Abbas’ advisor incites religious war: US President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel`s capital is “a crime against humanity... How do Muslims... allow this sin? … It will open the gates of hell”

Official PA TV, Friday prayers at the mosque at the PA headquarters in Ramallah, sermon by Supreme Shari’ah Judge, Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice Mahmoud Al-Habbash.

Supreme Shari’ah Judge and Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash: "This crime that American President [Trump] committed [by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital] is not only against Palestine, but also against all of humanity, against the Muslims, and against the Christians. How does he allow himself to give the keys to Jerusalem to those who are not its people? He wants to repeat the sin and crime of [former British Foreign Secretary] Balfour. Okay, Balfour has been relegated to the dustbin of history, and Palestine has remained, and Jerusalem has remained, and this one [Trump] will follow in [Balfour's] footsteps... How do the Muslims of the world allow this sin? How do the Christians of the world allow handing over the keys to [the Church of] the Holy Sepulchre to those who are not from Jerusalem, to those who are not Palestinians... It could be that everyone knows and everyone assumes that this sin, which the American president committed, will open the gates of hell, as Sheikh Al-Azhar said – not only in the East, but in both the East and the West. Nobody should think, wherever he is in the world, that he will be able to prevent the consequences of this sin. No one can prevent the consequences of this sin... The US president can do what he wants and say what he wants, maybe he can also blow us up, destroy us, kill us, and put us in prison. He will do this and we will smile. We will smile because we know that this is part of the price of which Jerusalem is deserving, [it is] part of the price. Jerusalem is a bride whose bride-price is souls... and we are her betrothed. We are her people, and our souls, our bodies, and our children are a sacrifice for Jerusalem... Jerusalem is ours and will remain ours... The US is pleased with itself that it has elected a president that makes it an enemy of the Muslims and Christians throughout the world. A president who wants to be an enemy of humanity. A president who wants to be an enemy of all the people... This decision is aggression against Islam, aggression against Christianity, aggression against the Quran, aggression against the New Testament, aggression against the Muslims, aggression against the Christians, aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, aggression against the Holy Sepulchre, and aggression against humanity. And humanity - I don't think it will allow [this] or be silent about this aggression. Humanity will not be silent. I'm sure about this and I'm sure that the nation will not be silent. The Muslims will act... Jerusalem is ours and not yours. It has been ours for 5,000 years and it will remain ours until Allah will inherit the earth and whoever is on it."

Al-Habbash is Mahmoud Abbas’ advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs, Supreme Shari’ah Judge, and Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice.

The Balfour Declaration of Nov. 2, 1917 was a letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour to Baron Rothschild stating that "His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people." In 1922, the League of Nations adopted this and made the British Mandate "responsible for putting into effect the declaration," which led to the UN vote in favor of partitioning Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state in 1947. In response, Britain ended its mandate on May 15, 1948, and the Palestinian Jews, who accepted the Partition Plan, declared the independent State of Israel. The Palestinian Arabs rejected the plan and together with 7 Arab states attacked Israel, in what is now known as Israel's War of Independence.

US recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel - On Dec. 6, 2017, US President Donald Trump formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump added that the final borders of Jerusalem will be determined during negotiations. The US embassy was transferred from Tel Aviv and opened in Jerusalem on May 14, 2018, the anniversary of Israel's declaration of independence in 1948 according to the Gregorian calendar.