Qaradawi says comments on Palestine 'fabricated'

President of the International Union of Muslim Scholars Dr Youssef al-Qaradawi denied remarks attributed to him in which he allegedly downplayed the importance of armed struggle against occupation in Palestine.

A statement by the Islamic scholar on Saturday said that a number of “dubious” media outlets, which he did not name, publicised “baseless” remarks attributed to him, and capitalised on them to denigrate him as part of a smear campaign aimed at misrepresenting his positions on the Arab Spring and Palestinian resistance.

The IUMS, led by Qaradawi, has issued a number of statements since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza on July 7, and called for staging protests every Friday in solidarity with Palestinians.

The fatwa in question, publicised by a number of Egyptian and Arab media, urges Muslim youth to “focus their Jihad efforts on Syria to liberate it from the tyranny of Bashar Al-Assad, rather than Palestine.” It also suggested that “there is no Islamic obligation to open the door for Jihad in Palestine now,” and that “Allah is testing the perseverance of those [resistance fighters] stationed in the holy land.”