(25 Jul 2000) Arabic/Eng
Top Muslim clerics in the Palestinian areas challenged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday by saying that Palestinian land will only be liberated through Jihad, or holy war, and not by negotiations.
The Chairman of the Islamic Scientists League Sheik Ahmed Bitawi made the announcement during a press conference in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Bitawi and other Muslim clerics stressed that the Palestinian lands don't belong to one person, meaning Arafat, and no one has the right to make any concessions on any inch of Jerusalem.
In Jerusalem, Israel's Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau said that Jerusalem is the heart of the Jewish people and no one has the right to give it up.
The Palestinian minister in charge of Jerusalem affairs, Faisal Husseini, said that the Palestinian leadership will not sign any agreement that does not include the fate of Jerusalem.
SOUNDBITE: (Arabic)
"Liberating Palestine and Jerusalem and the el-Aqsa Mosque and returning a million refugees will not be achieved by negotiation but by jihad and jihad will continue forever"
SUPER CAPTION: Sheik Ahmed Bitawi
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are worried for the access that all believers, Christians, Muslims and Jews, could be able to come, pray, adore, worship, in Jerusalem, in any time, in any circumstances. And therefore we say, we, as churches speak about the special status of Jerusalem. We speak about international peace, which should support this freedom of access and this peace, which the political leaders will reach"
SUPER CAPTION: Latin Patriarch Michele Sabah
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We will give all the rights to preserve the rights of all the believers of all faiths, as we did the last 33 years, but the sovereignty must be united not to create violence, and not to create, debates and divisions in the city of Jerusalem."
SUPER CAPTION: Israeli Chief Rabbi, Israel Lau
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"For us as the Palestinians we would like Jerusalem as our capital and full sovereignty for us. And for those who are calling for internationalisation and for international guarantee - we are willing to give an international guarantee but under one condition - that such international guarantees must also cover West Jerusalem."
SUPER CAPTION: Faisal Husseini, Palestinian minister in charge of Jerusalem
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