Sheikh Palazzi Expresses Solidarity with Jews and Christian-Zionists

Muslim Sheikh Pays Solidarity Visit to the Jews of Hevron
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
(IsraelNN.com) Noam Arnon, a spokesperson for the Jewish community of Hevron, told Arutz Sheva about a very unusual guest who came to show his support on Monday.

Making the trip from Italy to Hevron for the second time in recent years, the head of the Italian Muslim Assembly, Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, met with local Jewish leaders in a show of solidarity. The sheikh, an Italian national who received his Islamic education from leading mainstream Saudi and Egyptian Sunni institutions, believes that his religion obligates its followers to support Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel. In support of his position, Sheikh Palazzi quotes Koranic passages and traditions that affirm God's assignment of this land for the Jews.

As Palazzi has written of himself, he is "a Zionist Muslim clergyman and a friend of the Jewish people."

"We are talking about a unique personality," Arnon told Arutz Sheva. "A man who connects warmly with everyone he meets. A very brave individual."

During Sheikh Palazzi's visit to Hevron, community leaders discussed with him ways in which Islamist fundamentalism might be curbed. "He emphasized Saudi Arabia as responsible for extremism," Arnon said. "It funds mosques in Europe and the United States and then determines who will be allowed to speak in them. In this way, Islam becomes more and more extreme, which is a dangerous trend."

In his activities in Italy, Arnon explained, Palazzi teaches what he calls "the real Islam", which he believes includes tolerance, Jewish-Muslim fellowship and Zionism. "He even organized a protest outside the Iranian embassy in Rome when Ahmadinejad talked about destroying Israel," Arnon added.

Sheikh Palazzi, who is also the Muslim co-founder of the Islam-Israel Fellowship of the Root & Branch Association, told his Hevron hosts that Italian Jews are now shifting their political positions further to the Right. In the past, according to Palazzi, Jews in Italy were primarily supporters of the Left, but a slow change in underway. Arnon said that Sheikh Palazzi believes his efforts, as a non-Jew supporting Israel, have contributed to that shift.

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Sheik Palazzi expressed solidarity with this American Christian-Zionist who was detained in Jerusalem's Russian Compound and later unjustly deported from Israel (for highlighting the plight of the Temple Mount suffering under Nazi-Muslim occupation in an article published in Jerusalem).

Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005

To: "David Ben-Ariel"
From: Istituto Culturale della Comunita' Islamica Italiana
Subject: Re: Update on visa for Israel

Dear David,
I am simply shocked by what I read. I knew the Israeli government is becoming hard, cruel and dictatorial toward opposition groups (the wife of an activists protesting against disengagement was recently sent to jail together with her month years old daughter) but I never suspected this kind of attitude was extended not only to Israeli citizens, but to Zionist American citizens visiting Israel, too. Plenty of U.S. leftists regularly visit Israel in order to campaign against Israel and to support PLO, and they are not treated in the way you were treated.

Please, accept my solidarity.

All the best,
Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
http://www.amislam.com/

Sheik Palazzi has also received and read Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall.

Sheik Palazzi on Beyond Babylon

Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi
Rome, Italy (6/19/2005)

Dear Mr. Ben-Ariel,

I finished reading your valuable book and appreciated its contents. I was already informed about the Worldwide Church of God and already had the opportunity to read books by Rev. Armstrong and issues of "The Plain Truth". Although from a religious point of view I obviously disagree with some of the beliefs which your Church preaches, I surely agree with your analysis of German and Vatican in creating as a new European anti-God Empire. I would like that Europeans understand what is happening under their eyes. Thank you very much for the copies you sent me. I hope many people will have the opportunity to read your book and reflect upon its contents.

All the very best,

Shaykh Prof. Abdul Hadi Palazzi Director
Cultural Institute of the Italian Islamic Community
http://www.amislam.com/

Return of the Sheikh: Palazzis Arrive in Eretz Yisrael for Two Week Solidarity Visit

Reprint Notice: Permission granted to redistribute this R&B Information Services item through email Lists, and to post on Internet web sites, as long as text & title are not modified. Source (R&B Information Services) and author's copyright must be displayed.


YERUSHALAYIM, Israelite Tribal Territories of Judah and Benjamin, Kingdom of David and Solomon, United Israelite Kingdom of Judah and Joseph; Seventh Day, Fourth Hebrew Month of Tevet, 5770; Yom Chamishi (Fifth Day of Week/"Thurs"-day, December 24, 2009); Root & Branch Information Services mailto:rb@rb.org.il http://www.rb.org.il/
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Dear R&B Readers,

Sheikh Abdul Hadi and Mrs. (Dr. Luisa) Palazzi arrived at Ben Gurion Airport yesterday evening for a two week visit to Eretz Yisrael to express their solidarity with the People of Israel.

