CAIRO (IslamOnline) - The highest-status imam in the Muslim world, Sheikh Mohamad Saeed Tantawi of al-Azhar, declared that there could not be peace in the Middle East as long as the rights of Palestinians were denied.
In an interview with IslamOnline, Tantawi said that the Palestinians are entitled to a state of their own with East Jerusalem as its capital, adding that there would be no peace without Jerusalem.
Addressing calls for boycotts of American and Israeli products, Tantawi said that religious leaders cannot specify which companies and there products that the public should boycott, and that this is the job of the government and that the public should abide by the boycott.
He called upon all Palestinians to defend their sacred and holy places by all means, stating that some suicidal operations cannot be labeled as "terrorism" since the martyrs are only defending their rights and properties against occupiers.
He also called upon the American administration and the United Nations Security Council to stop their biases against the Palestinians, and asked all Muslims to work hard on their positions to regain the al-Aqsa mosque under Islamic sovereignty.
But he denounced all acts of vandalism that took place during some of the protests in the Islamic cities, saying that attacking some stores because the people think they are pro-Israeli is not the right way to protest against the Israeli authorities.
In the suburb of al-Maadi in Cairo, Sainsbury stores have been attacked because it was believed they were part of a Jewish supermarket chain.
