Jordan’s king warns UN Assembly that both Islamophobia and Islam ‘outlaws’ threaten world

When others exclude Muslims from fulfilling their role, by prejudice or ignorance of what Islam is – or on the other hand, when the ‘outlaws’ of Islam, the khawarej, attempt to mislead some Muslims, by deforming our religion through false teaching - our societies' future is put at risk,” he told the Assembly’s annual general debate on its opening day.

“When the outlaws of Islam, the khawarej, murder; when they plunder; when they exploit children and reject the equality of women before God – they abuse Islam. When the khawarej persecute minorities; when they deny freedom of religion – they abuse Islam. Islam teaches that all humanity is equal in dignity. There is no distinction among different nations or regions or races,” he stated.

The king called for non-traditional means to confront this non-traditional – a new mindset, new partnerships, and reformed methodologies, stressing that for Muslims it is a fight for the future with all elements having a role, not only mosques and religious centres, but media, schools, and community leaders.

The international community also faces a fight for the future, highlighting the need to open up new channels between continents and nations reforming the way we communicate and share information.

“Ours is a global fight,” he said. “The focus must not stop with the Middle East, but reach far beyond – in West and East Africa, South East Asia, and the Balkans.”

The king also called for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “No injustice has spread more bitter fruit than the denial of a Palestinian state. I say: Peace is a conscious decision. Israel has to embrace peace or eventually be engulfed in a sea of hatred in a region of turmoil.”

Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad AI-Thani, Amir of Qatar, also criticized Israel for seeking to impose a fait accompli through long-term plans to build settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.

“It has founded its occupation on discrimination and racial segregation, and established two legal systems under its sovereignty, one for the occupiers and the other for those languishing under the occupation,” he said.

“As Israel proceeds with the occupation and its practices, the Arab peoples can't accept any kind of normalization of relations with Israel before achieving a just solution to the Palestinian cause,” he added.

He also denounced the regime of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad for the non-stop shelling and starvation siege of Daria and other towns and decried the failure of the international community to protect the Syrian people.

“Putting an end to this humanitarian disaster has become a political and moral necessity that imposes a historical […] responsibility on the Security Council to stop the bloodshed of the Syrians by halting the barbaric bombing and blockade on cities – staged under the slogan "starvation or kneeling" – and to repatriate the displaced, and to take measures for the resumption of the political process,” the Amir stated.

UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Source: www.justearthnews.com