Ekrima Sa'id Sabri

Sheikh Ekrima Sa'id Sabri ( _ar. عكرمة سعيد صبري) was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine from October 1994 to July 1, 2006. He was appointed by Yasser Arafat. He has a doctorate from Al Azhar University in Egypt on the “Islamic Endowment Between Theory and Practice”. [ [http://www.islamonline.net/english/news/2002-10/16/article03.shtml Israel Abducts, Then Releases, Top Palestinian Muslim Official, Ekrima Sabri] By Mustafa Al Sawaf, Islamonline October 15, 2002] According to the Middle East Media Research Institute, a pro-Israeli media watchdog group run by former Israeli military intelligence officers, in an interview in March 2000, Sabri expressed doubts about the number of Jewish Holocaust victims, calling it a "fairytale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity," and refused to meet with rabbis in honour of the Pope’s visit to Jerusalem. MEMRI cites Sabri claiming that the Wailing Wall as an integral part of the Al Aqsa mosque and not holy to Jews, and adding that "It is true that we have lived in harmony with the Jews also, until 1917, when the Balfour Declaration recognized their right to a 'home' in Palestine, and the Jews ended up taking it all. Today we do not fight against the Jews over religious issues. The conflict is only political." ["Too many lies about the Holocaust, [Pope] Wojtyla free us from the Jews." interview to the Italian newspaper La Republica, March 24, 2000, translated by [http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP8200 Memri Dispatch No.82, March 29, 2000] ] six months before Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount and the Second Intifada.

Again according to MEMRI, In October 2000 Sabri stated, "Our campaign is definitely religious and emanates from belief, although we try to avoid this slogan. The current Intifada [...] is a religious outburst, because it relates to the Al-Aqsa mosque." He backed continuing the Intifada, adding that "I think we must try to reduce the number of casualties by reducing the clashes. Nevertheless, the Intifada is necessary so that everybody will know that we are not going to sit still about this." [ [http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Area=sd&ID=SP15100 Memri translation] of interview in Al-Ahram Al-Arabi (Egypt), October 28, 2000]

Sabri agreed to let an interfaith group, associated with Reverend Sun Myung Moon, hold a peace rally in the Al Aqsa Mosque on December 22, 2003. [ [http://www.familyfed.org/board/uboard.asp?id=ffwpu_news&skin=board_urim_simple&color=eng&page=1&u_no=417 familyfed.org] ]

On February 20, 2005, he appeared on Al-Majd Saudi Arabian satellite TV to comment on the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister. Sabri stated, "Anyone who studies "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and specifically the Talmud will discover that one of the goals of these Protocols is to cause confusion in the world and to undermine security throughout the world." [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/article416841.ece?token=null&offset=12 Article] , [http://www.timesonline.co.uk The Times Online] , March 2, 2005] Ekrima Sabri is on the coordinating board overseeing the Al-Quds University of Jerusalem. [ [http://www.alquds.edu/administration/ Al-Quds University of Jerusalem] Website]

On July 1, 2006 the Jerusalem Post reported that Ekrima Sa'id Sabri had been fired from his post the previous week by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He has been denied entry into the Netherlands in 2007 and 2008. [ [http://www.expatica.com/nl/articles/news/Muslim-cleric-still-not-welcome-here.html Muslim cleric still not welcome here] Radio Netherlands / Expatica 21/04/2008] Ekrima Sa'id Sabri still is a frequent preacher in Al Aqsa Mosque.

ee also

*Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
*Sufi

Notes and references