TEL AVIV – The Palestinians will take Jerusalem “if not peacefully then by force,” an imam on official Palestinian Authority TV threatened recently, before calling on Allah to help the Muslims “drive out the Jews” from the holy city.

During a Friday sermon at the Al-Omari mosque, the preacher relayed the discussions that had arisen during the 9th International Islamic Jerusalem Conference in Ramallah last month.

“At the conference they determined that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine, and that it is a religious, Shari’ah and historical right of the Muslims, and of no one else but them,” he said, according to a translation by Israeli watchdog Palestinian Media Watch.

He thanked the non-Muslims in attendance who, even though they do not say that “there is no God but Allah,” are nevertheless “fair” and “courageous” for clarifying “the Muslims’ right to this country, and clarif[ying] that the Jews are nothing but an arrogant and tyrannical enemy that is occupying the land of Jerusalem and the land of Palestine, and that they have no right to arrogance, tyranny and occupation.”

The preacher slammed President Donald Trump and his “failed” administration for declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

“We also note our thanks to the Palestinian leadership for its stable, determined and courageous position regarding the decision of the failed American administration, which declared Jerusalem the capital of the state of the Jews and the capital of the Zionist entity, and this decision has no effect on our principles and values, and Allah willing we continue to walk in the path of our Prophet [Muhammad] and the path of his comrades,” he said.

Nevertheless, the day will soon come, the imam warned, when the Muslims will reclaim Jerusalem, by force if necessary.

“Blessed Allah willing, we will soon take what was taken from us, if not peacefully then by force, Allah willing. And Almighty Allah is with us, Allah will not abandon believers who testify that He is just and that his blessed prophet is the true prophet,” he said.

He then drew a comparison with how Allah helped drive the crusaders out of the Holy Land.

“How long did the European Crusaders live in this country? They lived here nearly 100 years, but by Allah’s will, they left it humiliated. They left it humiliated and disgraced, dragging their tails behind them, because Allah inscribed for this [Islamic] nation eternity and victory. … Allah, protect our Al-Aqsa Mosque and our Jerusalem for us, and return it to the rule and sovereignty of the Muslims. Allah, drive the Jews out of it, humiliated and disgraced, by means of those [the Muslims] who are monotheists, humble and purified,” he concluded.

The same preacher in another sermon broadcast on official PA TV in 2016 asked Allah to “punish the wicked Jews” and prayed for their genocide.

During last month’s Islamic Jerusalem Conference, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas charged that the Palestinians are facing a “big conspiracy” that began 100 years ago with the Balfour Declaration and which continued when Israel sought to “change the historic and legal status of the holy sites in Jerusalem by installing metal detectors.”

Israel installed the metal detectors after Arab terrorists smuggled guns into the Temple Mount and shot and killed two Israeli police officers in July 2017. Israeli authorities removed the detectors days later amid massive protests from Muslims all over the world.

At the same conference, Abbas also slammed Trump and the U.S. for its “flagrant bias” toward Israel and vowed “we won’t accept” any peace deal from the Americans.

Jerusalem, Abbas said, “belongs to us and is our political and spiritual capital. When we say that Jerusalem is our eternal capital, we’re not coming up with anything new. Our Jebusite and Canaanite ancestors built Jerusalem as their capital, and since then there has always been an Arab and Palestinian presence in the city. We are the descendants of the Canaanites.”