Wiesenthal Centre to Egyptian President: "Remove Declaration of War (Jihad) against Christians and Jews from Your Government Ministries Website"

CENTRE SIMON WIESENTHAL - EUROPE
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"This text - 'Islam Versus Ahl al Kitab' (Peoples of the Book) – urges murder of Jews and Christianworldwide"

In a letter to Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Relations,Dr.Shimon Samuels, exposed a shocking policy document reached through the official State portal of the Egyption Government. http://www.egypt.gov.eg/english/guide/directory.aspx, which accesses the websites of all Ministries, among them the Ministry of Religious Affaires marked by the link: http://www.awkaf.org Its opening page carriesthe letterhead of "El Azhar", the acknowledged paramount authority on Islam. By clicking on the left column menu marked "Non Muslims" and then again on "Islam and othermonotheistic Religions", the visitor is confronted with an article entitled "Islam Versus Ahl al Kitab Past and Present" by a Dr. Maryam Jameelah.

The letter highlighted the final paragraph of this diatribe, appearing as if endorsed by El Azhar and the Egyptian Government,as a declaration of war (Jihad) against all Christians and Jews (Ahl al Qitab = the Peoples of the Book):
"Peaceful relations and mutual respect among us can only be achieved through strength. We must cease indulging in apologeticsand present the Islamic message to the world honestly and forthrightly. Before we can hope to succeed with Tabligh ['propagation of the Message of Islam'] on a large scale, wemust first convert the nominal Muslims into true believers. We must establish a full-blooded Islamic state where the world will witness our precepts translated into action.Finally, we must crush the conspiracies of Zionism, freemasonry, Orientalism and foreign missions both with the pen and with the sword. We cannot afford peace and reconciliationwith the Ahl al Kitab until we can humble them and gain the upper hand."

Samuels stressed to the President, "This text flies in the face of historic claims to harmony for minorities under Islamicrule and blatantly incites to hate, urging the murder of Jews and Christians worldwide."
The letter noted in passing, "El- Azhar had adopted a vicious screed written by Maryam Jameelah (born Margret Marcus) a NewYork Jew, reportedly hospitalized for schizophrenia and, apparently, suffering from a range of psychiatric traumas while dabbling in various faiths, includingIslam."

The Centre called on President Mursi to, "Denounce this hate manifesto, remove it from your portal and prosecute those whohave so tarnished your Presidency and, indeed, Islam itself."

"Thus we pray that, under your Presidency, Egypt will prosper by contributing to the peace and stability so dearly sought byyour neighbour Israel and the entire Middle East," concluded Samuels.

For further information contact Shimon Samuels on +33(0)609770158, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 memberfamilies in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin AmericanParliament (Parlatino).