Monday, November 24, 2014
Elder of ZiyonThousands of people flocked to the Yahya Kemal theater in Istanbul to see examples of Jerusalem's culture, as well as hear preachers talk about the necessity to expel Jews from the holy city.
Clearly attempting to incite a religious war in front of the audience segregated between men and women, the speakers included Sheikh Kamal Khatib of the Islamic Movement in the territories. He said that as long as Jerusalem is not "smiling" with the absence of Jewish presence, then Cairo and Istanbul and Mecca and Medina cannot smile either.
He said, "The Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem was under Muslim rule since the beginning of Islam, with the exception of two periods, when it fell under occupation. The first time was during the Crusader occupation, and the second time since its occupation in 1967 at the hands of the Jews. ...Do you want to know why today's Arab rulers did not seek to liberate Jerusalem? Because they do not deserve the honor of the liberation of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa."
After insulting Egypt's president for choking off Gaza, Khatib said "The Crusader occupation lasted in Jerusalem for 90 years before it was forced to leave, and the Israeli occupation there has been for 47 years and it will be forced to leave."
It is notable that the focus on Jerusalem's culture not only ignored any mention of Judaism, of course, but also seems to have ignored anything about Arab culture in Jerusalem. The costumes shown all seem to be more Ottoman than Arab,
