The mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein. Nov. 22, 2009. Photo: Nati Shohat/Flash90.

While Israelis are flocking to Dubai in the wake of the normalization agreement between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates, the Palestinian Authority’s top cleric has ruled that women cannot travel there without a male chaperone.

According to Palestinian Media Watch, Grand Mufti Muhammad Hussein made his comments while being interviewed on official PA television earlier this month.

On the program Fatwa, Hussein was asked about a hypothetical man whose “wife wants to travel to Dubai with her daughters without the presence of an accompanying man from her family — is this allowed?”

Hussein replied, “There has to be an accompanying man from her family on the trip.”

Hussein, who was appointed directly by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, has a history of making misogynist statements. In one interview, he was asked if a woman could refuse to have sex with her husband, and replied, “It is his right.”

“This woman may not and has no rights to deny him this right, especially during the permissible time, which is night time,” Hussein asserted.

Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, said of Hussein’s latest comments, “It’s tragic that the PA still treats their women this way. Once again the PA leadership is failing their people.”