Sunday 2 January 2011

Palestinians condemn Alexandria Church bombing

[ 01/01/2011 - 11:49 PM ]
From Khalid Amayreh

Palestinians from all political orientations have strongly condemned the Friday night bombing outside a Coptic church in Alexandria , describing the perpetrators as cowardly terrorists and criminals.

Some Palestinian factions hinted that the Israeli Mossad or al-Qaeda may have been responsible for the bombing which killed 22 people and injured many others.

Hamas, the Islamic Liberation movement, lambasted the bombing as a barbarian act targeting innocent people. Aziz Duweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, called the bombing "a criminal and sinful act."

"I condemn this criminal and sinful act in the strongest terms and without any reservation."

He called the perpetrators and their abettors and supporters "enemies of Egypt , enemies of Islam and enemies of humanity."

Another Palestinian Islamist leader, Muhammed Jamal Natshe, said Islam would never ever justify "such barbarian acts."

"This is a murderous act that is totally unacceptable. It is rejected religiously, morally and humanly," said Natshe, who is an Islamist lawmaker in the Hebron region.

Natshe, who spent many years in Israeli jails for peacefully resisting the occupation, said whoever committed this "sinful act" didn't represent Islam in any way. "Islam stands for the preservation of the human soul, not killing it. Killing a single human being is like killing the entire humanity," said Natshe, quoting some Quranic verses.

Earlier, Fatah issued a formal statement, calling the Alexandria bombing a "terrorist crime targeting Egypt and its cultural heritage."

"We in Fatah consider this a terrorist act targeting Egypt and its status in the region." The statement voiced the hope that "the Egyptian people's consciousness, along with the wisdom of the Egyptian leadership would eventually defeat the terrorists and prevent them from achieving their nefarious goals."

Many Palestinians think that undermining Egypt's stability and security would be highly detrimental to the Palestinian cause.

It is widely believed that one of Israel's main strategic goal in Egypt is to trigger a communal civil strife between the majority Muslim population and the Christian Coptic minority, the largest in the Arab world.

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