Iraq calls for jihad to capture Jerusalem
Baghdad
Iraq urged the Arab world to follow the example of Muslim hero Salah Al Din (Saladin) and recapture Jerusalem, warning that Palestine could not be freed through "bargaining and concessions."
"The Arabs have to learn the lesson of Saladin's Liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem," said the ruling party's newspaper, Ath-Thawra, in reaction to the killing of 36 Palestinians in clashes with Israeli forces.
"Palestine will not be won back through bargaining and concessions made from a position of weakness but through mobilization of all resources and collective Arab support for the Palestinians."
Pouring scorn on the US-sponsored peace process, Ath-Thawra warned that Washington "cannot be a friend or honest broker in any Arab cause, especially not the Palestinian one."
Saladin's historic victory over the Crusaders in 1187, which is marked by discussions at Iraqi universities each 2 October, led to the capture of the holy city for the Muslims.
A Kurdish warrior who commanded Egyptian and Syrian troops in the battle for Jerusalem, Saladin was from Tikrit in northern Iraq where Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was also born.
The Iraqi government, in its first reaction to several days of bloodshed in the Palestinian territories, called on Sunday for "a jihad (holy war) to liberate Palestine".
AFP