What Israel is doing to Palestinians is ‘unacceptable,’ insists Al-Azhar

The centuries-old Al-Azhar University in Cairo has said that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is “unacceptable,” Almesryoon.com reported on Friday. Al-Azhar has launched a campaign against the Israeli violations, the Egyptian news website said. The move follows Israel’s destruction of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar Bedouin village near Jerusalem and the displacement of its residents.

“The violations of the Zionist entity, its barbaric action, displacement and enforced expulsion of the Palestinians is unacceptable and must be accountable,” a report from the university said. “Humiliating the Palestinians, expelling them, expropriating their land and building settlements on them is opposed by all international agreements and conventions.”

Al-Azhar condemned the decision of the Israeli Supreme Court to dispossess the Palestinian residents of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar and Abu Nuwwar in order to demolish the villages and build new Jewish settlements. All Israeli settlements on Palestinian land are illegal under international law.

The renowned religious institution, founded in 975 CE, said that the “brutal” Israeli action against the Palestinians amounts to a “new Nakba”, a reference to the 1948 Nakba (“Catastrophe”) when Israel was created in the historic land of Palestine.

The Egyptian Fatwa Department published comments on its website in support of the Palestinians, stressing that they have the right to all of their land. The Israeli occupation, it added, is “doubtlessly fading out.” The department also called upon the international community to take action to deter Israel’s aggression and stop its ongoing violations against the Palestinians.