“For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning…” — Barack Obama at al-Azhar, June 4, 2009
“Al-Azhar Grand Imam slams Israeli attacks on Gaza,” by Joanna Paraszczuk for the Jerusalem Post, November 14:
The Grand Imam of Egypt’s powerful al-Azhar Mosque denounced Israel’s strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, calling them the “Zionist army’s bombing of innocent civilians”, Egyptian and Saudi news sources reported.
In his statement on Wednesday, Mohamed Ahmed El Tayeb warned the “Zionist entity” against continuing the strikes, which he said were “brutal” and would lead the entire region into a wider conflict.
El Tayeb called on the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to act for the people of Gaza and deter the “usurper entity from exercising its barbarism against defenseless civilians”, according to Saudi Arabia’s Bab news site.
The Grand Imam said Palestinians in Gaza had a “right to live safely like any other human beings.”
However, in his statement El Tayeb did not mention or allude to the rocket attacks against Israel.…