Engelwood Mayor
Michael Wildes, left, gives the key to the city to Prof. Palazzi
«for promoting peace between Muslims and Jews»
Aish HaTorah Sponsors Muslim Zionist Imam
To Discuss the
Middle East and War on Terror
By Sharon Hes
A Muslim sheikh and imam, described as “more of a Likudnik than a Likudnik,” recently toured the United States, sharing his political and religious observations with thousands of people.
Sheikh Professor Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Secretary-General of the Italian Muslim Assembly, has urged politicians in Israel not to relinquish one inch of land, including all of Judea, Samaria, and even Gaza.
On a recent visit to NJ, Prof. Palazzi challenged conventional Muslim views on peace, Oslo, Islam, the Middle East, PA leader Yasir Arafat, and the Arab-Israel conflict. According to Prof. Palazzi, Saudi Arabian Wahhabis and Arab dictators distort Islam and have perverted it into a religion of hatred.
The professor was on a lecture tour of US and Canadian college campuses and synagogues in late February and early March.
The universities included Rutgers, Princeton, Brandeis, and UC Santa Barbara. He also spoke at Cong. Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, and in Cong. Beth Aaron in Teaneck.
The tour was sponsored by Aish HaTorah, with support from the ZOA, Hasbara Fellowships, and TerPac.
With Jeffrey Rubinoff, right, visiting the Detroit seat of the Zionist Organization of America
A self-proclaimed Muslim Zionist, Prof. Palazzi has strong views concerning the security of Israel. When asked if it would be better for Israel to build the security fence closer to the Green Line, he said, “The Green Line belongs to the past, not the present. It is not important.”
Following the Green Line would leave out many settlements, imperiling their residents, he said.
“The Israeli Government has a right to protect its citizens,” said the professor.
He also proposed a solution for the Arabs who live in Israel.
“Do what is done elsewhere. The solution is for the Arabs to accept minority status in the state of Israel,” said Prof. Palazzi.
He did not believe they have a right to a state, but, rather, he said, should accept this practice which is commonly accepted throughout the world.
He cited an example of a German minority living in the northern part of Italy. After their attempts to gain independence using terrorism were repeatedly thwarted, the Germans eventually accepted minority status in Italy. They chose to work constructively through the Italian political system to ensure their rights were protected.
The professor urged a bilateral agreement with Jordan, granting the Israeli Arabs Jordanian citizenship with residency in Israel. This would, however, require the support of the international community, he said.
“There will be real peace in the Middle East when hope for a Palestinian state is killed,” declared the Muslim cleric.
Prof. Palazzi was born in Rome to an Arab mother of Syrian origin (her grandmother immigrated to Italy from Aleppo) and an Italian-Catholic father who converted to Islam.
Prof. Palazzi learned the teachings of Sufism at home, and then studied the philosophy at a university in Rome before going to Al Azhar University in Cairo to prepare to receive his theological degree.
In Cairo he received his ijaza (authorization to teach Islam) and holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Sciences from a school in Naples, authorized by decree of former Saudi Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz Ibn Baz.
In 1987, Prof. Palazzi became an Imam and Sheikh, receiving the equivalent of a doctorate in Islamic theology from the Islamic school in Naples, which was authorized by the Chief Mufti of Saudi Arabia. In 1989, Prof Palazzi became the Secretary General of the Italian Muslim Assembly.
Preaching at the Beth Aaron Congregation, Teaneck
The professor sees the beginning of new and beneficial developments in the world’s treatment of Israel. Europe has recently started to act more favorably, claimed Prof. Palazzi.
He was pleased that the European Union did not participate in the “fake trial” of Israel at The Hague in the International Court of Justice (IJC) concerning the legality of the security fence being constructed.
He noted that EU’s behavior during the hearings was in sharp contrast to the antisemitism the EU openly displayed at the 2001 UN conference on racism in Durban.
He pointed out that support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) has also been weakened because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, and is therefore no longer bribing European officials to support Yasir Arafat. With Saddam gone, said Prof Palazzi, Mr. Arafat no longer has a protector.
He credited President George Bush’s “War on Terror” for producing these and other significant benefits, and said the “domino effect,” predicted by Mr. Bush, was becoming evident.
