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Religions, such as Christianity, not to mention Judaism, were denied any juridical status under the Palestinian State Constitution.
Currently, there are a number of essential questions not being asked of nations that will recognize a planned Palestinian state.
Journalists should pose these questions to the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
•Will the planned Palestinian state abolish the Palestinian Charter, which mandates the destruction of Israel?
•Will the planned Palestinian state revoke the law that guarantees salaries to anyone who murders a Jew?
•Will the planned Palestinian state remove texts that glorify those who murder Jews?
•Will the planned Palestinian state eliminate educational materials that glorify the murder of Jews?
•In the maps of the planned Palestinian state, will the State of Israel appear alongside it?
•Will the planned Palestinian state cancel the slogan of the “Right of Return through armed struggle”?
•Will the planned Palestinian state abide by the Constitution of the State of Palestine based on Quranic Sharia Law?
• • •
In 2003, the Vatican Ambassador to the Holy Land — Archbishop Msgr. Pietro Sambi, known as the Papal Nuncio — warned a US congressional delegation that the new Palestinian State constitution, funded by USAID, provided no juridical status whatsoever for any religion other than Islam in the emerging Palestinian Arab entity.
I covered that briefing at the time for the Israeli newspaper Makor Rishon and FrontPage Magazine.
At that briefing, the Papal Nuncio expressed his concern to visiting US lawmakers that the PA had adopted Sharia Islamic law, based on the model of the Sharia from Quranic edicts as practiced in Iran or Saudi Arabia.
Article (5) of the official Palestinian State Constitution reads as follows: Arabic and Islam are the official Palestinian language and religion. Christianity and all other monotheistic religions shall be equally revered and respected.
In other words, as Sambi noted, other religions, such as Christianity, not to mention Judaism, were denied any juridical status under the Palestinian State Constitution.
• • •
The status of Islam as the official religion of any future Palestinian Arab entity is also expressed in Article (7) of the official Palestinian State Constitution, which states that:
The principles of Islamic Sharia are a major source for legislation. Civil and religious matters of the followers of monotheistic religions shall be organized in accordance with their religious teachings and denominations within the framework of law, while preserving the unity and independence of the Palestinian people.
The Palestine constitution translation and analysis can be accessed here.
Islamic nations that have adopted Sharia law have mandated the absolute supremacy of Muslims over non-Muslims as a matter of law.
What worried the archbishop was that Christian churches and all Christian schools would be placed under the arbitrary authority of Islamic Fundamental Law, which allows nothing more than tolerance of other religions, at best.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) financed the creation of the PA State Constitution, which meant the imposition of Islamic law throughout the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.
A research study released by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, titled “The Beleagured Christians,” noted that in Egypt, Muslim but not Christian schools receive state funding. “It is nearly impossible to restore or build new churches. … Christians are frequently ostracized or insulted in public, and laws prohibit Muslim conversions to Christianity.”
In other words, USAID fostered an Islamic totalitarian state of Palestine, devoid of religious freedom and human rights. Yet that is the Palestinian state that nations of the world clamor to recognize.