UPCOMING TALKS

Please join us for our upcoming Tuesday, December 29th talks by Dr. Asher Eder (6:00 p.m.) and Sheikh Palazzi (8:00 p.m.) in the Root and Branch Association Lecture Series at Jerusalem's Orthodox Union Israel Center (Keren Hayesod 22) (please see program and ticket information below).

DR. EDER'S TALK

Dr. Eder speaks on "Jerusalem-Zion: Burdensome Stone or City of Peace" (6:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 29th).

SHEIKH PALAZZ'S TALK

Sheikh Palazzi speaks on "The First, Second and Third Israelite Temples of Jerusalem in the Qur'an and Islamic Tradition" (8:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 29th).

PROFESSOR NAHUM RAKOVER TO CHAIR SHEIKH PALAZZI'S TALK

Sheikh Palazzi's talk will be chaired by Professor Nahum Rakover. Professor Rakover, a recipient of the Israel Prize, is Founder and President of the Jewish Legal Heritage Society www.mishpativri.org.il. He is also former Deputy Attorney General of the State of Israel, former Advisor to the Knesset on Jewish Law and former Professor of Law at Bar-Ilan University.

Professor Rakover was also the first person to invite Sheikh Palazzi to Israel, after meeting the Sheikh at a conference in Turkey in 1995. Sheikh Palazzi arrived in Israel for his first visit in July, 1996 as a guest of Professor Rakover, to address the Third International Seminar on the Sources of Contemporary Law on the subject of "Jerusalem: Three-Fold Religious Heritage for a Contemporary Single Administration". The Seminars were hosted by the Jewish Legal Heritage Society (then part of the Ministry of Justice) and chaired by Professor Rakover, Deputy Attorney General of Israel at that time.

DR. EDER AND SHEIKH PALAZZI AND THE R&B ISLAM-ISRAEL FELLOWSHIP

Dr. Eder and Sheikh Palazzi are Jewish and Muslim Co-Founders and Co-Chairs of the Islam-Israel Fellowship (established 1997) http://www.rb.org.il/Islam-Israel/Islam-Israel%20Contents.htm of the Root and Branch Association, Ltd. (established 1981) http://www.rb.org.il/.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL AT THIS TIME OF JACOB'S TROUBLE

The Palazzis especially hope to express their solidarity with Jewish pioneering men, women and children living in the Jewish Pioneering Communities of the liberated Israelite tribal territories in Judea, Samaria and the Golan.

Sheikh Palazzi will affirm, as he has always done, that the Qur'an unequivocally states, from beginning to end, and according to the traditional Muslim commentators, that God gave the Land of Israel to the Children of Israel.

The Sheikh affirms Jewish sovereignty over united Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the right of all people to pray on the Temple Mount, and the right of Jews to live anywhere in the Land of Israel.

FORTHCOMING PUBLICATION OF CRACKING THE QUR'AN CODE

The Palazzis also arrive in Israel to celebrate the forthcoming publication of Cracking the Qur'an Code: God's Land, Torah and People Covenants with Israel in the Qur'an and Islamic Tradition (copyright Lowell Gallin, 2009), written in honor and based on the teachings of Dr. Eder and Sheikh Palazzi (please see endorsements below).



Shalom from Yerushalayim,


Mr. Lowell Gallin
Founder and President
The Root and Branch Association, Ltd.
www.rb.org.il
mailto:rb@rb.org.il

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Tuesday, December 29th, 6:00-10:00 p.m.

"Jerusalem-Zion: Burdensome Stone or City of Peace" by Dr. Asher Eder, Jewish Co-Founder and Co-Chair, R&B Islam-Israel Fellowship (6:00 p.m.); "The First, Second and Third Israelite Temples of Jerusalem in the Qur'an and Islamic Tradition" by Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Muslim Co-Founder and Co-Chair, R&B Islam-Israel Fellowship; Secretary General, Italian Muslim Assembly, Rome Italy www.amislam.com (8:00 p.m.), Professor Nahum Rakover, Chair, Israel Prize Recipient; Founder and President, Jewish Legal Heritage Society www.mishpativri.org.il; former Deputy Attorney General, State of Israel; former Advisor to the Knesset on Jewish Law; former Professor of Law, Bar-Ilan University. Israel Center Non-Members NIS 25, Israel Center Members NIS 20, Students NIS 10, Israel Center Life Members NIS 5, Journalists Free. Root & Branch Association www.rb.org.il Program at the Orthodox Union Israel Center, Keren HaYesod 22. Tuesday, 6:00-10:00 p.m., December 29th. Info: Tel. 02-566-7787; Email: mailto:rb@rb.org.il .