As soon as the Hussein regime collapsed in Iraq, “other dictators trembled, fearing similar treatment,” said the professor, referring to the fact that shortly after the capture of Mr. Hussein, Libyan dictator Muammar Khadaffi offered to cooperate with the US in revealing and destroying his weapons of mass destruction.
B'nai B'rith Metro Detroit rewards interfaith dialogue for peace
Prof Palazzi asserted that the only way to win the War on Terror is to spread democracy to Muslim countries.
According to the professor, Muslims should be more interested in supporting Mr. Bush in this effort, because the War on Terror has so far freed millions of Muslims.
“Many more subjugated Muslims now have hope,” he said.
He likened the role of the US in this current war to its position during World War II. Both were wars against totalitarianism, he said, and outside military forces were necessary because it was impossible for opposition forces to organize locally within any country with a tyrannical government, be it in Germany, Afghanistan, or Iraq.
He is convinced, however, that the War on Terror will not be over until there is regime change in Syria, Iran, and ultimately, Saudi Arabia. He said Saudi involvement in terror has been covered up by the State Department for years, regardless of the party in the White House.
He recalled that shortly after 9/11, President Bush welcomed Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah (“the putative leader of the country,”), telling him “You are our ally.”
“Prince Abdullah was, in fact, the mastermind of Al Qaeda,” said Prof Palazzi, pointing out that the Saudi leader has also claimed that he is not afraid of the reaction of the US to 9/11.
“We control the US; the US does not control Saudi Arabia,” the prince has boasted.
While the US is forbidden by Saudi law to open any institutions in Saudi Arabia, the Saudis have opened hundreds of their own on American soil. Prof. Palazzi said the Saudis sponsor a network of extremists that have taken control of more than 80 percent of the mosques and Islamic centers in the US.
Under the protective cloak of religious freedom, these mosques have collected funds for terrorism against America, as have many national and local Muslim groups, he said.
He singled out the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for special condemnation. Prior to 9/11, he said CAIR had positioned itself as a Muslim civil rights group. They established close relationships with many US government officials and with numerous interfaith groups, including those with Jewish members.
But, according to Prof Palazzi, CAIR has actually functioned as the US branch of Hamas, the terrorist organization responsible for numerous suicide bombings in Israel.
Prof Palazzi said both Hamas and CAIR are part of the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist movement that completely rejects Western values and calls for the establishment of a pan-Islamic state founded on the basis of their interpretation of shari’a, or Islamic law.
Because of the Patriot Act and intense scrutiny by the FBI, some CAIR leaders are now in jail.
He explained that, in recent years, Al Qaeda broke away from the Muslim Brotherhood, which focuses on gaining back territory it feels Muslims have lost, such as in Israel and Chechnya. Al Qaeda, on the other hand, has adopted terrorism as a tactic to be used against the entire West, as well.
“Saudi Arabia has protected Al Qaeda for years. The capital of the Axis of Evil is in Riyadh,” said Prof. Palazzi.
He explained that the former head of Saudi security—and protector of Al Qaeda—is now the Saudi ambassador to Great Britain.
“When he is not transferring funds to Al Qaeda using Swiss bank accounts, he whiles away the hours writing and publishing poems glorifying suicide bombers,” said Prof Palazzi.
One month before 9/11, the wife of the Saudi ambassador to the US wrote a substantial check to Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 suicide pilots. When she was asked why she wrote the check, she claimed it was “charity.” Within days of 9/11, she was spirited out of this country to the protective haven of Saudi Arabia.
Until recently, the American government has offered little assistance in bringing Saudi supporters of terror to justice. The State Department has prevented the terror victims’ families from receiving court-ordered financial compensation from Saudi Arabia, claiming it would interfere with national security.
Prof. Palazzi said that although Mr. Bush recognizes the necessity of regime change in Saudi Arabia to end their support of terrorism, a long-term strategy is needed to achieve that goal.
He recognized that the US cannot just decide to declare war on Saudi Arabia without affecting the oil market. A rise in oil prices would be likely to damage the economies in all western nations.
