Ekrima Sa'id Sabri

Biography

Sabri was born in 1939 in the Palestinian town of Qalqilya.

Career

Mahmoud Abbas removed Sabri as mufti in July 2006, reportedly for his growing popularity and open expression of racially charged, one-sided political views. Abbas appointed Muhammad Ahmad Hussein in July 2006 as Sabri's successor.

In May 2018, Sabri was barred from travelling abroad and visiting the West Bank due to his participation in "anti-Israel" conferences. In January 2020, he was barred from entering to the Al-Aqsa Mosque after an Israeli police officer accused him of "incitement" during a Friday sermon that he held. On 10 March 2021, Sabri was arrested by Israeli authorities at his home in East Jerusalem as he prepared his Friday sermon for interrogation. He was released shortly after.

In January 2023, Israeli forces raided Sabri's home in the Al-Sawwana neighbourhood in East Jerusalem and gave him a summons order at the Maskubiya Police Station in West Jerusalem.

In June 2024, Sabri was charged of "inciting terrorism" after allegedly praising the 2022 Tel Aviv shooting and an attack at the Ma'ale Adumim in October 2024, killing an Israeli soldier. In response, Sabri denied the accusations, stating that he merely offered condolences to the families of the attackers after their deaths, as well as calling the indictment as "fabricated" and "malicious".

On 2 August 2024, he was again arrested by Israeli authorities after eulogizing and expressing condolences to Ismail Haniyeh's assassination. Consequently, Israeli police banned Sabri from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surrounding courtyards for six months.

Controversy

In a 1999 interview regarding the political situation on the Temple Mount, Sabri stated, "If the Jews want peace, they will stay away from Al Aqsa. This is a decree from God. The Haram al-Sharif belongs to the Muslim. But we know the Jew is planning on destroying the Haram. The Jew will get the Christian to do his work for him. This is the way of the Jews. This is the way Satan manifests himself. The majority of the Jews want to destroy the mosque. They are preparing this as we speak."

In a 2000 interview with the Italian newspaper la Repubblica, Sabri responded to a question about the Holocaust by stating, "Six million Jews dead? No way, they were much fewer. Let’s stop with this fairy tale exploited by Israel to capture international solidarity. It is not my fault if Hitler hated Jews, indeed they were hated a little everywhere. Instead, it is necessary to denounce the unjust occupation endured by my people. Tomorrow I will ask John Paul II... to support our cause."

In a July 2001 interview with Jeffrey Goldberg for The New Yorker, Sabri remarked: "Look at the society of the Israelis. It is a selfish society that loves life. These are not people who are eager to die for their country and their God. The Jews will leave this land rather than die, but the Muslim is happy to die."

On 20 February 2005, Sabri appeared on Saudi Arabian Al Majd TV to comment on the assassination of Rafic Hariri, the former Lebanese Prime Minister. Sabri stated, "Anyone who studies The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and specifically the Talmud will discover that one of the goals of these Protocols is to cause confusion in the world and to undermine security throughout the world."

References

1. Kuttab, Daoud. (20 August 2017). "Ekrima Sabri: The inclusive sheikh who was injured in the protests". Arab News.
2. Berman, Yaniv. (17 October 2006). "Top Palestinian Muslim Cleric Okays Suicide Bombings".
3. Kuttab, Daoud. (14 May 2018). "Israel bars Al-Aqsa preacher from traveling abroad". Arab News.
4. Abu Sneineh, Mustafa. (21 January 2020). "Israel bars former grand mufti of Palestine entry to Al-Aqsa".
5. (10 March 2021). "Israel arrests imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque Ekrima Sabri".
6. (3 January 2023). "Israel forces storm home of Al-Aqsa Imam Sheikh Ekrima Sabri".
7. (27 June 2025). "Al-Aqsa imam indicted on charges of incitement to terrorism".
8. (2 August 2024). "Israel arrests Aqsa Mosque Imam Ekrema Sabri after eulogizing Ismail Haniyeh".
9. (2024). "Israeli Occupation detains Aqsa Mosque Imam".
10. (8 August 2024). "Israel bans Imam of Al-Aqsa Ekrema Sabri from entering mosque for six months after he eulogised Ismail Haniyeh".
11. Goldberg, Jeffrey. (3 October 1999). "Israel's Y2K Problem". The New York Times Magazine.
12. (29 March 2000). "[Pope] Wojtyla Free Us From the Jews - An Interview With the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem About the Pope's Visit". MEMRI.
13. Hoffman, Bruce. (2017). "Inside Terrorism". Cambridge University Press.
14. (2007). "Hypermedia seduction for terrorist recruiting". IOS Press.