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Endorsements for Cracking the Qur'an Code from Ralph Peters and John Loftus

“My congratulations to all involved in this important breakthrough effort. The disturbed nature of the world today, exacerbated by those who would pervert and misuse the message of every religion, makes such endeavors critical to the moral as well as the physical well-being of decent men and women everywhere. We must give the Root and Branch Association a warm round of applause for reaching out in so innovative and helpful a manner. This is a small victory for all humankind – let us hope it will lead to great victories for peace, faith and civilization”.

Ralph Peters, Author, The War After Armageddon


“Every once in a while, a seminal text appears in Islamic-Judeo relations. Cracking the Qur’an Code is such a book. Based on the teachings of the prominent Sufi Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi, Perhaps the leading Sunni Muslim cleric in Italy, if not all Europe; and an Israeli educator, Dr. Asher Eder, it breaks new ground. More accurately, it reminds us all that we once stood upon the old common ground, where Christians, Jews and Muslims respected each other as Peoples of the Book. This is a book worth reading”.

John J. Loftus, Esq., Author, The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People



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Excerpt from Sheikh Palazzi Address to the International Conference on Countering Suicide Terrorism
Herzliya, Israel – February, 2000

www.amislam.com/bush.htm

"the powerful structure of the Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood is mainly supported by those countries which are regarded as 'moderate' or 'friends of the West': Wahhabi Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Arab Emirates".

The main instrument for the "Wahhabisation" [1] of Arab society was an organization called Ikhwan al Muslimun (Wahhabi “Muslim Brotherhood”). The Brotherhood’s founder was Hasan al-Bannah, an elementary school teacher from Ismailiyyah who became one of the leaders of pro-British Masonry (United Lodge of England, ‘Mother of the World’) in Egypt.

The Palestinian Hamas is one of the most important Ikhwan (Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood) controlled organizations in the Middle East. Hamas leaders are not among the original families of founders. On a worldwide level the Ikhwan (Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood) leadership is, as before, in the hands of Syrian and Egyptian elements.

Countries such as Sudan, Iran and Afghanistan are easily identified as radical, totalitarian and enemies of the Western world, but their contribution to the international network of pseudo-Islamic "fundamentalism" (Wahhabism) is insignificant. On the contrary, the powerful structure of the Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood is mainly supported by those countries which are regarded as "moderate" or "friends of the West": Wahhabi Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Arab Emirates.



Excerpt from Sheikh Palazzi Remarks in September12, 2005
FrontPage.com Interview

http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=7298

"To really win the 'War on Terror'...it is necessary to replace the Wahhabi Saudi terror-funding regime with a moderate, non-Wahhabi and pro-Western regime, such as a Hashemite Sunni Muslim constitutional monarchy....The Wahhabi Saudi regime can only survive by increasing its support for terror".

To really win the "War on Terror" it is necessary for the U.S. to invade Saudi Arabia, capture King Abdullah and the other 1,500 princes who constitute the "House of Sa’ud", to freeze their assets, to remove them from power, and to send them to Guantanamo for life imprisonment. Then it is necessary to replace the Wahhabi Saudi terror-funding regime with a moderate, non-Wahhabi and pro-Western regime, such as a Hashemite Sunni Muslim constitutional monarchy. Unless all this is done, the "War on Terror" will never be won. It is possible to destroy Wahhabi al-Qa’ida, to capture or execute Bin Laden, al-Zarqawi, al-Zawahiri, etc., but this will not end the "War". After some years, Saudi princes will again start funding many similar Wahhabi terror organizations. The Wahhabi Saudi regime can only survive by increasing its support for terror.

Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi
Muslim Co-Founder and Co-Chair, R&B Islam-Israel Fellowship
http://www.rb.org.il/Islam-Israel/Islam-Israel%20Contents.htm
Advisory Council Member, Jewish Legal Heritage Society www.mishpativri.org.il
Director, Cultural Institute, Italian Islamic Community; Secretary General, Italian Muslim Assembly
http://www.amislam.com/
mailto:islam.inst@alice.it



[1] Wahhabis, as they are called by Sunnis and Shi’ites, call themselves “Salafis”

Jews Must Demand Rights to Temple Mount

During a 1995 Root and Branch lecture in Jerusalem, Professor Nahum Rakover, author and then Deputy Attorney General of Israel, publicly agreed with me that it isn't illegal for Christians or Jews to pray upon the Temple Mount, even though it is forcibly prevented by the police.

