Islamic sense as he did initially to refer to the entire Islamic world. Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow at the Middle East Forum and a CBN News contributor. He is the author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam's New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007).
Speaking of antagonizing the whole world... Someone has jumped the gun and shows PM Netanyahu with a hanging rope. http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=13603 Following the Palestinian Authority's application to join the International Criminal Court, Abbas' Fatah movement posted the above picture on Facebook of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a noose dangling in front of him. Fatah suggests that Netanyahu will be hanged "soon." [Fatah Facebook, "The Main Page," Jan. 4, 2015]
Here is B. Netanyahu's response: Statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Communicated by the Prime Minister’s Media Adviser) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this evening (Saturday, 17 January 2015) has issued the following statement: “Israel rejects the absurd decision of the ICC prosecutor. It’s absurd for the ICC to ignore international law and agreements, under which the Palestinians don't have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel. The rules of the ICC are clear: No state No standing No case. It’s absurd for the ICC to go after Israel, which upholds the highest standards of international law. Our actions are subject to the constant and careful review of Israel's world-renowned and utterly independent legal system. But this decision is even more preposterous given that Israel is legitimately defending itself against Palestinian terrorists who routinely commit multiple war crimes. They deliberately fire thousands of rockets at our civilians, while hiding behind Palestinian civilians whom they use a human shield. And here's the ultimate folly of this decision – It is the democracy of Israel, a world leader in fighting terrorism, which is to be hauled to the dock in The Hague, while the terrorist war criminals of Hamas are the ones who are going to be pressing the charges. I won't be surprised if ISIS, al-Qaida and Hezbollah follow suit. See, Hamas has already announced that they will join their Palestinian partner, President Abbas, in filing complaints against Israel as a result of this decision. So we see here something truly tragic. The lofty goals of the ICC are being turned upside-down. The court was founded to prevent a repeat of history's worst crimes, foremost among them the genocide of six million Jews. Now the Palestinians are cynically manipulating the ICC to deny the Jewish state the right to defend itself against the very war crimes and the very terror that the court was established to prevent. Thank you.” ________________________________________ IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Another post in relation to the ICC and the present PA financial situation. Apparently Abbas is well aware of the consequences. There is no <free lunch in this world>, you cannot have the cake and eat it too. Abbas Hints at Dissolving PA Should Status Quo Persist http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=27589 CAIRO, January 15, 2015 (WAFA - PLO news agency) – In response to financial crisis gripping the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday hinted that he would dissolve the PA. Abbas said during a speech addressing Arab Foreign Ministers in a Cairo meeting, that should the situation remains as it is, he would hand over the responsibility of running the Occupied Palestinian Territory back to Israel. The Arab Peace Initiative Committee convened Thursday in Cairo at the ministerial level under the chairmanship of First Deputy Prime Minister and Kuwait Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah to discuss latest developments on the Palestinian level. The PA is facing a crisis in terms of paying public servant wages as a result of Israel’s decision to freeze PA’s tax revenues as a punitive measure. Israel has frozen the transfer of approximately $127 million in tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA after the latter signed a letter of accession to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). Abbas urged the neighboring Arab countries to provide the PA with an urgent financial safety net to compensate for the budget deficit. In response to the United States Senate’s prospective move to immediately halt approximately $400 million in aid to the PA in order to halt its effort to join the ICC to pursue war crime charges against Israel, Abbas stressed that he firmly rejects the US stance. “We would vehemently protest against this step since we informed the US about our intention to join the ICC before submitting the application. Had the US forced Israel to freeze settlement construction, we would not have joined the ICC.” He explained, “As a result of being compelled to take this step, we should not be punished.” Abbas called on the convening ministers to urge their states to pay $100 million in urgent aid for the PA, especially that it is unlikely that Israel would soon unfreeze the seized tax revenues. He expressed intention to resubmit the statehood draft resolution to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and proposed an Arab ministerial committee to be formed to examine the version of the draft resolution and approve its content. Abbas also called for a concerted Arab effort to make sure an international protection is provided to the Palestinians and that such a request is listed as an item on the UN’s agenda. Abbas refused to link the negotiations or the Palestinian cause to the elections in Israel, stressing that “it needs a UN resolution, and in particular an American decision.” Abbas addressed his participation in an anti-terror French march, which was held in Paris a few days ago with the participation of many world leaders, to denounce the attack on the satirical magazine 'Charlie Hebdo', and in solidarity with the victims of terrorist attacks in France, saying Arabs and Palestinians are against 'terrorism and violence.' Premier Rami Hamdallah has recently slammed the Israeli move as ‘illegal’ that stands in violation with international laws and norms. The Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee Member Saeb Erekat has also described the move as an act of “piracy”. “Israel is using piracy against international law. This is not Israeli charity to the Palestinian people they are withholding, but our own money, which is rightfully ours,” Erekat said. “By taking such steps Israel aims at breaking the will of a nation that is using peaceful tools granted by international law in its struggle against colonialism and in its pursuit of freedom and independence. Just as any other colonial power before, Israel will not succeed,” Erekat added. K.F/M.H ________________________________________ IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
