In a Ramadhan address delivered at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinian cleric Sheikh Issam Amira said that "friendship and tolerance toward infidels are unacceptable" and complained that "the word 'hostility' is all but absent from the Muslims' political vocabulary today." Insisting upon use of the word "infidel" and saying that "the strategy in Islam is hostility toward non-Muslims," Sheikh Amira asked: "What kind of tolerance is possible with these people?" The address was delivered on June 18 and was posted two days later on a YouTube page dedicated to Al-Aqsa Mosque lectures.

Following are excerpts

Issam Amira: The Quran verse reads: "mighty against the infidels," because friendship and tolerance toward infidels are unacceptable. The notion [of tolerance] is very dangerous. It is being peddled to Muslims today [by people who say]: "Brother, Islam is a religion of tolerance. Why aren't you being tolerant? Why use harsh words [when talking about non-Muslims]?"

Once I took part in a discussion, in which we were talking about global politics, and about our relations with America and Russia, and the word "infidels" came up. After the discussion, somebody objected. He said: Brother, say "America" and "Russia", but do not say "infidels." Allah called them "infidels," so why should I be ashamed to call them that?

They want to water down these forceful and powerful terms, which embody the loftiness and might of the Muslims. They want to degrade Muslim might and turn it into cheap tolerance toward those who plundered our land, attacked our homes and destroyed them, killed [Muslims], and violated the honor of their women. What kind of tolerance is possible with these people? There is only one kind of punishment for those people: to stop them, to wreak vengeance upon them, and to teach them a lesson. This is not achieved through tolerance, negotiations, or kindness. It is achieved only though might.

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Might means forcefulness, ruthlessness, and hostility. The word "hostility" is all but absent from the Muslims' political vocabulary today. They say: "Let's make peace and normalize relations. There is no need to remain in a state of war..." It brings to mind the lies of the damned Sadat, who said, when he signed the Camp David Accords: "Enough! From now on, I do not want to send my children to their deaths." Do you think you are doing them a favor? These young men want to wage Jihad. Do you think you're doing them a favor by preventing them from reaching Paradise, and by keeping them here, where they live as half-men? There should be hostility toward infidels. Just as they are hostile toward you, you should be hostile toward them. The strategy in Islam is hostility toward non-Muslims.

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