Worden de Palestijnen gematigder?

Sinds de dood van Arafat is er iets veranderd in de bezette gebieden. De Palestijnse radioberichtgeving is een gematigder in toon (geencom/geencom).

In september zei Sheik Ibrahim Mahdi nog het volgende:

“We are waging this cruel war with the brothers of monkeys and pigs, the Jews and the sons of Zion,” Sheik Ibrahim Mahdi, a cleric, said in September on his weekly program. “The Jews will fight you and you will subjugate them until the Jew will stand behind the tree and rock, and the tree and rock will say: ‘O Muslim, observant of God, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him.’ “

Tegenwoordig zijn de volgende preken te horen:

“We must respect the human mind, recognize the ‘other,’ respect his humanity and show tolerance to him,” a cleric, Muhammad Abu Hunud, said in his sermon on Dec. 3 from a mosque in the Gaza Strip, broadcast across the area. Several senior Palestinian politicians attended, including Mahmoud Abbas, the favorite in the election for president to be held next month.

“One must not coerce,” the preacher added. “Through this Islamic way of preaching, the ideas of ’the golden mean’ and moderation and the avoidance of any kind of extremism or inclination to violence or fanaticism becomes ingrained in people’s minds.”

Gaat het dan toch eindelijk een beetje de goede kant op?