CAIRO, April 13 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The door for Jihad is open for all the Islamic nation’s youth to defend Islam and the land of Palestine, said Al Azhar Sheikh, Dr. Sayed Tantawi.

Speaking to nearly 15,000  demonstrators at Al Azhar mosque after Friday’s prayers Tantawi said that those who perform the martyr operations are in fact martyrs and are not terrorists. “Strength is life and weakness is death,” he said.

The demonstrators called for the door of Jihad to be opened to the Egyptian youth who want to support the Palestinian intifada and called for the cancellation of the military order which bans gathering donations. This they said will allow them to support the intifada financially.

The demonstrators carried copies of the holy Quran, Palestinian flags and banners that condemned the government’s weak stance against the Israeli aggression.

Among the demonstrators were members of Egyptian parties and political force groups. The demonstration went on underneath heavy security.

“Jihad is the only way to liberate Jerusalem,” said Dr. Abdul Hamid Al Gazali, professor of economics in Cairo University. He called for the borders to be opened and said that the camps of Jenin fell into the hands of the occupation forces because of the lack of resistance fighters.

He also said that weapons must be sent to the Palestinians but emphasized that faith is the first weapon and that Arab people must awaken their governments to know that Israel is just a germ in the hands of what he called “the prime enemy the United States”.

Ibrahim Shukry, the head of the labor party called for all political parties to stand as a united force behind the Palestinian resistance to form a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.

Mahfouz Azzam, member of the labor party, asked the Egyptian government to open training camps for Egyptian youth to train them on using weapons especially after the announcement made by Tantawi.

“The people must move without waiting for their governments,” said Hamdein Subahi, member in the Egyptian People’s Assembly. He called on all Arab leaders to halt any business transactions with the United States and to withdraw all Arab money from American banks.

Farouq Al Ashri, the member of the Nasserite Party said that Israel and United States want to eradicate Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria so that Egypt is alone opposing them, emphasizing that Egypt is the Zionists’ number one enemy.

On Friday, upon his return to Cairo from the West Bank city of Ramallah and Amman, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher blamed Israel for the martyr operation which rocked Jerusalem Friday killing six Israelis and wounding 84 others.

"I have said for several days that Israel's aggressive policy would not lead to its establishing security," Maher said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Israel's policies brought out this violence. Israel assumes the first and the last point of responsibility because it sows despair inside many people," Maher said, who met in Ramallah with besieged Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Despite his tough-sounding words, Maher stressed he condemned all attacks on "civilians and the innocent."

Since March 29, Israel has carried out a vast military campaign across the West Bank with the stated aim of crushing alleged Palestinian "terrorism."

Hundreds of Palestinians have died and more than 4,000 have been arrested since Israel's army flooded the West Bank two weeks ago.

Earlier Friday, Maher said Israel must bow to the will of the international community and pullout from Palestinian territories, following his talks with Arafat.

"The Israelis cannot resist the will of the international community for an immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories and an end to the aggression against the Palestinian people," Maher said.

Egypt has also suspended all flights to Israel in protest of the ongoing West Bank offensive, a high-ranking official from national carrier Egypt Air told AFP late Friday.

Air Sinai, a subsidiary of Egypt Air that was flying to Tel Aviv twice a week since the start of the 18-month Palestinian uprising or intifada, has stopped all flights for an undetermined period, the official said.

The official said the decision was made in reaction to protests from Egyptian pilots and the almost daily popular street demonstrations against Israel since the start of Israel's current campaign in the West Bank.

Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries who have signed peace treaties with Israel.

Additional Reporting by Subhi Mijahed and Hamdi Al Husseini, IOL Correspondents in Cairo