I had expressed the frustration we (the Temple Mount Faithful and thankfully, now, many others) feel when we follow the law, receive the necessary police permits for our legal demonstrations, and even obtain written Supreme Court approval of our actions, only to be denied "freedom of access" to our most holy site, the Temple Mount, and to be harshly treated with contempt for even trying to exercise our democratic rights!

I asked Deputy Attorney General Rakover why the Israeli government was, in effect, encouraging folks to act outside of the law (which they know we've never done, unlike other groups who feel why bother wasting your time trying to reason with corrupt officials), as well as rewarding militant Muslims for their terrorist threats of riots and violence (if Israel were to actually uphold their 1967 law that guarantees - in writing - "freedom of access" to the Temple Mount) and bizarrely punishing law-abiding people by denying them entry to the Temple Mount. Why not remove the threat? Isn't that logical? Isn't that legal?

Professor Nahum Rakover basically said that we're in this situation today because NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE WANT TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHT to that religious site - the Temple Mount!

Why should Israel change the status quo when they're not under any pressure to do so? It's been said politicians don't see the light until they feel the heat. Shame on us! As I've written in a letter published in the Jerusalem Post, the Temple Mount isn't in our hands, because it's not in our hearts and minds.

I was later unjustly deported for highlighting the plight of the Temple Mount under Nazi-Muslim occupation within an article published throughout Jerusalem and Israel, calling for the restoration of the Temple Mount as the Temple Mount - a House of Prayer for All Peoples - which the High Court of Israel dismissed as dangerous ideas.

Why should Jews continue to pray at the Western Wall, a site designated by the Turks for Jewish worship instead of the Temple Mount, and continue to submit to such a Gentile decree rather than obey the biblical command to ascend the Temple Mount?

Why obey men over God? Isn't that idolatry? Isn't that immoral? Isn't God Israel's King, Israel's only Husband? Who are the nations to dictate what God's wife should do?

Why are Jews gathering at the pitiful Western Wall to mourn the destruction of the Temple? Do something constructive and DEMAND Jewish legal and biblical rights to the Temple Mount.

Thankfully, the Third Temple is coming soon!

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Protection of Holy Places Law
June 27, 1967

1. The Holy Places shall be protected from desecration and any other violation and from anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places.
2. a. Whosoever desecrates or otherwise violates a Holy Place shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of seven years.
b. Whosoever does anything likely to violate the freedom of access of the members of the different religions to the places sacred to them or their feelings with regard to those places shall be liable to imprisonment for a term of five years.
3. This Law shall add to, and not derogate from, any other law.
4. The Minister of Religious Affairs is charged with the implementation of this Law, and he may, after consultation with, or upon the proposal of, representatives of the religions concerned and with the consent of the Minister of Justice make regulations as to any matter relating to such implementation.
5. This Law shall come into force on the date of its adoption by the Knesset.
Levi EshkolPrime Minister
Zerach WarhaftigMinister of Religious Affairs
Shneur Zalman ShazarPresident of the State

David Ben-Ariel is a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall. With a focus on the Middle East and Jerusalem, his analytical articles help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

A House of Prayer for All Peoples?

On Simchat Torah (Festival of the Rejoicing of the Law/Last Great Day) I went up to the Temple Mount with my Bible to pray. Although I do not usually wear a kippa (skull cap), I took one with me.

My first challenge was to pass the guards near the Temple Mount entrance; if they saw me with my Bible they would not let me enter. I silently prayed all the way up to the site where God's Temple stood twice, and will be rebuilt for a third and final time, that I would be able to go in. I got past the guards.

You say Jewish guards prevent Christians and Jews from exercising their religious right to pray on the Temple Mount? That's right! Only Muslims have unlimited access to Judaism's most holy site. Only the Koran is permitted within. The Tanach (Jewish Scripture, known to much of the world as the "Old Testament") and Christian Scriptures (the New Testament) are forbidden. Yet Israel claims to respect the religious rights of all people.

Israel has no law against Christians and Jews praying or reading scriptures on the Temple Mount. However, it does have an unwritten agreement with the Wakf (Muslim religious authorities) prohibiting this. No sign is posted, stating: "Warning! Christian and Jewish prayers are forbidden! Bibles not allowed inside by Muslim religious authorities. Proceed with caution!"

I do not accept that Moslems have the authority to forbid me from reading appropriate Psalms or the New Testament account of Jesus celebrating the Water Libation Ceremony (Psalms 120-134, John 7:37). My question was, where should I read those passages? I ended up between the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aksa mosque, just to the right of the place where Moslems wash their hands and feet. I was on the other side of the raised platform there, if you face the Mosque of Omar.

