- Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat:
"We are taking forceful steps against those who
do this. Recently, a decision was passed to punish anyone who sells land,
property or homes. We are keeping track of land dealers and punishing
them." --- in an interview with a Lebanese newspaper
(Al-Hawadath, May 16,
1997)
"Our law is a Jordanian law that we inherited, which applies to both the
West Bank and Gaza, and sets the death penalty for those who sell land to
Israelis... We are talking about a few traitors, and we shall implement
against them what is written in the law books. It is our right and our
obligation to defend our land."
--- in an interview with an Israeli
newspaper
(Yediot Ahronot, May 21, 1997)
- The Palestinian Authority Cabinet:
The Palestinian leadership listened to a report regarding
the fact that a number of land speculators have sold, via foreign
intermediaries, Palestinian land to foreign companies, which are in fact
Israeli companies working in the framework of the settlement plans being
carried out by the Israeli government. The Palestinian leadership has
decided to forbid the sale of land anywhere in Palestine either directly
or via intermediaries. The leadership has empowered the legal authorities
and security forces to implement the decision on this matter and to punish
anyone who has sold land directly or has assisted in its sale. The sale of
land constitutes the gravest danger concerning the Judaization of the
Palestinian lands."
--- in a cabinet decision passed at its weekly meeting
in Ramallah on May 2-3, 1997
(Voice of Palestine, May 3, 1997)
- Palestinian Authority Justice Minister Freih Abu Middein:
"This is a very dangerous act and
there has been a decision to ban it by putting anyone who sells even a
centimeter on swift trial and to seek the death penalty against them...
These people are traitors and Israel exploits them in expanding its
settlements."
--- in an interview
(Agence France Presse, May 5, 1997)
"I warned the land dealers several times through the media not to play
with fire. For us, whoever sells land to Jews and settlers is more
dangerous than collaborators. Therefore, they must be put on trial and
sentenced to death... they are traitors."
--- in an interview with an
Israeli newspaper
(Yediot Ahronot, May 20, 1997)
"Expect the unexpected... nobody from this moment will accept any traitor
who sells his land to Israelis."
--- cited in The Washington Post, May 20,
1997
- Palestinian Authority Mufti Ikrama Sabri:
"Whoever is found to have sold land to Jews, his
punishment is death. It is forbidden to pray for him, it is forbidden to
purify his body before burial, and it is forbidden to bury him in a Muslim
cemetery. We are obligated to remind the public of this religious law, so
as not to allow Jews to purchase Arab land and property with dollars they
receive from America in order to throw us out of this land."
--- in an
interview with an Israeli newspaper
(Yediot Ahronot, May 20, 1997)
"The Zionist entity exists on seized land. The Jews remain enemies because
they expropriate lands, build settlements and pay high sums to buy
properties. They are the greatest enemies of us Muslims."
--- in a
newspaper interview (The New York Times, May 18, 1997)
"We condemn this abhorrent crime and emphasize that despite all the
conspiracies, Jerusalem and Palestine from the river to the sea will
remain Islamic until judgment day... A land speculator for the Jews, in
whose birth certificate it states that he is a Muslim, was killed. There
is a possibility that his body will be brought to Al-Aksa mosque or
another mosque. We wish to remind you that Islamic law forbids the washing
and wrapping in shrouds of his body and forbids praying for his soul or
burying him in a Muslim cemetery. We call upon you to beware. This should
serve as a lesson to all traitors and speculators who collaborate with the
Jews."
--- in his weekly sermon at Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount
(Voice of Palestine, May 9, 1997)