Fatwa forbids Palestinian from leaving Gaza, West Bank

News in Brief

By ICEJ News

14 Jun 2007

World leaders congratulate Peres on presidential victory
World leaders and former rivals called Vice Premier Shimon Peres on Wednesday to congratulate him on being elected Israel's ninth president. Peres received congratulatory phone calls from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Juan Carlos of Spain and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Former president Moshe Katzav, who stepped down last month following rape allegations, also offered his congratulations to Peres. After his election, Peres went to the Western Wall, and the 83-year-old planned today to visit the grave of David Ben-Gurion, his mentor and the first Prime Minister of Israel. Until Peres enters office in a month's time, Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik will continue serving as acting president.

Fatwa forbids Palestinian Muslims from leaving Gaza, West Bank
Alarmed by the growing number of Palestinians emigrating from the Palestinian territories, the Palestinian Authority's mufti has issued a fatwa [religious decree] forbidding Muslims to leave. "We hereby declare that emigration from the blessed lands is not permitted according to religious law. The people living in these areas must remain in their homes and must not leave them to conquerors. Those who abide by this ruling will perform an honorable deed and will support the Aqsa Mosque," the fatwa read. Sources in the PA Foreign Ministry told The Jerusalem Post that this year the ministry has approved the requests of some 10,000 Palestinians wishing to leave the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "Every day we hear about hundreds of Palestinians who file requests for emigration with different consulates and diplomatic missions," the sources said. A recent poll conducted in PA territories found that 83% of Palestinians regard their situation with pessimism.

Police approve Jerusalem gay parade
Jerusalem police chief Ilan Franco decided last night to authorize Jerusalem's controversial gay pride parade, which is scheduled to take place next week despite the tenacious opposition of Jerusalem's ultra-orthodox Jewish community. 7,000 police officers will be out in force to safeguard the event, and an Orthodox protest will take place simultaneously in a separate part of the city, police said. Last year's planned parade was scaled down and held in an enclosed arena following weeks of violent demonstrations against the event. Low-level protesting and began yesterday evening when dozens of protesters pelted police with stones, set a garbage bin on fire, and blocked traffic. There were no immediate reports of injuries. A massive protest is scheduled to take place in Jerusalem on Sunday. The port city of Haifa is set to host its first Gay Pride parade today, a week before the Jerusalem event.

Rocket-safe day care center opens in Sderot
The Women's International Zionist Organization, opened Israel's first fully fortified, Kassam-proof day care center in Sderot last week. The new center has 40-centimeter thick steel walls, a reinforced roof and rocket-proof window, and it will offer protection to about 80 preschoolers. "We are still getting used to not having to rush down to the bomb shelter when there is an alert," Ziva Korsia, the center's director, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Wednesday. "When a siren sounds, we can just carry on with our activities." Korsia said that since the new facility opened last week, she had been inundated with requests from parents to admit their children to the fortified center. "It is heartbreaking, but we just don't have room for all of them," she said.

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