PA President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting in Ramallah, in the West Bank August 18, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/Pool

Apartheid in South Africa started to become official policy in 1913, when the South African government passed the Natives Land Act. According to this law, black South Africans were prohibited from buying or renting land in 93% of South Africa. This law was one of the foundational stones of the official policy that became state-sponsored apartheid.

When compared to the Palestinian Authority (PA) approach to selling land to Jews, it seems that the Natives Land Act is in good company.

At a recent meeting of the PA Supreme Fatwa Council, led by PA Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Territories and Supreme Fatwa Council Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, the PA reiterated that Palestinians selling land to Jews is not only a criminal offense, but also forbidden under Shariah law:

Palestine is kharaj land [i.e., land belonging to Muslims] and … according to Shari’ah law, it is forbidden to sell its lands and its properties or facilitate its transfer to enemies. This is because in terms of Shari’ah law it is considered a public Islamic property and not private property.

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 25, 2022]

Weeks later, after reiterating the fatwa, the head of the Supreme Muslim Council and the head preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Ikrima Sabri, added what exactly would happen to those who broke the law:

Sabri emphasized the Fatwa according to which one who sells or mediates [the sale of property to Jews] will not be buried, will not be purified, and will not be prayed for, and that whoever interacts with them is a traitor…

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 9, 2022]

As Palestinian Media Watch has already noted, according to a PA law that was amended in 2014 by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, the punishment for selling land to Jews is life imprisonment with hard labor.

In that earlier March 25 article, the PA council also incited Palestinians to violence:

The council also called on the occupation authorities to stop harming the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and to respect its sanctity, and also called on our people and everyone who is able to reach the Al-Aqsa Mosque to come to it and carry out Ribat there [religious conflict over land claimed to be Islamic].

These are the real human rights violations in the Middle East; but they won’t be reported on by the media.

Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, Adv. is the Head of Legal Strategies for Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.