Although Mayor Livingstone is no more, a piece in the latest edition of the superb Democratiya reminds us of of the type of people he liked to hang-out with. But the review of the new English translation of Yusuf al-Qaradawi's 'Fatawa on Palestine' by the brilliant Mark Gardner and Dave Rich of the Community Security Trust is more important for one quote in particular which deserves plenty of airing.
In the debate over Islam, Islamism and the war on terror, one particular mistaken trope seems still not to have lost its traction. That is the idea that everything would be alright, all the jihadis would go away and all the nutcases pack up their bombs if a two-state solution could just be found in the Middle East. For those who continue to believe this line, I much recommend the following paragraph from Mr Qaradawi.
Contemplating one of Mohammed's least religion-of-peace-style Hadiths ('The last day will not come unless you fight the Jews. A Jew will hide himself behind stones and trees and stones and trees will say, "O servant of Allah - or O Muslim - there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."') Qaradawi has the following to say:
'[We] believe that the battle between us and the Jews is coming... Such a battle is not driven by nationalistic causes or patriotic belonging; it is rather driven by religious incentives. This battle is not going to happen between Arabs and Zionists, or between Jews and Palestinians, or between Jews or anybody else. It is between Muslims and Jews as is clearly stated in the hadith. This battle will occur between the collective body of Muslims and the collective body of Jews i.e. all Muslims and all Jews.' [p.77]
There you have it.