First, I nervously sat and read. Then I put on my black kippa, stood up and started to read for a few minutes until I became distracted by fears of being attacked by the Moslem guards. I sat down, took off my kippa, and continued to read. Then one of the Wakf guards noticed me and asked what I was reading. I replied, "Yes, it's my book." He took it from me and saw that it was a Bible. He demanded to know if I was a Christian or a Jew. When I told him I was a Christian, he asked me why I was wearing a magen David (Star of David).

I did not feel obligated to explain that it was a gift from my mother and youngest sister, and told him, "Give back my Bible." He ordered, "You have to leave now!" Again I said, "Give back my Bible." When he refused, I demanded its return more loudly. He raised his fist as if to hit me and warned me not to raise my voice. This attracted the attention of some passing tourists, who gathered around us. I told them, "This thief has stolen my Bible!"

The Wakf guard told me to leave again and threatened to hit me. He said he would give me back my Bible outside. Since there was no reason for him to confiscate it in the first place, I told him to return it to me then and there and I would go. At this point he radioed an Israeli policeman, who came running. The Israeli handcuffed my right hand, which I raised and showed to the assembled tourists, saying, "This is Israeli democracy!" I asked the Israeli repeatedly, "What law have I broken?" knowing that I had not broken any law, yet was being treated like a common criminal.

I am shocked that Jewish police in the Jewish State help maintain Moslem domination of the Temple Mount by suppressing Christian and Jewish religious rights there. Is it the Temple Mount or the Mosque Mount?

An Israeli policeman led me away. I told the bewildered tourists, "This is what happens to a Christian or Jew who wants to read the Bible where the holy Temple stood. This is what happens to Christians and Jews who want to pray where our prophets and patriarchs prayed, and where Jesus and his disciples taught."

Why the exclusive religious rights for Moslems? And Israel wants to hand over control of Rachel's Tomb, Bethlehem and Joseph's Tomb to Moslem religious authorities?! Are they crazy or what?

In the police station at the Western Wall Plaza, the officers wanted to know who else was with me. They were relieved to find that I was alone. (They should have known I was performing a mitzva [religious commandment]). The police said they arrested me for my own protection. I told them they should have arrested the Wakf guard who threatened me! Why not remove, once and for all, the threat of Moslem violence? Why reward Moslem extremists?

The police laughed in disbelief when I told them I am a Christian and that my Bible includes the New Testament, which they returned to me. A Druze officer said, "But you must respect other religions." He remained silent when I asked, "Where was their respect for mine?" I explained that our Biblical goal is to enable everyone to come and pray on the mountain where God's Temple stood, and in the Temple when it will be rebuilt. It is prophesied to become a "House of Prayer" for all nations.

The police told me I could return to the Temple Mount as a tourist - without my Bible. I said that I do not want to go up there only as a "tourist;" I want to pray there. When they asked me how many times I had been up there, I said "a thousand." They wrote that down in their report. They said I could make a short statement for the record. I said something to this effect: "Is it too much to ask during this 3,000th anniversary of King David's Jerusalem to peacefully read his inspired words on the Temple Mount?"

When I left the police compound, one of the policemen told me I did a good thing. Once outside, I was met by some Jews who saw the incident and congratulated me.

I pray that this unfortunate encounter will raise awareness of Israel's religious discrimination against Christians and Jews. The situation must change. It will when enough people cry "Basta!" (Italian for "enough!").

May the day soon come when Christians, Jews and Moslems can say: "My House shall be called a house of prayer for all Peoples." (Isaiah 56:7). The Bible says

"Moreover, concerning the stranger, who (is) not of Your people Israel, but comes out of a far country for Your Name's sake. For they shall hear of Your great Name, and of your mighty hand, and of Your outstretched arm, and will come and pray toward this house. Hear you in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calls to You for, that all peoples of the earth may know Your Name, to fear you, as (do) Your people Israel, that they may know that Your Name is called upon this house that I have built." (I Kings 8:41-43)

"And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants - everyone who observes the Sabbath - I will bring them to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." (Isaiah 56:6-7)

"And it shall come to pass at the end of days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and peoples shall flow to it. And many nations shall go, and say, 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord...and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths,' for out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (Micah 4:1-2)

(This article was originally published in the Jerusalem-based, Root and Branch Association newsletter, January 1996.)

See Israel's 1967 Protection of Holy Places Law they have failed to enforce and refused to uphold.