Al-Qaradawi Describes the Establishment of Israel as "The Great Calamity"

We are constantly told that all the Palestinians desire is a state for themselves, to live side-by-side with Israel in peace.  Yet if that were the case, why didn't the Palestinians i.e. the Arabs accept their own state when it was originally offered to them by Great Britain and the United Nations?  Dr. Yousuf al-Qaradawi hints here that the goal of many Arabs and Muslims across the world, which is also expressly written in the charters of both Hamas and Fatah, is no less than Arab control over all of Palestine, i.e. the destruction of the Jewish state. Link to original Arabic.

Al-Qaradawi Describes the Establishment of Israel as “The Great Calamity”

Al-Shorouk, 14 May 2010

Dr. Yousuf al-Qaradawi, President of the World Union of Islamic Scholars, described the 62nd anniversary of the establishment of Israel as the first and “great calamity,” and the “painful memorial” which cannot be forgotten or erased from Muslim and Arab memory.  This came during the Friday sermon which Shaykh al-Qaradawi delivered at the ‘Umar bin al-Khattab mosque in Doha.

Al-Qaradawi stated that Arabs and Muslims have continued for years to speak about Israel through means of media and newspaper outlets as a ‘petty state’ or ‘so-called’ Israel.  He added that, “Now Israel has become a state, and we have become the ‘so-called.’”

Al-Qaradawi continued:  “Now the second calamity was the war of ’67.”  He criticized Arab demands for Israel to return to the pre-’67 borders, “as if its 1948 borders were legitimate…”  Al-Qaradawi stressed that Israel will not answer, even to this demand.

Al-Qaradawi also criticized the postponement of discussion of the Palestinian issue in international conferences, the last being the Oslo Conference.  He described current efforts by Arab nations and the Arab League to achieve peace with Israel as “panting behind the mirage of peace.”

At the end of his sermon, al-Qaradawi called all Palestinian factions to unite, and forget their differences.  He stressed that differences can arise in times of prosperity, but they cannot be afforded in the current trial through which the state of Palestine is passing.