“What is needed first is to secure another source of oil, say, in Iraq, with a pipeline that is controlled by the US its entire length. In the case of Iraq, there exists a pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the port of Haifa,” said Prof Palazzi.
If this pipeline were active, he said, the entire Persian Gulf area would become superfluous with respect to the free flow of oil at reasonable market prices.
To ensure the safety of the pipeline, friendly regimes would be needed in Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Prof Palazzi said Iran is ready for democracy right now, and would elect a pro-Western government as soon as elections are permitted.
After witnessing the power of the US in the area, Syria may well decide to be more accommodating to American wishes. This is not as farfetched as some might think, said the professor, recalling the actions of Libyan dictator Muammar Khadaffi shortly after Mr. Hussein’s capture.
With Saudi Arabia thus encircled by America-friendly countries, regime change in that desert kingdom could be pursued without fear of worldwide economic damage.
The professor suggested that the Hashemites are the “natural rulers” of Arabia, having done so for centuries before the Wahhabi insurgents took power 200 years ago. Jordan is currently ruled by a Hashemite monarch, and the family has ties to Iraq and other Arab countries.
Prof Palazzi fumed that while the State Department “looks the other way in dealing with one terror regime—Saudi Arabia, the US government forces Israel to negotiate with another one—the Palestinian Authority.”
“The Roadmap is a 100 percent denial of the War on Terror,” said Prof. Palazzi.
By empowering the PA, the US is actually trying to create a Saddam-style regime. The PA cannot become a democracy, said the professor.
If the US government continues to pressure Israel into creating a Palestinian state, then the terrorists will win, he said, because that would destroy the moral ground upon which the War on Terror is based.
According to Prof Palazzi, terrorists saw their first signs of victory in Israel’s acceptance of the Oslo Accords in 1994. Mr. Arafat had ordered the murders of many American citizens, including the US ambassador to the Sudan, and yet he was welcomed as a statesman to the White House.
According to Prof. Palazzi, the US reached its lowest moral ground when it legitimized Mr. Arafat, whitewashing him of his crimes.
The Oslo Accords also silenced the many Palestinian dissidents who preferred to live under Israeli sovereignty.
The professor visited Jerusalem in 1996, at which time he cautioned Israelis that hopes for peace had to be realistic. He warned them that Mr. Arafat was not a trustworthy negotiating partner, and that by empowering him, terrorism would increase.
Unrealistic hopes for peace are what lead British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain to conclude his famous agreement of appeasement with Adolph Hitler, causing Great Britain to be woefully unprepared for its eventual fight for its life with the Third Reich, he pointed out.
“Had Great Britain listened to [Winston] Churchill rather than Chamberlain in 1935, World War II would have lasted only a few months,” said Prof. Palazzi.
The professor believes that once a Palestinian state is created, it will not be a democracy, and its leaders will not want peace with Israel.
“The Roadmap is a new version of Oslo. Enforcing the Roadmap is preparing a path to war,” warned the professor. “America must understand that it cannot forbid Israel to fight terrorists. Yasir Arafat, Saddam Hussein, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim Brotherhood are all linked.”
Prof. Palazzi sees little hope for a Palestinian Muslim democracy because in Arab countries, no dictator leaves voluntarily. He is either killed, or his sons “inherit” his position, developing a de facto dictatorial monarchy, as seen in Syria and possibly Egypt.
Muslims living in democratic countries do have friendly relations with Israel, he said, pointing to Turkey as a prime example.
There is an exception to this observation that Muslims in democracies have relations with Israel. American-Muslim leaders, he said, who live in the world’s freest democracy, are also for the most part allied with the extremist Islamists.
He said this is because the Muslim Brotherhood controls most American-Islamic institutions, with Saudi Wahhabi support. While these “professional militants” may number only three or four thousand, they are frequently the only ones with access to the media.
He noted with pleasure that voices of moderate Islam are now being increasingly heard. For example, Steven Schwartz, a nationally-syndicated moderate Muslim, frequently denounces the extremists.
Prof. Palazzi felt it was in the interest of all religions to cooperate in eliminating the Islamic extremist network, leading to a better future. He said he hoped his speaking tour would help lead to a world where democracy, pluralism, human rights, and freedom of expression prevail.