"O God, destroy the criminal and terrorist Zionists." Syrian Sermon 20
September 2002
[FBIS (US Government service) Report]

Damascus Syrian Arab Republic Radio in Arabic, official station of the
Syrian Government, on 20 September 2002 at 0948 GMT carries a 24-minute live
sermon from Al-Mawlawi Mosque in Damascus.

Shaykh Salim Shab'aniyah delivers the sermon. He praises God, the
messenger, and his companions, urging people to obey God and giving examples
of how the messenger stood fast and struggled to spread his message. The
imam calls on the Arabs and Muslims "to launch jihad as a religious duty to
save Jerusalem and the sanctities from the Zionist invaders and to put an
end to the occupation, which flagrantly violates Islam and Muslims' rights."
As President Bashar Al-Asad has always said, the imam says, the
responsibility for the liberation of the holy land lies with the Arabs and
Muslims all over the world. He then condemns the "Zionist criminals," who
kill Palestinians and destroy property, urging the Arabs not to make any
further concession to the "Zionist entity."

Concluding, the imam prays to God: "O God, strengthen Islam and
Muslims and elevate justice and the religion. O God, support those
supporting the religion and disappoint those disappointing Muslims. O
God, destroy the enemies of the Arabs and Muslims." He goes on: "O
God, support Al-Aqsa intfadah against the criminal Zionists and save our
kinfolk in Palestine. O God, destroy the criminal and terrorist
Zionists."