Board members of the Al Quds (Jerusalem) International Institution including Attallah (second from left), Mishal (fourth from left) and Qaradawi (third from right

　　Doha-based Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi has urged Muslim countries to take advantage of the global financial crisis and build a new fiscal system which is compatible with Islamic principles.

　　“We have our own economic philosophy and system which others do not have. The collapse of the capitalist system, which is based on usury and securities rather than commodities in markets, shows us that it is undergoing a crisis and that our integrated Islamic philosophy, if properly understood and applied, can replace the Western capitalism,” he said.

　　“We have all the means of power. We have an abundance of economic and human resources. If we know how to make the best use of the opportunity, Muslim countries can build a new system among themselves,” he said.

　　Qaradawi who was speaking at the opening of the sixth annual meeting of the Al Quds (Jerusalem) International Institution which got under way in Doha yesterday, also urged the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah movement to be “united” for achieving the hope of wresting the control of Jerusalem from the Israelis.

　　“I call on both our brother Khalid Mishal (the head of Hamas) and our friend Abu Mazin (the Palestinian president) to meet and seek reconciliation so that they can achieve our hopes. It is not true that Israel is invincible. We are able to conquer and we will do.”

　　The scholar also warned against what he called “Israel’s ongoing excavations under the Al Aqsa Mosque.”

　　Mishal, the Damascus-based chief of Hamas Political Bureau, raised doubts about the possibility of reaching any settlement with Israel via negotiation.

　　“What should be very clear is that regaining control of Al Quds and the any other usurped Palestinian rights would be impossible through negotiation. Even for the Palestinians refugees’ right to return, Israel does not want even to admit the moral responsibility of deporting them,” he said.

　　Mishal also blamed both the US and Israel for the “division between the Palestinian factions” saying that the US and Israel were putting obstacles in the way of any possible settlement between the Palestinians.

　　“It is America which undermined the Makkah peace deal. But now both America and Israel are embroiled in their internal problems,” he said, while observing that the Hamas movement delegate, who is currently in Cairo, has a reconciliation formula to form a government of national unity.

　　The three-day meeting will seek to garner support for the protection of Jerusalem and its holy sites against what they call “Israeli attempts to Judaise the city and its holy cities.”

　　The meeting brought together some 300 personalities from different countries as well as NGOs which convened in Doha to discuss ways to protect and conserve the heritage of Jerusalem.

　　PHOTO CAPTION

　　Board members of the Al Quds (Jerusalem) International Institution including Attallah (second from left), Mishal (fourth from left) and Qaradawi (third from right).

　　Source: gulf-times.com