Dr. Mordechai Kedar of the Arabic Department of Bar Ilan University says Islam’s interest in Jerusalem is purely political, not religious – and he told Al-Jazeera as much. "Jerusalem is ours, period, and no one can tell us what not to build there," he said.
Kedar entertained the audience at the 6th Jerusalem Conference with a video clip of his hard-hitting appearance on the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera international network several weeks ago.
Kedar prefaced the video by explaining, “Islam began ruling Jerusalem in the 7th century, and continues to do so until now. Let us not kid ourselves; the Temple Mount is not in our hands, because they can decide on a whim to close the site to tourists. It was ours for a few days in 1967, until those who decided [Moshe Dayan – ed.] transferred it to the control of the Waqf.”
“We should ask, however, how did the Moslems suddenly fall in love with Jerusalem," Kedar continued. "What connection could this desert-based religion have had with Jerusalem? In fact, the Shiites have no bond with Jerusalem; their 3rd-holiest city is Najaf. In addition, Jerusalem does not appear in the Koran even one time!"
"There was one short period, of a year and a half, when Muhammad prayed towards Jerusalem – but that was because he wanted to attract the Jews. When he failed, he then slaughtered them, took a Jewess as a wife, and turned his back on Jerusalem in order to pray to Mecca… Later, when he discovered that Jerusalem was holy to Judaism and Christianity, and it was the place where Abraham had bound up Isaac for a sacrifice, he changed his mind, figuring that if Jerusalem can be holy to those two, then why not for Islam as well?
"So they built a mosque on the Temple Mount on the ruins of a church, and made up the stories of horses and chariots flying to the sky [and so forth]… Islam thus came into the world not to live together with Christianity and Judaism, but actually to annul and replace them. So that even if Jerusalem is holy to those two, it doesn’t matter, because they will be replaced in any event…
"In short, Jerusalem is holy to Islam only for political reasons, not religious. Therefore, the struggle today is for the very raison d’etre of Islam; they are scared to discuss it, because they are afraid that their claim to the city will be exposed as the nonsense it is. This is why their media doesn’t allow Jerusalem to be discussed; they are scared of people who really know the facts of how Jerusalem became sanctified to Islam."
Al-Jazeera interview is included in above video
Kedar explained how he came to be interviewed on Al-Jazeera:
"On June 1 of last year, Israel decided to build hundreds of more apartments in Har Homa and Pisgat Ze’ev, in eastern Jerusalem. Al-Jazeera – the jihadist channel, the terrorist station; I say this openly, though the English-language Al-Jazeera is more normal – turned it into the top news item, giving the impression that we are throwing all the Arabs out and expanding Jerusalem into the West Bank. Our Foreign Ministry did not want to respond because it condemned Al-Jazeera, so I appeared instead. Here is how it went [Kedar screens the video clip]:
Al-Jazeera announcer introduces Kedar from Bar Ilan University, and says: "This decision [to build more homes] bangs more nails into the coffin of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, no?"
Kedar: “I really don’t understand talk like this. Must Israel ask permission from someone in order to build in Jerusalem? Jerusalem has been our capital for 3,000 years, and we were there when your forefathers were drinking wine and burying girls alive and bowing down to [idols named] Uza and Allat and Almanat. Why do we even have to talk about this? This has been our city for 3,000 years, and it will remain our city forever and ever.”
Interviewer: “Excuse me, Mr. Mordechai, excuse me, excuse me. If you want to talk about history, we will talk about the Koran. You cannot erase Jerusalem from the Koran! I ask you to stay away from expressions that insult Arabs and Muslims. Please, let us remain on our topic, please.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran!”
Interviewer in exasperation: “Praised be Allah who took his servant.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran even one time! You cannot rewrite the Koran on the screen of Al-Jazeera.”
Interviewer: “Let’s talk politics, with your permission.”
Kedar: “Jerusalem is out of the negotiations. Jerusalem belongs to the Jews, period! Jerusalem is absolutely not for discussion, yet you keep bringing it up.”
Interviewer: “Mr. Kedar, the settlements! The settlements!”
Kedar: “We are talking about the construction of apartments within the city of Jerusalem.”
Interviewer: “You are talking about the construction of 1,000 new apartments, and there was a decision to build another 10,000 units, which was suspended. Now there is talk of building another 1,000 or 2,000 or 3,000 – Jerusalem will end up including the entire West Bank, is this not true?”
Kedar: “My brother, Israel doesn’t count the buildings that Qatar chooses to build on the Qatar Peninsula, so why do you count what we build in Jerusalem? Jerusalem is our eternal city forever and ever, and what we do there is not the business of Al-Jazeera or anyone else, period! The city belongs to Jews only!”
Interviewer: “Do you mean to imply that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations are based on these facts-on-the-ground that you are talking about, Mr. Mordechai Kedar?”
Kedar: "My brother, I invite you to come to Jerusalem to see with your own eyes how Jerusalem has become a flowering city, after a period of ruins under Arab rule until 1967. We built this city anew, and it is now open to Christians, Moslems and Jews in an equal manner, as it never was under Islamic rule when the Moslems kept the Jews away, and sometimes the Christians as well – and now it is open to all."
Interviewer: "I would like an answer. Why is it that every time there are Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, you talk about the settlements? You decide to add new settlements, to bite off more land, and to Judaize more Palestinian land, and in this way you undermine any option of establishing a Palestinian state in the future, is this not true?"
Kedar: "As of now, bli ayin hara, the Palestinians already have two states – one in Gaza, and one that will be established, if Allah wills it, in the West Bank. And if the Palestinians continue their irresponsible behavior in the negotiations, there will soon be another state in Hebron, and one in Nablus, and one in Ramallah, and one in Jenin."
Interviewer: "That is according to the Israeli outline, but the international decisions are opposed to everything you are saying, Mr. Mordechai. Eastern Jerusalem is occupied, occupied, occupied. Everyone knows this."
Kedar: "The West Bank does not belong to any country in the world. There is no sovereignty over that area, just like Antarctica in the south. Jordan was in control of the area until 1967, but no country has sovereignty there, unlike the Golan and Sinai. Therefore, no one can say that this is occupied territory. From which country was it conquered? Jordan conquered it until 1967, and now it is under Israeli rule, and does not belong to any other country in the world. And therefore we can build there whatever we want."
At the conclusion of the video, the Jerusalem Conference audience applauded, and Prof. Kedar concluded his talk by emphasizing that what he told Al-Jazeera should be known to everyone: "I'm not from the extreme right-wing, but these are things that everyone must know and explain."