Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual guide to the Muslim Brotherhood, has notoriously made anti-American and anti-Semitic statements during his sermons and speeches. Earlier this week, his official Arabic website published notes from a speech Qaradawi gave at a conference in Doha entitled “Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa between the conspiracy and confrontation.”
It called for the Arab and Muslim world to prioritize liberating Jerusalem over other issues.
The Investigative Project on Terrorism translated the article:
“His Eminence [Qaradawi] stated that Muslims are charged with the defense of Jerusalem and its recovery, He criticized the Arabs for complicity with Israel, pointing to the joy of the Jews at the candidate most likely to win the presidency of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. He said, the Jews ‘consider him their Sisi and not our Sisi.'”
The article continues with Qaradawi blessing reconciliation between Fatah, which runs the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and the terrorist group Hamas, which controls Gaza. He called on all Palestinian factions “to defend the unity of Palestine, and to raise the banner of jihad, stressing that it is the only way to liberate the land and defend honor.”
Moreover, “he [Qaradawi] stressed the need for armed resistance to the usurping enemy. He said that all the Islamic Umma is prepared for Jihad with life and money to restore Palestine, all of Palestine.”
In the past, Qaradawi defended Hitler and made numerous anti-Semitic statements and gestures, including boycotting an interfaith dialogue conference in Qatar, saying he opposes discussions with Jews on principle. He has also called on Muslims to attain nucluear weapons to “terrorize their enemies.”
Despite these repeated calls for violence, many Islamist groups and their supporters in the West continue to cast Qaradawi as a moderate. American academic John Esposito,who has worked closely with a number of Muslim Brotherhood front groups, callsQaradawi a supporter of a “reformist interpretation of Islam and its relationship to democracy, pluralism and human rights.”
Despite all of the troubles plaguing Middle East, such as the Sinai insurgency and the ongoing Syrian civil war, the prominent Muslim leader continues to preach as if Israel is the main source of the Muslim world’s problems.