(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In the aftermath of the sayings by the Mufti of Jerusalem who is claimed to have said that the Jews are sons of monkeys and pigs, a group of Dutch parties represented in the Parliament called the Dutch Foreign Minister to reducing the support that the Netherlands offers to the “Palestinian territories”, which it cuts from the budget of development and international cooperation that the Netherlands allocates for this purpose…With the video circulated on YouTube, which is attributed to the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, in which he calls for killing the Jews and describes them as sons of monkeys and pigs, the Israeli Prime Minister and the judicial advisor to the [Israeli] government called for opening an investigation into the said Mufti, due to his anti-Semitic words…However, the Mufti refuted all the sayings that were attributed to him and that many Israeli media outlets circulated claiming that he has called for killing the Jews…Refuting the sayings attributed to him, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein said: “This is not our nature and we have not said that; but rather, we have always called, and still do, to respect and preserve man’s dignity and humanity, and at the same time, we call for holding on to our legitimate national rights in our lands and sacred shrines, as well as the necessity of retrieving them”…It is highly important to publish accurate and precise stories to avoid media and political distortion campaigns and deter any attempt to twist the facts for media and political purposes that only serve certain interests. Islam is a religion that calls for respecting and preserving human dignity, as well as safeguarding the soul, any soul, regardless to whom it belongs and without any form of discrimination…In a related context, His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra): The children of Israel have lived a complicated life following the persecution they went through in many countries. When the prophecies, which started with Moses in their general prominent form, came to them, the complex turned into a fanatic and racist state in which many factors and conditions that surrounded them interacted to the extent that they came to imagine being the chosen people of Allah, His guardians and most beloved ones and that Allah has consecrated the eternal abode only for them, claiming that only the Jews will enter into heaven. This situation evolved and crystallized until this idea started to transform into aggressive trends against the nations; thus, they became major conspirators, insinuators and vandals, knowing that the Quran has highlighted and elaborated on this thought in several verses and that Allah has addressed them clearly telling them that they are but ordinary creatures who do not enjoy any special or divine trait in any aspect…”[(Interpretations) Inspired from the Quran, vol. 22, p: 133]On another level, His Eminence (ra) says: “As we emphasize that these methods are not related to the freedom of expression, we wonder as to why these people do not dare to criticize the Jewish teachings in their books that despise other nations, knowing that some rabies describe other nations as “insects and snakes” and others praise violence against other nations. Moreover, why are not the Western laws that prevent any criticism concerning Judaism, under the principle of rejecting anti-Semitism, criticized?”[Extracted from an interview conducted by Al-Hayat newspaper on 07/02/2008 with the late Religious Authority, His Eminence, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah]/129
